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Psalm 119:33-40
33 Teach me, O Lord, the way of Your statutes,
34 Give me understanding, and I shall keep Your law;
35 Make me walk in the path of Your commandments,
36 Incline my heart to Your testimonies,
37 Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things,
38 Establish Your word to Your servant,
39 Turn away my reproach which I dread,
40 Behold, I long for Your precepts;
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Psalm 119:25-32
DALETH
25 My soul clings to the dust;
Revive me according to Your word.
26 I have declared my ways, and You answered me;
Teach me Your statutes.
27 Make me understand the way of Your precepts;
So shall I meditate on Your wonderful works.
28 My soul melts from heaviness;
Strengthen me according to Your word.
29 Remove from me the way of lying,
And grant me Your law graciously.
30 I have chosen the way of truth;
Your judgments I have laid before me.
31 I cling to Your testimonies;
O Lord, do not put me to shame!
32 I will run the course of Your commandments,
For You shall enlarge my heart.
melt (v.28) = drops, weeps
The psalmist … is able to find encouragement and strength (v.28b: “strengthen me”; lit. “uphold me”) when confronted by temptation, imploring God, in His paternal grace, to remove that false way (i.e., the way of sin by which he is tempted) from before him (v.29). — Wechsler, page 283.
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[Cling] (v.31) is the same word [as in v.25]. Even when lying fainting and so cleaving to, the dust, the true servant of Jehovah kept cleaving to His testimonies. — Williams, page 391.
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Psalm 119:17-24
GIMEL
17 Deal bountifully with Your servant,
That I may live and keep Your word.
18 Open my eyes, that I may see
Wondrous things from Your law.
19 I am a stranger in the earth;
Do not hide Your commandments from me.
20 My soul breaks with longing
For Your judgments at all times.
21 You rebuke the proud—the cursed,
Who stray from Your commandments.
22 Remove from me reproach and contempt,
For I have kept Your testimonies.
23 Princes also sit and speak against me,
But Your servant meditates on Your statutes.
24 Your testimonies also are my delight
And my counselors.
The first four verses of this stanza express the activities of the heart toward God excited by the study of, and obedience to, His Word; and the second four, the contempt and hatred which such an obedience receives from man. …
Those who are too proud to subject their wills to the teaching of the Scriptures bring a curse and not a blessing upon themselves (v.21); and become the bitter persecutors of those that make them their delight (vs.22-24). — Williams, page 390.
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The psalmist is able to find comfort and encouragement, imploring God to take away the inevitable reproach and contempt that the ungodly direct his way when he strives to observe God’s testimonies (v.22; cf. 2 Timothy 3:12; 1 Samuel 17:26; Isaiah 25:7-8. — Wechsler, page 283.
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Psalm 119:9-16
BETH
9 How can a young man cleanse his way?
By taking heed according to Your word.
10 With my whole heart I have sought You;
Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments!
11 Your word I have hidden in my heart,
That I might not sin against You.
12 Blessed are You, O Lord!
Teach me Your statutes.
13 With my lips I have declared
All the judgments of Your mouth.
14 I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies,
As much as in all riches.
15 I will meditate on Your precepts,
And contemplate Your ways.
16 I will delight myself in Your statutes;
I will not forget Your word.
Two foundation principles of the spiritual life appear in this stanza. The first, that the Bible associates its reader with God (v.10); the second, that its teachings make the life clean (v.9 and the heart happy (v.14). The moral result, therefore, of subjection to the authority of the Holy Scriptures is health of soul, holiness of life, and happiness of heart. — Williams, page 390.
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This section focuses on what may be called the “preparatory merit and benefit of God’s Word”—i.e., its foundational importance in preparing one to resist temptation and theological doubt before it is encountered, rather than during it (when one will hardly have the fortitude to “stop” and “mediate” upon relevant portions of Scripture) or after it (when one may already have succumbed). For this reason the psalmist opens this section with explicit reference to a young man, since the [best, but not only] way in which one maintains their purity and defense against sin in later life begins in one’s youth (cf. Proverbs 22:6). This “way” entails both “treasuring” (i.e., bringing inside and zealously guarding, as the same verb is used in Joshua 2:4; Psalm 27:5; Proverbs 10:14; etc.). God’s Word in one’s heart (v.11) as well as “mediating” on it (v.15; i.e., determining what it means, memorizing it, and considering how it applies to one’s situation). — Wechsler, page 282-283.
