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The UK Bible Students Website Christian Biblical Studies |
THOUGHTS ON PSALM 93*
King James Version
1 The LORD reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the LORD is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is [e]stablished, that it cannot be moved.
This verse employs the Hebrew literary device of parallelism** – that of repeating one shade of thought followed by a similar one. Jehovah is sovereign, ruling over all peoples, angels and his creation. He is majestic in his very being, luminous, but not visible to human eye or telescope; omnipotent, figuratively armed and unassailable. By his might he has set the earth in its orbit and decreed its movement. The thoughtful mind will wonder how this came to be. See Job 26: 7. Others will attribute such events to accidental, blind forces.
2 Thy throne is established of old: thou art from everlasting.
God’s rulership is ancient beyond time and space; he is unfathomable, without beginning and without end. From this we may conclude that the Universe which he called into existence is infinite in scope.
3 The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves.**
By ‘floods’ the Psalmist depicts roaring, rebellious behaviour on earth (Psa. 65: 5-7). At the fall of Adam all inhabitants of the earth – Adam’s stock – have become depraved and unrighteous and in their sinful condition they clamour against the rule of the Most High, which they regard as severe.
4 The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea.
Anger against Jehovah is futile; his holiness and strength refute the feeble efforts of mankind to thwart His purposes, which are ‘yea and amen’ in his son, Christ Jesus. ‘Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof’ (Psa. 46: 2, 3). The human race stands condemned in Adam and are subject to the permission of evil (trouble and distress) during their lifetime. But ‘his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning’ (Psa. 30: 5).
5 Thy testimonies are very sure [faithful]: holiness becometh thine house, O LORD, for ever.[margin, to length of days]
God’s truths, issuing from him who is the eternal Fount of Truth, may be depended upon. The LORD dwells in righteousness and purity and is a haven for all who believe in and love him.
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* In his Commentary, Adam Clarke writes: ‘This psalm has no title either in the Hebrew or Chaldee. The Vulgate, Septuagint, Ethiopic, and Arabic, state it to be ‘A song of praise of David for the day preceding the Sabbath, when the earth was founded . . .’.
** Anaphora: A device employing Like Sentence Beginnings: The floods . . . lifted up . . . the floods lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves. Cf. Deut. 28: 3-6.
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