Every verse here opens — tap a number for what that one means.
1When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language;
2Judah was his sanctuary, and Israel his dominion.
3The sea saw it, and fled: Jordan was driven back.
4The mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs.
5What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest? thou Jordan, that thou wast driven back?
6Ye mountains, that ye skipped like rams; and ye little hills, like lambs?
7Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob;
8Which turned the rock into a standing water, the flint into a fountain of waters.
Commentary
Psalm 114, explained
What Psalm 114 is saying
Psalm 114 is a vivid, compact Exodus hymn that personifies nature's response to God's redemptive presence. The sea flees, the Jordan turns back, mountains skip like rams, and hills like lambs. In just eight verses, the psalm recounts the Exodus and Jordan crossing with breathtaking poetic economy, presenting creation itself as a witness trembling before its Creator.
The background behind it
As part of the Egyptian Hallel, this psalm was sung at Passover, connecting each generation to the foundational deliverance event. The absence of God's name until the final verse creates suspense, revealing the unnamed power behind nature's convulsions as 'the God of Jacob.'
Themes running underneath
The psalm's personification of nature serves a theological purpose: creation recognizes and responds to its Maker even when human hearts do not. The rhetorical questions ('What ails you, O sea?') inject dramatic irony. The closing image of water from rock inverts the opening image of fleeing water, creating a chiastic envelope.
Why it still matters
This psalm trains the worshiper to see natural events as arenas of divine activity. It also challenges the reader: if creation trembles before God, what should be the posture of the human heart?
Scripture text: King James Version — public domain.