Psalm 114:4-7 ESV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Psalms 114:1-8

The psalmist is here remembering the days of old, the years of the right hand of the Most High, and the wonders which their fathers told them of (Jdg. 6:13), for time, as it does not wear out the guilt of sin, so it should not wear out the sense of mercy. Let it never be forgotten, I. That God brought Israel out of the house of bondage with a high hand and a stretched-out arm: Israel went out of Egypt, Ps. 114:1. They did not steal out clandestinely, nor were they driven out, but fairly went... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 114:4

The mountains skipped like rams ,.... The mountains of Sinai and Horeb quaked and moved at the presence of the Lord, when he descended thereon to give the law; these saw his glory and trembled, Exodus 19:18 . And the little hills like lambs ; very beautiful are the larger mountains of Sinai and Horeb compared to rams, and the motion of them to their skipping; and the little hills adjacent to them to lambs: these may represent the greater and lesser governors in the Roman empire at the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 114:5

What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest ?.... What was the matter with thee? what appeared to thee? what didst thou see? what didst thou feel, which caused thee to flee in such haste? Thou Jordan, that thou wast driven back ? what is the meaning that thou didst not continue to flow as usual? what was it that stopped thy flowing tide? that cut off thy waters? that drove them back as fast or faster than they came? read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 114:6

Ye mountains, that ye skipped like rams ,.... Not for joy, but fear; what caused these trembling motions, these violent agitations, and quakings, and movings to and fro like the skipping of rams? And ye little hills, like lambs ? what was it that disturbed you, and put you into a panic, that you skipped like frightened lambs? These questions are put, by a beautiful and poetical figure, to inanimate creatures; the Red sea, the river of Jordan, the mountains of Sinai and Horeb, and the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 114:7

Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord ,.... Or, "the earth has trembled at the presence of the Lord"; so the Syriac and Arabic versions render it; the imperative is sometimes put for the preterite or past tense, see Psalm 22:9 , likewise the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions thus render it, "the earth is moved at the presence of the Lord"; and then the sense is by a prosopopoeia. Is it to be wondered at, that we, the sea, the river of Jordan, the mountains and hills, have... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 114:5

What ailed thee, O thou sea - The original is very abrupt; and the prosopopoeia, or personification very fine and expressive: - What to thee, O sea, that thou fleddest away! O Jordan, that thou didst roll back! Ye mountains, that ye leaped like rams! And ye hills, like the young of the fold! After these very sublime interrogations, God appears; and the psalmist proceeds as if answering his own questions: - At the appearance of the Lord, O earth, thou didst tremble; At the... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 114:5

Verse 5 5What ailed thee, O sea! The prophet interrogates the sea, Jordan, and the mountains, in a familiar and poetical strain, as lately he ascribed to them a sense and reverence for God’s power. And, by these similitudes, he very sharply reproves the insensibility of those persons, who do not employ the intelligence which God has given them in the contemplation of his works. The appearance which he tells us the sea assumed, is more than sufficient to condemn their blindness. It could not be... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 114:7

Verse 7 7At the presence of the Lord Having aroused the senses of men by interrogations, he now furnishes a reply, which many understand to be a personification of the earth; because they take י, yod, to be the affix of the verb חולי , chuli; and they represent the earth as saying, It is my duty to tremble at the presence of the Lord. This fanciful interpretation is untenable; for the term, earth, is immediately subjoined. Others, with more propriety, considering the י, yod, in this, as in many... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 114:1-8

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 114:1-8

God with us. This psalm, which is so full of fine poetry, is also charged with spiritual suggestiveness. In the few verses of which it is composed, it brings before us the nearness of God to us, and the power he is exerting on us. We have— I. HIS DWELLING - PLACE IN US . "Judah was his sanctuary" ( Psalms 114:2 ). God dwelt in Judah in a sense in which he dwelt nowhere else. There was his manifested presence, and thither the tribes came up when they wanted to offer... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Psalms 114:1-8

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 114:4

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 114:5

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 114:6

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 114:7

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 114:5

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 114:5

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 114:7

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 114:1-8

The Pulpit Commentary - Psalms 114:1-8

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