Bible Commentaries
Psalms 114

Verses 1-8

Psalms 114

The Exodus Psalm

Scripture v. 1-8:

This is a meditative Passover song of praise to God for delivering Israel from Egypt’s oppressive bondage into the land of Canaan. It is declared to be typical of man’s deliverance from sin’s bondage, oppression, depression, and condemnation today, with assurance of a better home of rest, beyond this life, John 14:13; 1 Corinthians 10:6; 2 Corinthians 5:6; 1 Corinthians 2:9.

Verses 1, 2 recount that when Israel "went out. of Egypt, the house of Jacob (twelve tribal families) from a people of strange language," a language of worship and praise to idol, heathen gods, "Judah was (existed as) his God’s sanctuary, and Israel his dominion;" This means God lived among Israel as their help, hope, and one to be worshipped, Deuteronomy 28:49; Psalms 81:5; Psalms 22:3; See also Psalms 87:1; John 20:15; See too Exodus 6:7; Exodus 19:6; Exodus 25:8; Exodus 29:45-46; Deuteronomy 27:9.

Verse 3 states "The sea (Red Sea) saw it, and fled (receded); Jordan was driven back," by His power, before the Canaanites, as well as Israel, as certified, Exodus 14:21; Joshua 3:13-16; Psalms 77:16. The sea and rivers of waters are symbols of massive world powers, yet under control of the living God, Psalms 107:23-30.

Verse 4 recounts "the mountains skipped like rams; and the little hills like lambs," mountains and hills symbolize world powers, trembling before God, as Sinai did, Exodus 19:18; Judges 5:4; Psalms 29:6; Psalms 68:8; Psalms 76:4; Zechariah 4:7.

Verses 5,6 chide the mountains, hills, sea, and the Jordan river for their skipping, fleeing, and drawing back from the presence of the Lord, as described v.3,4. It is a form of irony, indicating that so shall heathen, gentile world dominions fall before the Lord, with trembling fear at the second advent of our Lord, Psalms 68:16; Jeremiah 4:23-24; Micah 1:3-4; Nahum 1:5; Habakkuk 3:8; 2 Peter 3:7; 2 Peter 3:11; Revelation 20:11.

Verse 7 answers the Psalmist’s chiding, "what aileth thee?" question to the fear of fleeing earth, at the presence of the Lord, (your creator and owner), at the presence of the God of Jacob," the living God, Psalms 97:4-5.

Verse 8 concludes that this God of Jacob "Turned the rock (at Horeb) into a standing (continual flow) of water, the flint into a fountain (artesian flow) of waters," as recounted Exodus 17:6; Numbers 20:11; Deuteronomy 8:15; Deuteronomy 32:13, Psalms 105:41; Psalms 107:35; And "that rock" was Christ, 1 Corinthians 10:4. These facts of God, in behalf of His people Israel, were retold in word and song, with instrumental music, annually, on the way up to and around the Passover supper of the Jews. .