1 When Israel went out of Egypt,
The house of Jacob from a people of strange language,
2 Judah became His sanctuary,
And Israel His dominion.
3 The sea saw it and fled;
Jordan turned back.
4 The mountains skipped like rams,
The little hills like lambs.
5 What ails you, O sea, that you fled?
O Jordan, that you turned back?
6 O mountains, that you skipped like rams?
O little hills, like lambs?
7 Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
At the presence of the God of Jacob,
8 Who turned the rock into a pool of water,
The flint into a fountain of waters.
This psalm focuses on the specific expression of God’s solicitude for the Israelites when He redeemed them from Egypt in order to restore them to the land of Canaan (hence reiterating the larger theme of the Fifth Book of Psalms). The reference to Israel in verse 2 is not, as in verse 1 (where it parallels “Jacob”—a frequent poetic designation of Israel), a reference to the entire nation, but rather the land of the 10 northern tribes (not necessarily a reference to the divided kingdom), whereas Judah refers to the land of the two southern tribes, Judah and Benjamin. The remainder of the psalm specifies, in vividly poetic imagery, how God exercised His sovereign power by overcoming all those natural obstacles that stood in the way of their redemption from Egypt (so v.3a: “the sea looked and fled,” referring to the dividing of the Red Sea in Exodus 14:21 [cf. also Psalm 77:16]), finding nourishment in the desert (both physical, per v.8: “Who turned the rock into a pool of water …,” referring to the events of Exodus 17:6 and Numbers 20:11 [cf. also Deuteronomy 8:15]; and spiritual, per v.4: “The mountains skipped …,” referring to the phenomena attending God’s revelation at Sinai [cf. Exodus 19:18; Judges 5:5]), and entering the promises land of Canaan (so v.3b: “The Jordan turned back,” referring to the dividing of the Jordan in Joshua 3:13, 16). — Wechsler, pages 274-275.
Williams’ take:
This psalm … links the Messiah’s intervention on behalf of his people Israel at the commencement of their national history (vs.1-6) with His future intervention on their behalf at the close of the present period of their exile (vs.7-8).
The physical convulsions of nature accompanying His second advent, predicted in Revelation, should make, and will make Israel’s future adversaries to tremble. The “presence” of the Lord (v.7) means His parousia or revelation—that is, His future coming in power and great glory. — Williams, page 386.