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Psalm 119:1-8
ALEPH
1 Blessed are the undefiled in the way,
Who walk in the law of the Lord!
2 Blessed are those who keep His testimonies,
Who seek Him with the whole heart!
3 They also do no iniquity;
They walk in His ways.
4 You have commanded us
To keep Your precepts diligently.
5 Oh, that my ways were directed
To keep Your statutes!
6 Then I would not be ashamed,
When I look into all Your commandments.
7 I will praise You with uprightness of heart,
When I learn Your righteous judgments.
8 I will keep Your statutes;
Oh, do not forsake me utterly!
This Psalm is an expansion of Psalm 1:2. Its theme is the Word of God hidden in the heart, and obeyed in the life. Messiah is the Blessed Man who fully satisfies its language, for He Himself is the Word of God. …
The Psalm is an acrostic. There are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet and there are 22 stanzas in the Psalm. Each stanza contains eight verses. There are therefore, one hundred and seventy six verses in all. All the first words in the eight verses of the first stanza begin with the [Hebrew equivalent] of the letter A; all the first words of the eight verses of the second stanza with the letter B; and so on to the end of the Psalm.
In it the Bible is given ten titles … They are, Way, Testimonies, Precepts, Commandments, Law, Judgments, Righteousness, Statutes, Word, and Words. — Williams, page 389.
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This longest of the psalms is designated in Jewish tradition as “The Great Alphabetic Acrostic,” or “The Eightfold Alphabetic Acrostic,” reflecting its structural organization according to the order of the Hebrew alphabet … The number 8 is biblically significant, being typically associated with the notion of “renewal” or “restoration” (e.g., the 8 days of the Feast of Tabernacles, which foreshadows the restoration of God’s kingdom and the renewal of Creation [see Zechariah 14:16ff; Revelation 21:1-3]; the 8 people who were brought through the flood to “restart” humanity in the renewed world—which is in turn connected in 1 Peter 3:20 with the “renewal” symbolized by baptism; David, Jesse’s 8th son, was the one through whom God restarted/renewed Israel’s dynasty [i.e., through Judah rather than Benjamin; see 1 Samuel 16:10ff.]; the 8 days of Hanukkah [the Feast of “Dedication”; see John 10:22], commemorating the restoration/renewal of proper Temple worship), one may reasonably conclude that the merits and benefits of God’s Word described throughout this psalm are to be viewed in sum as epitomizing renewal—i.e., not just our initial “spiritual” renewal (justification) and our final “comprehensive” renewal (glorification), but also—and more “practically”—our present renewal as we strive to conform to God’s Word by the renewing of our mind, that we “may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2; cf. also Ephesians 5:26). This perspective on Psalm 119 is further affirmed by its placement between the two collections of “pilgrimage psalms”—i.e., the Hallel (Psalms 113-118) and the Songs of Ascent (Psalms 120-134)—thus suggesting the symbolism of God’s Word (Psalm 119) as the effective “link” between mankind’s ideally intended state in the new word of Eden (as symbolized by the Hallel) and mankind’s ideally achieved state in the renewed Creation (as symbolized the the Songs of Ascent.) Finally, in every verse of this psalm—with the exception of v.122—is contained one of eleven different nouns employed elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible to denote God’s Law—viz., “law,” “testimonies,” “ways,” “precepts,” “statutes,” “commandments,” “judgment(s) [i.e., judicial edicts, not ‘acts of judgment’],” “word(s),” “utterance,” “faithfulness,” and “righteousness.” — Wechsler, page 280-281.
