Psalms 114As mentioned previously, the Israelites sang this song at Passover. This was appropriate since it describes God delivering the nation in the Exodus, which event has cosmic implications. It is another psalm of descriptive praise. read more
This has been called ’one of the finest lyrics in literature.’ Probably it is a post-exilic psalm wherein, under the figure of the old exodus from Egypt, the Psalmist chants the return from Babylon. In all ages of the Church it has been used to celebrate the release from the bondage of sin. Hence it is a hymn for Easter night.1. Strange language] i.e. unintelligible speech—foreign. 2. Was] RV ’became.’3. Saw it] i.e. the presence of God. The allusion is to the dividing of the Red Sea and of... read more
The Response of the Environment Psalms 114:1 ; Psalms 114:4 I. It is said that man is affected by his environment. It is true; but it is equally true that man's environment is affected by him. We are influenced by the sights and sounds around us; but it is no less certain that the sights and sounds around us are influenced by us. In this passage we have an incident of the latter kind. When Israel went out of Egypt there was a change in her environment. 'The mountains skipped.' She transferred... read more
Psalms 114:1-8It is possible that in this psalm Israel, restored from Babylon, is looking back to the earlier Exodus, and shrilling with the great thought that that old past lives again in the present. Such a historical parallel would minister courage and hope. But the eyes of psalmists were ever turning to the great days when a nation was born, and there are no data in this psalm which connect it with a special period, except certain peculiarities in the form of the words "turns" and... read more
Psalm 114-117 Psalms 114:0 Retrospect As in the book of Deuteronomy God’s ways with His people are reviewed so we find in some of these Psalms the reminders of God’s dealing with Israel in the past. Here it is first of all the deliverance out of Egypt and what happened then, the type of the greater deliverance effected by the power of God. (See Jeremiah 16:14-15 .) read more
The first psalm in this lesson is one of the imprecatory or cursing psalms, in the interpretation of which we should keep in mind the principles already stated: (1) that the writer speaks as a prophet; (2) that the enemies are not merely personal to him but enemies of God; (3) that they are not individuals so much as nations; and (4) that they are considered at a time when the incorrigible condition has been reached, and they have become permanently fixed in opposition to the Most High. The... read more
The sacred writer is here triumphing in the grace and sovereignty of God, and demands by what power it was that the laws of nature should be so changed, in producing such wonders in creation? Moses sang to the same amount, when celebrating the event on the banks of the Red Sea. The Dukes of Edom (says he) shall be amazed, the mighty men of Moab, trembling, shall take hold of them: all the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away, Exodus 15:15 . And the Prophet, in ages after this, sang his song to... read more
Little ones. In their mother's womb, and infancy. (St. Chrysostom) --- Hebrew, "the simple." (Berthier) --- He delights to protect those who have no dependence on any other. (Calmet) --- Humbled. Or afflicted, (Worthington) and "brought low." (St. Jerome) read more
The God of Jacob the Deliverer out of Egypt. A majestic song celebrating the care of God for His people at the time of the exodus from Egypt, when all the powers of nature were called to contribute for their benefit. v. 1. When Israel, God's chosen people, who had accepted the true God as their King, went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob, which had entered Egypt as a family and left it as a nation, from a people of strange language, that is, unintelligible, foreign, Hebrew being considered... read more
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Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Psalms 114:1-6
1. God’s deliverance at the Exodus 114:1-6 read more