1When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language;
2Judah was his sanctuary, and Israel his dominion.
3The sea saw it, and fled: Jordan was driven back.
4The mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs.
5What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest? thou Jordan, that thou wast driven back?
6Ye mountains, that ye skipped like rams; and ye little hills, like lambs?
7Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob;
8Which turned the rock into a standing water, the flint into a fountain of waters.
📖 Chapter study
Summary
A brief, vivid poem about the Exodus: the sea fled, the Jordan turned back, and the mountains skipped like rams before the presence of God, who turned even the rock into a fountain of water.
Explanation
This psalm, part of the Passover 'Hallel,' is remarkable for its poetic economy: in just eight verses, it dramatically depicts the departure from Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea (Exodus 14) and the Jordan River (Joshua 3), as well as the water from the rock (Exodus 17 and Numbers 20), using the technique of directly questioning nature ('what ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest?') before answering that it was the presence of God that caused it all. The application today is that all of creation recognizes and responds to God's presence, a reminder that he is actively involved in history, not distant from it.
Fun facts
- The poetic technique of asking nature direct questions (v.5-6) and then answering them is a Hebrew rhetorical device called apostrophe, used to dramatize creation's response to God.
- This psalm joins two events separated by decades — the crossing of the Red Sea at the exodus from Egypt and the crossing of the Jordan upon entering Canaan — as a single, continuous act of divine power.