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“The law” indicates the whole method of guidance and direction. “His testimonies” refers to special and direct revelations of His will. “His ways” indicates the pathway of His appointment. “Thy precepts” is a poetical expression indicating definite injunctions. “Thy statutes” refers to the written words of the law. “Thy commandments” is the phrase which describes positive and particular orders of God. “Thy judgments” refers to the decisions of God in places of doubt or perplexity … In every possible way needed by man, God reveals His will to meet the need. Human responsibility is marked by the words “walk,” “keep,” “observe,” “respect,” “learn.” Such obedience to such a will must indeed issue in blessedness. — Morgan, page 225.
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The stanza contains two sections: A general statement (vs.1-4), and a personal cry (vs.5-8). The first lays down the double happiness of those who read and obey the Bible; the second, the moral effect of such obedience. — Williams, pages 389-390.
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This introductory section begins by summarizing and emphasizing (via the repetition in v.2) the benefits to those who walk (a Hebrew [way of saying] one’s manner of living; cf. Genesis 6:9; Exodus 16:4; Galatians 5:16) in the law of the LORD—i.e., that they are blessed. That is psalm (as, indeed, the psalms generally) are intended with reference to those who are already believers is also underscored by the further description of these blessed ones as being those who seek the Lord with all their heart (v.2b)—for no one in their unredeemed “natural” (i.e., depraved) human state seeks the Lord, as David makes clear in Psalm 14:3-4. — Wechsler, page 282.
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Psalm 118
1 Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.
2 Let Israel now say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
3 Let the house of Aaron now say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
4 Let those who fear the Lord now say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
5 I called on the Lord in distress;
The Lord answered me and set me in a broad place.
6 The Lord is on my side;
I will not fear.
What can man do to me?
7 The Lord is for me among those who help me;
Therefore I shall see my desire on those who hate me.
8 It is better to trust in the Lord
Than to put confidence in man.
9 It is better to trust in the Lord
Than to put confidence in princes.
10 All nations surrounded me,
But in the name of the Lord I will destroy them.
11 They surrounded me,
Yes, they surrounded me;
But in the name of the Lord I will destroy them.
12 They surrounded me like bees;
They were quenched like a fire of thorns;
For in the name of the Lord I will destroy them.
13 You pushed me violently, that I might fall,
But the Lord helped me.
14 The Lord is my strength and song,
And He has become my salvation.
15 The voice of rejoicing and salvation
Is in the tents of the righteous;
The right hand of the Lord does valiantly.
16 The right hand of the Lord is exalted;
The right hand of the Lord does valiantly.
17 I shall not die, but live,
And declare the works of the Lord.
18 The Lord has chastened me severely,
But He has not given me over to death.
19 Open to me the gates of righteousness;
I will go through them,
And I will praise the Lord.
20 This is the gate of the Lord,
Through which the righteous shall enter.
21 I will praise You,
For You have answered me,
And have become my salvation.
22 The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone.
23 This was the Lord’s doing;
It is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day the Lord has made;
We will rejoice and be glad in it.
25 Save now, I pray, O Lord;
O Lord, I pray, send now prosperity.
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
We have blessed you from the house of the Lord.
27 God is the Lord,
And He has given us light;
Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.
28 You are my God, and I will praise You;
You are my God, I will exalt You.
29 Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.
[This] is the last of the Psalms to be quoted in the New Testament and applied to our Lord Jesus the Messiah or Christ. It is also the last of the Hallel Psalms, of which there were six, and which are repeated by the Jews at their festivals. They are Psalms 113 to 118 inclusive. This Psalm also forms a part of the Haggadah, that is, the prayer for Passover night. It is more than likely that this is the hymn which was sung by our Lord Jesus and His disciples at the first Lord’s Supper: “And when they had sung a hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives” (Matthew 26:30). …
It seems very probable that in the celebration recorded in Ezra 3 this Psalm was sung, for in that chapter we read that “when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise the Lord, after the ordinance of David king of Israel. And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the Lord; because He is good, for His lovingkindness endureth for ever toward Israel” (Ezra 3:10-11). The clause, “they sang together by course” really refers to their singing responsively or antiphonally; and the 118th Psalm seems to be indicated by the words, “giving thanks unto the Lord; because He is good, for His lovingkindness endureth for ever” (compare verses 1-4, 25, 29). Again, the words “after the ordinance of David king of Israel,” remind us of 1 Chronicles 16:1, 34-35, and they may indicate that David wrote this Psalm and used it on the day when the ark of God was brought in and set in the midst of the tent that David had pitched for it. — Pettingill, pages 167-168.
