Tremble – Psalm 114
Psalm 114
1 When Israel went out from Egypt,
the house of Jacob from a people of strange language,
2 Judah became his sanctuary,
Israel his dominion.
3 The sea looked and fled;
Jordan turned back.
4 The mountains skipped like rams,
the hills like lambs.
5 What ails you, O sea, that you flee?
O Jordan, that you turn back?
6 O mountains, that you skip like rams?
O hills, like lambs?
7 Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Jacob,
8 who turns the rock into a pool of water,
the flint into a spring of water.
NOTE: Today’s commentary is by Dr. Kevin Watson, who is coming to Tulsa to become the Director of Academic Growth and Formation at the Tulsa Extension Site for Asbury Theological Seminary, as well as joining our staff at Asbury Church as Scholar-in-Residence. I wrote a post announcing and explaining this move.-Andrew
What beautiful imagery is contained in this psalm!
When Israel went out from Egypt,
the house of Jacob from a people of strange language,
Judah became his sanctuary,
Israel his dominion.
The sea looked and fled;
Jordan turned back.
The mountains skipped like rams,
the hills like lambs. (v. 1-4)
Why did the sea look and flee? The Jordan turn back?
Why did the mountains skip like rams? The hills like lambs?
What is going on here?
The psalmist asks the question to make sure we don’t miss it:
What ails you, O sea, that you flee?
O Jordan, that you turn back?
O mountains, that you skip like rams?
O hills, like lambs? (v. 5-6)
The answer comes in the final two verses:
Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Jacob,
who turns the rock into a pool of water,
the flint into a spring of water. (v. 7-8)
The sea flees, the Jordan turns back, the mountains skip like rams, and the hills like lambs because the Lord is coming!
The earth trembles at God’s presence. The presence of the God of Jacob causes creation to tremble because the Lord is the creator of all that is. God is the one who can make water come from a rock.
In this psalm, the sea, a river, mountains, and hills serve as examples of the posture we ought to have toward the Lord: humble awe and reverence.
God is in charge. He is the creator. We are part of his creation.
This is good news, if we put our hope and trust in the Triune God.