Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 114:7
Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob;
7. Cp. Psa 97:4-5. The Lord ( dn) denotes Jehovah as the Ruler of the world. He it is and no other Who is the God of Jacob.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
7, 8. It was at Jehovah’s presence that earth trembled then; but instead of a formal answer the poet’s words take a wider range, and he bids earth tremble still at the presence of its Lord, Who proves His sovereignty by transforming its most stubborn elements for the benefit of His people.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord … – This is at the same time an explanation of the facts referred to in the previous verses, and the statement of an important truth in regard to the power of God. The true explanation – as here implied – of what occurred to the sea, to the Jordan, to the mountains, and to the hills, was the fact that God was there; the inference from that, or the truth which followed from that, was, that before that God in whose presence the very mountains shook, and from whom the waters of the sea fled in alarm the whole earth should tremble.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
But why do I ask these questions? Ye mountains did no more than what was just and fit at the approach and appearance of the great God; yea, the whole earth hath reason to tremble and quake upon such occasions.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
7. at the presence ofliterally,”from before,” as if affrighted by the wonderful display ofGod’s power. Well may such a God be trusted, and great should be Hispraise.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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 Ps 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 fled, or have been driven back, or have skipped like rams and lambs, when the whole earth, of which we are a part, has trembled at the presence of God? who, when he does but look, the earth trembles; and when he touches the hills, they smoke, Ps 104:32. It is at the same presence of God we have been thus moved, the power of which we have felt, even
at the presence of the God of Jacob; who brought Jacob out of Egypt, led him through the sea, and gave him the law on Sinai. This is not to be understood of the general and common presence of God, which is everywhere, and with all his creatures for this is not attended with such wonderful phenomena as here mentioned, either in the literal or mystic sense; but of the majestic, powerful, and gracious presence of God; such as he sometimes causes to attend his ministers, his word, his churches, his martyrs and confessors; and so as to strike an awe upon, and terror into, their greatest enemies, as well as to convert his own people.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
7 At 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 other passages, to be redundant, adopt this interpretation: It is reasonable and becoming that the earth should tremble in the presence of the Lord. Again, the term חולי, chuli, is by many rendered in the imperative mood; which interpretation I readily adopt, as it is most probable that the prophet again makes an appeal to the earth, that the hearts of men may be the more sensibly moved. The meaning is the same, — It must be that the earth quake at the presence of her King. And this view receives confirmation from the term אדון, adon, being used, which signifies a lord or a master. He then immediately introduces the name of the God of Jacob, for the purpose of banishing from men all notions of false gods. Their minds being prone to deceit, they are always in great danger of allowing idols to usurp the place of the true God. Another miracle is mentioned, in which God, after the passage of the people through the Red Sea, gave an additional splendid manifestation of his power in the wilderness. The glory of God, as he informs us, did not appear for one day only, on the departure of the people; it constantly shone in his other works, as when a stream suddenly issued out of the dry rock, Exo 17:6. Waters may be found trickling out from among rocks and stony places, but to make them flow out of a dry rock, was unquestionably above the ordinary course of nature, or miraculous. I have no intention of entering into any ingenious discussion, how the stone was converted into water; all that the prophet means amounts simply to this, that water flowed in places formerly dry and hard. How absurd, then, is it for the sophists to pretend that a transubstantiation takes place in every case in which the Scripture affirms that a change has been produced? The substance of the stone was not converted into water, but God miraculously created the water, which gushed out of the dry rock.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(7) Tremble.Literally, be in travail. This answer to his question is introduced with consummate art. Well may the mountains tremble, when it is the Lord of all the earth, the God of Jacob, who is present. Notice that till now the mention of the Divine power which wrought the deliverance was kept in suspense.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
7. Tremble, thou earth “Tremble,” here, answers to skip in Psa 114:4; Psa 114:6, and is more literal. The psalmist advances to the imperative mode of address, commanding the whole earth to tremble at the presence of the Lord of the God of Jacob, in his exalted majesty and power.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 114:7. Tremble, thou earth The LXX read, The earth did tremble, in a more easy meaning, as being an answer to the foregoing question; but perhaps not so well suited to the Psalmist’s design, which is to let the world know, that as it was from the presence of God among his people heretofore that the sea fled, &c. so now there was the same reason for the earth to tremble; as he was still present among them. The answer is elegantly understood, and turned into a command. A standing water in the next verse, is rendered by some a river. We would just observe, that the hallelujah, or, praise ye the Lord, at the end of the last psalm, is placed by the LXX, and with much seeming propriety, at the beginning of this.
REFLECTIONS.The wonders of former days deserve to be kept in everlasting remembrance, both that God may be glorified for them, and we take encouragement from thence to hope still in his mercy.
1. God brought his Israel from Egypt: They went out, with triumph, wealth, and honour, from a people of a strange language which they understood not, or barbarous, as they accounted the Egyptian tongue, compared with their own. The people of God are thus brought up out of spiritual Egypt, and called from this strange country the world, to join those who speak the pure language of Canaan.
2. Among them his special presence rested, and he was in a peculiar manner their king. Judah was his sanctuary; his presence rested visibly in the midst of them; and Israel his dominion, among whom he erected a theocracy, himself their lawgiver and judge, and exercising the power of civil government among them. Thus does his presence dwell in his living temples, the souls of his people; holiness is written upon their hearts; and, obedient to all his commands and ordinances, they desire to approve themselves his obedient and devoted subjects.