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This song will be sung by Israel on the happy morning of her renewed espousals. She will invite those who in Psalm 115:9-11 were called to trust Jehovah now to praise Him (vs.2-4); she will testify that Messiah is her one and efficient Savior (vs.5 and 14); she will acknowledge the wisdom and love which permitted her sufferings at the hands of man (vs.6-18); she will approve the moral lessons of that chastening (vs.19-21); she will proclaim that the once rejected Savior is now her God and Redeemer (vs.22-23); that her Sabbath has at last dawned (v.24); that there is no blessing apart from Him (v.25); that He is the one and only gate into righteousness (v.20); and that He is the promised Deliverer who comes with blessing out of the House of Jehovah. — Williams, page 388
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The culminating expression of God’s lovingkindness, as described in the previous psalms, is here affirmed by the psalmist (as by the writer of Hebrews in 13:6 quoting v.6 of this Psalm) as his central source of personal comfort in the midst of distress (v.5ff.), for whereas his distress is temporary—lasting only for the present lifetime at most—God’s lovingkindness is everlasting (vs.1-4), being grounded in the everlasting atonement effected by Abraham’s See, the divine priest-king Christ (see Hebrews 7:24-25). — Wechsler, page 279.
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The psalmist concludes the Hallel on the apropos note of God’s irrepressible triumph—i.e., that despite the affliction experience by God’s people, whether allowed by God for the refinement of faith or specifically prompted by Him for discipline, we can take confidence in the knowledge that He has not given (more precisely here: “has not consigned,” signifying His already-made and irreversible determination) us over to death (v.18; i.e., the “second death” of eternal condemnation and separation from God) and that [His people] shall ultimately, inevitably enter the gates of righteousness (v.19)—that is, the gates of Jerusalem on that future day when it “will be called the city of righteousness” (Isaiah 1:26), ruled over by Christ, the “King of righteousness”, who is at the same time “Our righteousness” and source of eternal life. That it is specifically the victory of God (and hence of the godly) in Christ that is here in view is affirmed by the fact that this concluding section of the Hallel is among the most cited portions of the Old Testament with direct reference to Christ in the New Testament: Verses 22-23 are cited, wholly, or in part, with reference to Christ’s rejection and subsequent triumph in Matthew 21:42; Mark 12:10-11; Luke 20:17; and 1 Peter 2:7, and verse 26a is cited with reference to people’s hailing (albeit, in the case of His first advent, prematurely) of Christ as their triumphal King in Matthew 21:9; 23:39; Mark 11:9; Luke 13:35; 19:38; John 12:13. — Wechsler, pages 279-280.
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Psalm 117
1 Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles!
Laud Him, all you peoples!
2 For His merciful kindness is great toward us,
And the truth of the Lord endures forever.
Praise the Lord!
This shortest of all the Psalms represents a distillation of praise for the central redemptive promise of the Bible—to wit: that the Gentiles would experience God’s blessing through Israel (see Genesis 12:3) and so be joined to the one community of those who praise the Lord. This intended sense of the psalm is indicated by (1) the Gentiles’ praise of God being represented here as the result of God’s lovingkindness towards Israel, and (2) the citation of this psalm in Romans 15:11 with direct reference to the Gentiles’ worship of God for their receipt of God’s mercy through faith in Christ. It is in Christ, specifically, that God’s promise to bless the Gentiles through Abraham/Israel is fulfilled (see Galatians 3:14). ..The statement usually translated “His lovingkindness is great toward us” is in fact literally (and preferably) rendered “has prevailed over us”—which correlates perfectly (and beautifully) with the Gospel message that God’s love towards us is demonstrated in that Christ died for us while we were yet enemies of God (Romans 5:8-10) — Wechsler, page 278.
