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Psalm 114 Bible study: The sea saw it, and fled
Psalm 114 says "his sanctuary" (114:2) before it names him. The sea flees, the Jordan turns back, the mountains skip, and the psalm asks them why (114:5-6). Only then: "Tremble, you earth, at the presence of the Lord" (114:7). And the sea's fled is the Hebrew verb of the Egyptians who fled at the sea (Exodus 14:27).
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“Tremble, you earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob, who turned the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a spring of waters.”
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“Psalm 114 says "his sanctuary" before it names the Lord.”
Is that in Psalm 114, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
"His", before the psalm names him
Psalm 114 has no title. It begins with the going out: "When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of foreign language" (114:1) (tap foreign language). Then: "Judah became his sanctuary, Israel his dominion" (114:2) (tap sanctuary, dominion). Here is what almost everyone misses: the psalm says his twice before it says whose. The sea flees, the Jordan turns back, the mountains skip (114:3-4), and the psalm asks them why (114:5-6). Only in its seventh verse does it name him: "at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob" (114:7) (tap Lord). In Hebrew 114:3 has no word for the WEB's it: the sea simply saw, and the psalm doesn't say what it saw. And the psalm never has the name the WEB prints as the LORD. It calls him the Lord, adon, and the God of Jacob. It opens with "the house of Jacob" (114:1) and names "the God of Jacob" (114:7) near its end.
Honest questions
Questions people ask about Psalm 114
That was a taste
The rest of Psalm 114 is waiting in Favor
- Said, then asked
- Tremble at the presence of the Lord
- The verb that turns
- "The waters saw you"
- 6 questions as you read
- 12 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
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The Hebrew word behind it
נוּסnussay NOOS
Brown-Driver-Briggs: "flee, escape". Strong's: "to flit, i.e. vanish away". "The sea saw it, and fled" (114:3), and the question, "What was it, you sea, that you fled?" (114:5). In Exodus this is the verb of the Egyptians at the sea: "Let’s flee from the face of Israel" (Exodus 14:25), and "the Egyptians fled against it" (Exodus 14:27). In Psalm 114 the sea itself flees. The Psalms have nus five times in Hebrew, twice in this psalm; another has the waters fleeing: "At your rebuke they fled" (Psalm 104:7).
For your group
Psalm 114 Bible study questions
- 1"Judah became his sanctuary, Israel his dominion" (114:2). The psalm speaks of a people who became his. What does belonging to God look like in your week?
- 2"What was it, you sea, that you fled?" (114:5). The psalm asks a question it wants you to answer. When have you seen something give way that you thought never would?
- 3"who turned the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a spring of waters" (114:8). Where would you ask God for water out of rock right now?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Psalm 114 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
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Questions
What is Favor?
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
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The World English Bible, a modern, readable translation in the public domain. God's name appears as "the LORD", as in most English Bibles.
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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home