3 The sea saw it and fled, the Jordan turned back;
And it shall come to pass, when the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of Jehovah, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan, the waters flowing down from above, shall be cut off, and shall stand up in a heap. And it came to pass when the people removed from their tents, to pass over the Jordan, that the priests bearing the ark of the covenant were before the people; and when they that bore the ark were come to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark dipped in the edge of the water (and the Jordan is full over all its banks throughout the days of harvest), the waters which flowed down from above stood [and] rose up in a heap, very far, by Adam, the city that is beside Zaretan; and those that flowed down towards the sea of the plain, the salt sea, were completely cut off. And the people went over opposite to Jericho.
Was Jehovah wrathful with the rivers? Was thine anger against the rivers? Was thy rage against the sea, That thou didst ride upon thy horses, Thy chariots of salvation? Thy bow was made naked, The rods [of discipline] sworn according to [thy] word. Selah. Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers.
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Commentary on Psalms 114 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
PSALM 114
Ps 114:1-8. The writer briefly and beautifully celebrates God's former care of His people, to whose benefit nature was miraculously made to contribute.
1-4. of strange language—(compare Ps 81:5).
4. skipped … rams—(Ps 29:6), describes the waving of mountain forests, poetically representing the motion of the mountains. The poetical description of the effect of God's presence on the sea and Jordan alludes to the history (Ex 14:21; Jos 3:14-17). Judah is put as a parallel to Israel, because of the destined, as well as real, prominence of that tribe.
5-8. The questions place the implied answers in a more striking form.
7. at the presence of—literally, "from before," as if affrighted by the wonderful display of God's power. Well may such a God be trusted, and great should be His praise.