Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 95:5
The sea [is] his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry [land].
5. Whose is the sea, for HE made it;
And the dry land, which his hands formed.
Cp. Psa 24:1; Psa 89:11.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The sea is his – Margin, as in Hebrew, Whose the sea is. That is, The sea belongs to him, with all which it contains.
And he made it – It is his, because he made it. The creation of anything gives the highest possible right over it.
And his hands formed the dry land – He has a claim, therefore, that it should be recognized as his, and that all who dwell upon it, and derive their support from it, should acknowledge him as its great Owner and Lord.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 95:5
The sea is His, and He made it.
Considerations on the sea
When we place ourselves upon the shore, and from thence behold that immense body of waters, stretching away on all sides, far as the eye can reach; and when we consider how large, a portion of the globe is covered in like manner; what a noble idea are we hereby enabled to form of the immensity of that Being who is said not only to weigh the mountains in a balance, but to take up the sea in the hollow of His hand! In whose sight the hills are but as dust, the ocean is no more than a drop. The immeasurable breadth of the sea may remind us of Gods boundless mercy; its unfathomable depth holds forth an image of His unsearchable judgments. When we see a mass of water rising up by a gradual ascent, till the sky seems, as it were, to descend and close upon it, a thought immediately strikes us–what is it which prevents these waters from breaking in upon and overflowing the land, as they appear in heaps so much above it? Let us adore that unseen power which, by a perpetual decree, keeps them in their proper place, nor suffers them to intrude themselves into one which is not theirs. Hear attentively the noise of the sea–how grand and awful the sound, even as the voice of the Almighty God when He speaketh! And is not this what the waves always say,–praise the Lord–praise Him with your voices, as we constantly do with ours, while we thus intelligibly proclaim aloud the might of His power and the glory of His majesty! Nor is the sea more wonderful in itself than it is beneficial to mankind. From its surface vapours are continually arising, drawn upwards by the heat of the sun, which, by degrees formed into clouds, drop fatness on our fields and gardens, causing even the wilderness to smile, and the valleys, covered over with corn, to laugh and sing. Thus the prayers of the faithful servants of God, daily ascending from all parts of the earth, return in large effusions of grace and blessing from heaven. But we are indebted to the ocean not only for the vapours sent up from its surface, but likewise for many springs, which have their origin from the great deep beneath, with which the sea communicates. These, arising in vapour through the lower parts of the earth, break forth and issue in streams, many of which joined form rivers, and so go back again to the place from whence they came; as the blood in the human body flows in streams from the heart, through the arteries, and returns to it again, in rivers, by the veins, which grow larger as they approach and are about to empty themselves into the great reservoir. In the greater, as well as the lesser world, there is a constant circulation maintained. The income is proportioned to the expense, and nothing is wasted. All rivers, saith Solomon, run to the sea, yet the sea is not full, or, does not overflow; to the place from whence the rivers come, thither do they return again; but not till, by their innumerable turnings and windings, they have refreshed and enriched large tracts of country in their passage. So Divine grace springs up in the heart of a Christian man, as water doth in a fountain, supplied from an invisible and inexhaustible storehouse. It flows forth in his words and action, doing good to all around it in its course, and is finally swallowed up and lost in the boundless ocean of infinite perfection. (Bp. Horne.)
Gods ownership of the sea
God has given the land to man, but the sea He has reserved to Himself: the sea is His, and He made it. He has given man no inheritance in it; no, not so much as to set his foot on. If he enters its domain, he enters it as a pilgrim and a stranger. He may pass over it, but he can have no abiding place upon it. He cannot build his house, nor so much as pitch his tent within it. He cannot mark it with his lines, nor subdue it to his uses, nor rear his monuments upon it. If he has done any brilliant exploit upon its surface, he cannot perpetuate the memory of it by erecting so much as an arch or a pillar. It steadfastly refuses to own him as lord. And with this is connected that other feature of the sea which marks its reservation to God: I mean its loneliness. There are spaces measured by thousands and thousands of miles over which no ship has ever passed. The idea of a nations commerce whitening every sea is the wildest fancy. If all the ships that have ever been built were brought together into a single fleet, they would fill but a hand-breadth of the ocean. The space, therefore, that man and his works occupy on the sea is as small in extent as the hold he has on it by his power is slight and superficial. Both together are as nothing. The ocean covers three-fourths of the surface of the globe, and by far the greatest part of this vast expanse is and ever has been entirely free from his presence and visitation. And it is this vastness, this loneliness, and this impossibility of subjugation by man, that set it apart from the secular aspect that belongs to the rest of the world, and consecrate it as the peculiar possession and dwelling-place of the Most High. Like some vast builded temple, it perpetually speaks of Him and for Him. It bodies forth His immensity. It represents eternity. Its vastness, its omnipresence, and its separation from the presence and power of man, set it apart as the symbol of God, the temple of His abode, and the place of His special manifestation. We can walk down to the shore and lay our hand upon its waters; and when we do so, we feel as if we touched the feet of Jehovah; as if we saw the very fields of immensity and eternity, and held within our grasp the lines that bound us to another life. And it is this which gives the sea its mystery and might; that it is fraught with these Divine elements; that it is charged with these spiritual suggestions; that it is the symbol of eternity and infinity, and crowds upon us, with irresistible majesty, the vision of that life unseen, and those worlds unknown, for which our souls are made, and to which the feet of every one of us are swiftly and irreversibly travelling. (L. Swain, D.D.)
