Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord. Psalm 114:7
Back and forth, back and forth go the pounding waves of the sea. From ages past, the continents have been separated by the mighty oceans. Man has learned to travel over them, to descend to the bottom of them, and to travel through them—but their immensity and the relentless force of their waves remain untamable. Rocks are crushed, shorelines are changed, and even experienced sailors can be driven aground or sent to the bottom of the sea. The combined genius of man and the most powerful equipment can do little to conquer the oceans.
When the turbulent seas of adversity are threatening, we need to remember the awesome power of God. As the seas fled before Him, so too can the obstacles that seem so overwhelming to us. They have no more resistance to God’s power than water in a teacup!
They are no problem for God, however. The One who created the mighty oceans does with them what He wishes. Psalm 114 refers to the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and the parting of the Red Sea (Exodus 14:13-31) to describe God’s great power. The psalmist wrote, “The sea saw it and fled” (Psalm 114:3). Then he asked, “What ails you, O sea, that you fled?” (v.5). The seas were obeying the command of God.
God gives to His servants a promise:
You’ll not have to face life alone,
For when you grow weak in your struggle,
His strength will prevail—not your own. —Hess
The power of God within you is greater than
the pressure of troubles around you.
1 When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language, 2 Judah became His sanctuary, and Israel His dominion. 3 The sea saw it and fled; Jordan turned back. 4 The mountains skipped like rams, the little hills like lambs. 5 What ails you, O sea, that you fled? O Jordan, that you turned back? 6 O mountains, that you skipped like rams? O little hills, like lambs? 7 Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob, 8 who turned the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a fountain of waters.
Insight
Psalm 114 allows us to remember the history of Israel as a testimony to God’s strength. In addition to “the sea,” referring to God’s parting of the Red Sea to allow the children of Israel to escape the bondage of Egypt (Exodus 14:21), “the Jordan turned back” reminds us of the opening of the Jordan River as the Israelites passed into the land of promise for the first time (Joshua 3:13-16). Even God’s provision of water from a rock (Exodus 17:1-6) bears witness to the power of the Lord. His strength can prevail when ours could never be enough.