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Israel from the day that she was redeemed out of Egypt to the present moment has done, an din the future will yet do, everything possible to prevent the fulfillment of the promises made to her. Idolatry, apostasy, hypocrisy, ingratitude, the murder of prophets and of the Messiah, centuries of hatred to His name and people, and the future acceptance of the Anti-Christ in preference to Him (John 5:43)—all will be forgiven; and she will invite the nations to join with her in praising a grace that as to sin forgives everything, and as to promise forgets nothing. Thus the nations will learn through His dealings with her what a God and Savior Messiah is. — Williams, page 388.
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Psalm 116
1 I love the Lord, because He has heard
My voice and my supplications.
2 Because He has inclined His ear to me,
Therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live.
3 The pains of death surrounded me,
And the pangs of Sheol laid hold of me;
I found trouble and sorrow.
4 Then I called upon the name of the Lord:
“O Lord, I implore You, deliver my soul!”
5 Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;
Yes, our God is merciful.
6 The Lord preserves the simple;
I was brought low, and He saved me.
7 Return to your rest, O my soul,
For the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
8 For You have delivered my soul from death,
My eyes from tears,
And my feet from falling.
9 I will walk before the Lord
In the land of the living.
10 I believed, therefore I spoke,
“I am greatly afflicted.”
11 I said in my haste,
“All men are liars.”
12 What shall I render to the Lord
For all His benefits toward me?
13 I will take up the cup of salvation,
And call upon the name of the Lord.
14 I will pay my vows to the Lord
Now in the presence of all His people.
15 Precious in the sight of the Lord
Is the death of His saints.
16 O Lord, truly I am Your servant;
I am Your servant, the son of Your maidservant;
You have loosed my bonds.
17 I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving,
And will call upon the name of the Lord.
18 I will pay my vows to the Lord
Now in the presence of all His people,
19 In the courts of the Lord’s house,
In the midst of you, O Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!
While God is transcendent (i.e., “above,” or distinct, from His creation—as affirmed in Psalm 115:3), He is also immanent (i.e., present and active within His creation)—the depth of which immanence forms the topic of the present psalm. In this opening section (vs.1-4) the psalmist praises God not simply for the fact that He can express His immanence by responding to the deepest need of man, but because He has and does respond to the psalmist’s need personally. That the psalmist has in view here man’s deepest—i.e., spiritual—need is indicated by his reference to Sheol (v.3), referring to his fundamental need for justification/salvation, as well as by his reference to the fact that God “hears” him (v.2), signifying God’s special, ongoing solicitude for one with whom He has a relationship. — Wechsler, pages 276-277.
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Regardless of whatever life might yet hold in store for him, the psalmist praises God (vs.5-11)—and in the process draws encouragement—from what He has already done, and than which there is no more gracious and compassionate (v.5) expression of God’s intimate immanence, to wit: His having set the psalmist’s soul at rest. In the confidence of this rest that he already has, and in the hope of future glory that it inseparably entails, the psalmist is able to derive further strength and determination to continue on in his walk before the LORD (v.9) despite his being greatly afflicted by others (v.10; cf. 2 Timothy 3:12). — Wechsler, page 277.
simple (v.6) — perhaps in the sense of “open-minded.” Williams believes it means “sinless.”
Verse 10 is quoted by Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:13.
haste (v.11) = in a hurry, alarmed, to start away suddenly.
Williams’ take:
“Haste” does not mean “hastily” but hasting on. He [Messiah] found in this world nowhere to lay His head. He hasted through it as a pilgrim making speed to the Father’s House; and as He hasted His true and deliberate judgment as to man was that all men are untrustworthy. The Holy Spirit repeats this testimony in Romans 3:4. — Williams, page 388.
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In addition to expressing his personal praise and devotion to God, the psalmist is impelled by his experience of God’s intimate immanence to further express his praise for Him in a public venue—in the presence of all His people (vs.14 and 18). This public expression of worship consists, specifically, of his paying his vows to the Lord—i.e., his vows to offer God a sacrifice of thanksgiving for each of His manifold expressions of lovingkindness. — Wechsler, page 277.
This is my opinion on reading this psalm—I think it makes sense to read it as if the Messiah is speaking (see Williams below), which gives more meaning to anyone who is applying the psalm to his own life/experience.