The wonders of the sea
I. Its extent. The surface of the globe is said to be two hundred millions of square miles, and of these more than two-thirds are supposed to be water; so that the surface of the sea may be one hundred and forty millions of miles. And then, with regard to its depth, it is beyond all calculation. The depth may, in some parts, be sounded; but a great portion is unfathomable. It is, therefore, a fit emblem of the immensity of its Maker, of whom it is said, Who by searching can find God, who can find out the Almighty to perfection? It may be considered also as an emblem of eternity, that vast eternity to which we are all hastening, and into which we must ere long be launched.
II. Its bounds and limits appointed by God (Jer 5:22; Isa 40:12). Shall such a God be forgotten? Shall He be insulted by profane oaths, drunkenness, etc.?
III. Its inhabitants. Although the surface of the sea presents only a barren prospect, having no hills nor trees to adorn it, yet it contains a multitude which no man can number of living creatures, far more numerous than all the tribes of animals which inhabit the land.
IV. Its utility. But when we speak of the great advantages which the world has derived from the sea, there is one which as much surpasses all the rest as the brilliant sun in the firmament exceeds all the twinkling stars of the night–it is the glorious Gospel of the blessed God, which must have been brought to our country by a ship; and it is supposed as early as in the days of the apostles, and most probably by some British princes and nobles who had been prisoners in Rome, where it is thought they were converted by the ministry of St. Paul. To the Gospel we owe the great and innumerable improvements gradually introduced; which have at length rendered England the glory of all lands, and have made us superior in religion, arts, and arms to every nation under the sun. (Anon.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 5. The sea is his] The sea and the dry land are equally his, for he has formed them both, and they are his property. He governs and disposes of them as he sees good. He is the absolute Master of universal nature. Therefore there is no other object of worship nor of confidence.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The sea is his, and he made it,…. He made it, and therefore it is, and all creatures in it; he sets bounds to it, and its waves, and restrains the raging of it at his pleasure, Mt 8:26,
and his hands formed the dry land; the whole world, all besides the sea, the vast continent; he is the Maker of it, and all creatures in it; without him was nothing made that is made; and, being the Creator of all things, is the proper object of worship, Joh 1:2, as follows.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
5. The sea the dry land Another description comprehending the entire globe. The argument lies against the heathen notion of tutelary or local gods. God is supreme over all. Psa 95:3. He rules in the mountain heights and in the lowest depths. Psa 95:4. Comp. 1Ki 20:23; 1Ki 20:28. He rules over the sea and the dry land.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 95:5 The sea [is] his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry [land].
Ver. 5. The sea is his, &c. ] Canute confuted his flatterers (who told him that all things in his dominions were at his beck and check) by laying his command on the sea to come up no higher into his land, but it obeyed him not.
And his hands formed the dry land
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
hands. Figure of speech Anthropopatheia. App-6.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Psa 95:5
Psa 95:5
“The sea is his, and he made it;
And his hands formed the dry land.”
When Jonah was confronted by his fellow ship-mates who demanded to know who he was, he replied, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear Jehovah the God of heaven and earth, who made the sea and the dry land” (Jon 1:9). These words of God’s praise were often used in Israel.
E.M. Zerr:
Psa 95:5. God made the sea and land and they are rightfully his.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
The sea is his: Heb. Whose the sea is, Psa 33:7, Gen 1:9, Gen 1:10, Job 38:10, Job 38:11, Pro 8:29, Jer 5:22
hands: Pro 8:26
Reciprocal: Exo 9:29 – that the earth Psa 104:25 – this great Psa 107:24 – his wonders Psa 146:6 – the sea Psa 148:5 – for he Jon 1:9 – which Rev 14:7 – worship