XCIII. There is a power in the very brevity of this song. God is King, and all the rage and unrest of the world are impotent before that fact. It may have been inspired by some particular event, which it is hopeless to seek to recover, but it expresses a general truth. The angry tumult of men beats... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LORD REIGNETH. — Comp. Psalms 97:1; Psalms 99:1. Better, _Jehovah has become king_: the usual term for ascending the throne (2 Samuel 15:10; 1 Kings 1:11; 1 Kings 1:13; 2 Kings 9:13); used in Isaiah of the re-establishment of the State after the Captivity (Isaiah 24:23; Isaiah 52:7); and by the... [ Continue Reading ]
WAVES. — Better, for the parallelism, _roaring:_ but literally, _breaking of the waves on the shore._ FLOODS, here poetically for the sea, as in Psalms 24:2. LIFT UP. — The repetition of the verb the third time in a different tense adds to the force. In LXX. and Vulgate this clause is “from the vo... [ Continue Reading ]
SEA. — Whether this description of a raging sea is to be taken literally, or as emblematic of war and its horrors, is doubtful.... [ Continue Reading ]
THY TESTIMONIES. — This statement must be taken in close connection with that of the preceding verse. The permanence of the covenant, and of the outward signs that attest it, is to the Israelite proof of the superiority of the Divine power over the forces of nature. We may extend the thought, and sa... [ Continue Reading ]