2 Corinthians 4 makes it clear that the Messiah is the speaker in this fourth Hallel Psalm. The comforting message to faith in both Psalm and Epistle is that the resurrection of Christ is a pledge and assurance of the resurrection of His people; and that as God carried Him victoriously through the sorrows of life and of death, so will He triumphantly carry those who by faith are united to Him. Hence their resurrection (v.15) is based upon and connected with His resurrection (v.8).
The Psalm sung by Him and the little flock on the eve of His crucifixion will be re-sung by Him in the midst of the great congregation (22:25) on the morn of His coronation. This will take place in Jerusalem (v.9) in the courts of the Temple described in Ezekiel 40–48. …
The structure of the Psalm presents an introduction (vs.1-2) and two stanzas. In the former (vs.3-11) Messiah recalls His First Advent in weakness and atonement; in the latter He anticipates His Second Advent in power and glory (vs.12-19), and He praises and worships Jehovah in respect of both. This double theme appears in the introduction. He offers praise because of His deliverance out of the death-world (vs.3 and 8) and because of the promised fulfillment of the Covenant granting Him the kingdom (vs.14-19) — Williams, page 387.
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Psalm 115
1 Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us,
But to Your name give glory,
Because of Your mercy,
Because of Your truth.
2 Why should the Gentiles say,
“So where is their God?”
3 But our God is in heaven;
He does whatever He pleases.
4 Their idols are silver and gold,
The work of men’s hands.
5 They have mouths, but they do not speak;
Eyes they have, but they do not see;
6 They have ears, but they do not hear;
Noses they have, but they do not smell;
7 They have hands, but they do not handle;
Feet they have, but they do not walk;
Nor do they mutter through their throat.
8 Those who make them are like them;
So is everyone who trusts in them.
9 O Israel, trust in the Lord;
He is their help and their shield.
10 O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord;
He is their help and their shield.
11 You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord;
He is their help and their shield.
12 The Lord has been mindful of us;
He will bless us;
He will bless the house of Israel;
He will bless the house of Aaron.
13 He will bless those who fear the Lord,
Both small and great.
14 May the Lord give you increase more and more,
You and your children.
15 May you be blessed by the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.
16 The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s;
But the earth He has given to the children of men.
17 The dead do not praise the Lord,
Nor any who go down into silence.
18 But we will bless the Lord
From this time forth and forevermore.
Following the focus in the previous two psalms on God’s expression of sovereign solicitude towards mankind generally (Psalm 113) and Israel specifically (Psalm 114), this psalm focuses on the uniqueness of His solicitude—i.e. that the benefits … are available only from God. Hence the psalmist begins by emphasizing that the glory (i.e., the thanksgiving, praise, and adulation) for these benefits goes “not to us,” but to God’s name (i.e., God as reputed by His words an deeds). All these benefits are ultimately an expression of God’s lovingkindness and faithfulness and should not be attributed to idols (vs.4-7)—which, lest we too quickly write this warning off as an ancient pagan fancy, is in principle equivalent to our attribution of the various benefits we experience to ourselves, other people, circumstances, etc. when in fact all of these are merely the means employed by God to express His multifaceted solicitude towards us. Every benefit we experience is from God (James 1:17), who, because He is sovereign over all things, does whatever He pleases (v.3). the psalmist condenses this principle into the exhortation that his addressees trust in the Lord (i.e.,Yahweh, and no one/nothing else) as their help and their shield—which exhortation he directs specifically to Israel as a whole (v.9), the house of Aaron (v.10; since the priests were responsible for teaching the rest of the nation [see Deuteronomy 33:10]), and all who fear the LORD (v.11; i.e., both Jew and Gentile) — Wechsler, pages 275-276.
Verse 8 points out that those who create and trust in idols become as stupid and senseless as the idols themselves. They don’t use the senses God gave them (vs.5-7). See Isaiah 44:9-20.
Williams’ take:
“From this time forth” (v.18) means, historically, from the commencement of the millennial reign. The verse expresses Israel’s confidence in the glory and success of Messiah’s government. — Williams, page 387.
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Psalm 114
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.
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