3. To open a passage for them, the sea affrighted fled, and Jordan backwards rolled his overflowing streams. How was the mighty miracle affected? why fled the sea? why skipped the mountains Horeb and Sinai? Why? They felt the present deity; the powers of nature stood controlled before him, and earth shook to its centre. Note; (1.) Whatever difficulties are in the way of God’s Israel, from seas of tribulation, and mountains of corruption, as easily and certainly shall all hindrances be removed, if they will but believe. (2.) Did rocky Horeb tremble before God? and is thy heart, sinner, more obdurate and insensible?
4. He gave them waters out of the rock, and, all the desert through, caused the salutary streams to follow them. That rock was Christ; from him still flow, for every believer’s use, full streams of grace and consolation, to cheer him in his passage through this world’s howling wilderness; nor will he ever leave or forsake his faithful followers, who perseveringly and simply cleave to him, till, from drinking at the streams below, he shall bring them to the fountain-head above, and fill them with eternal consolations and glory in the heavenly Canaan.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Here, the answer is given. As Sinai moved at God’s presence, so mountains of sin, nations of idolatry, Satan, and all the powers of darkness, fall away beneath the sovereignty of Jesus, and his gospel. Yea, the very stony hearts of the most hardened transgressors, must become hearts of flesh, and every power of nature must bend to the power of his grace. When the eye is directed by sovereign love to Jesus, looking unto him whom they have pierced, they must mourn, and the waters of repentance shall gush out; Zec 12:10 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 114:7 Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob;
Ver. 7. Tremble, thou earth, &c. ] Heb. Be in pain, as a travailing woman; for if the giving of the law had such dreadful effects, what should the breaking thereof have?
At the presence of the God of Jacob
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Psa 114:7-8
7Tremble, O earth, before the Lord,
Before the God of Jacob,
8Who turned the rock into a pool of water,
The flint into a fountain of water.
Psa 114:7 The earth physically convulses at the approach of the Creator.
Notice He is called Lord (Adon) here, not Lord (YHWH), as in Psa 114:7 a and Eloah in Psa 114:7 b. See SPECIAL TOPIC: NAMES FOR DEITY .
Psa 114:8 The verse alludes to two specific occasions during the wilderness wandering period where YHWH supernaturally provided life-giving water (cf. Psa 78:15; Psa 105:41).
1. Exo 17:6
2. Num 20:11
It is used to describe the eschatological period in Isa 48:21 (i.e., a second exodus).
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.
These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought provoking, not definitive.
1. To what historical period in Israel’s history does this Psalm refer?
2. What is the theological purpose of personified nature?
3. Why is God’s control of water so important?
4. How does the double meaning of tremble help with understanding this Psalm?
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
the Lord. Hebrew Adon. App-4.
GOD. Hebrew Eloah. App-4.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Tremble: Psa 77:18, Psa 97:4, Psa 97:5, Psa 104:32, Job 9:6, Job 26:11, Isa 64:1-3, Jer 5:22, Mic 6:1, Mic 6:2
Reciprocal: Exo 19:18 – whole Psa 60:2 – made Psa 68:8 – earth Isa 5:25 – the hills Jer 10:10 – at Joe 2:10 – earth Heb 12:26 – voice
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE GOD THAT DOETH WONDERS
God which turned the rock into a standing water.
Psa 114:7-8
I. I consider the promises and the victories of the Bible, and I see that they are occasional, called out often by what men might describe as accident, like those needs of ancient Israel, which appealed irresistibly to the mercy and the might of the God of Jacob. But, occasional as they are, they are commemorated in the Book of books, and they go down through all time with a perpetual and world-wide application.
II. The Psalms, in which David and Asaph poured out their complaints and uttered their songs, express my complaints and my songs.The Epistles, written to answer the questions and to scatter the difficulties and to allay the fears of the Church in the changeful and troubled first century, are as priceless and essential to-day as they were then; in the late autumn of the Christian year they keep the value they had in its blossoming spring.
III. Therefore let me make known the love of God to me.How for me He turned the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a fountain of waters. My recital, like the Psalmists hymns and the Apostles letters, may prove to a multitude which cannot be numbered a well of refreshment, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
Illustrations
(1) The deeds of God at the time of the Exodus are here brought together to form a picture in miniature, which is as majestic as it is charming. There are four stanzas of four lines each, which pass by with the swiftness of a bird as it were with four flaps of its wings.
(2) Dante read the 114th psalm as the voice of thrilling joy, fitted for the lips of all who are emancipated from the bondage of sin, and therefore especially of those who, delivered from the bondage of the flesh, are passing into rest.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Psa 114:7-8. Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord But why do I ask these questions? Ye mountains and hills were no further moved than was quite just and proper, at the approach and presence of the great Jehovah. Yea, the whole earth had reason to tremble and quake on such an occasion. Which turned the rock into a standing water, &c. For what cannot he do, who performs such an astonishing wonder as to turn rocks into streams and rivers, and flints into fountains of water? Well may we stand in awe of this God of almighty power, and well may we put our trust in this Being of boundless goodness, who, rather than his people should want what is necessary for their sustenance, will bring substantial bread out of the airy clouds, and refreshing waters out of the dry and flinty rocks!
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
114:7 Tremble, thou {d} earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob;
(d) Ought then his people to be insensible when they see his power and majesty?
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
2. The proper response to God’s deliverance 114:7-8
The writer instructed the earth to continue to tremble before the Lord. Here he used the earth to refer to people living on the earth. This is only fitting in view of God’s awesome power that works for the welfare of His own.
Everyone should reverence the Lord, as His inanimate creation does, because He uses His great power to save and to provide for His people. Remembering His deliverance and provision should move us to fear Him.