1 When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language;

2 Judah was his sanctuary, and Israel his dominion.

3 The sea saw it, and fled: Jordan was driven back.

4 The mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs.

5 What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest? thou Jordan, that thou wast driven back?

6 Ye mountains, that ye skipped like rams; and ye little hills, like lambs?

7 Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob;

8 Which turned the rock into a standing water, the flint into a fountain of waters.

Commentary

Verse 1

John Calvin Bible Commentary
When Israel went out from EgyptThat exodus being a remarkable pledge and symbol of God’s love for the children of Abraham, it is not surprising that it should be so frequently called to remembrance. In the beginning of the psalm, the prophet informs us that the people whom God purchased at so great a price are no more their own. The opinion of certain expositors, that at that time the tribe of Judah was consecrated to the service of God, according to what is said inExodus 19:6, and1 Peter 2:9, appears to me foreign to the prophet’s design. All doubt about the matter is removed by what is immediately subjoined, God’s taking Israel under his rule, which is simply a repetition of the same sentiment in other words. Judah being the most powerful and numerous of all the tribes, and occupying the chief place among them, here takes the precedency of the rest of the people. At the same time, it is very evident that the honor which is in a peculiar manner ascribed to them, belongs equally to the whole body of the people.When God is said to be sanctified, it must be understood that the prophet is speaking after the manner of men, because, in himself, God is incapable of increase or diminution.Judah is called his holiness, and Israel his dominion, because his holy majesty, which hitherto had been little known, secured the veneration of all who had witnessed the displays of his incredible power. In delivering his people, God erected a kingdom for himself and procured respect for his sacred name; if then they do not constantly reflect upon such a remarkable instance of his kindness, their insensibility is totally inexcusable.
McArther Bible Commentary
See note on Psa 113:1-9. This psalm is the one most explicitly related to the Exodus (Ex. 12-14). It recounts God's response to a captive nation (Israel in Egypt) in order to honor His promises in the Abrahamic covenant (Gen 28:13-17) given to Jacob (cf. Psa 114:1, "The house of Jacob;" Psa 114:7, "the God of Jacob").
Bible Cross References
Exodus 12:51 Exodus 13:3 Psalm 81:5

Verse 2

McArther Bible Commentary
Judah … Israel. Judah/Benjamin and the northern ten tribes, respectively. sanctuary … dominion. God dwelt among the peoples as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night (cf. Exo 13:21-22; Exo 14:19).
Bible Cross References
Exodus 15:17 Exodus 19:6 Exodus 29:45 Exodus 29:46 Psalm 78:68 Psalm 78:69

Verse 3

John Calvin Bible Commentary
The sea saw, and fledHe does not enumerate in succession all the miracles which were wrought at that time, but briefly alludes to the sea, which, though a lifeless and senseless element, is yet struck with terror at the power of God. Jordan did the same, and the very mountains shook. It is in a poetical strain that the Psalmist describes the receding of the sea and of the Jordan. The description, however, does not exceed the facts of the case. The sea, in rendering such obedience to its Creator, sanctified his name; and Jordan, by its submission, put honor upon his power; and the mountains, by their quaking, proclaimed how they were overawed at the presence of his dreadful majesty. By these examples it is not meant to celebrate God’s power more than the fatherly care and desire which he manifests for the preservation of the Church; and, accordingly, Israel is very properly distinguished from the sea, the Jordan, and the mountains — there being a very marked difference between the chosen people and the insensate elements.
McArther Bible Commentary
The sea … Jordan. Two miracles of God, i.e., separating the waters began and ended the Exodus. On the way out of Egypt, God parted the Red Sea (Exo 14:15-31) and forty years later He parted the Jordan River in order for the Jews to enter the Promised Land (Jos 3:1-17).
Bible Cross References
Exodus 14:21 Joshua 3:13 Joshua 3:16 Psalm 66:6 Psalm 74:15 Psalm 77:16 Habakkuk 3:8

Verse 4

McArther Bible Commentary
mountains … little hills. This refers to the violent appearance of God to Israel at Sinai (cf. Exo 19:18; Jdg 5:4-5; Psa 68:17-18).
Bible Cross References
Exodus 19:18 Judges 5:5 Psalm 18:7 Psalm 29:6 Habakkuk 3:6 Zechariah 4:7

Verse 5

John Calvin Bible Commentary
What ailed thee, O sea!The prophet interrogates the sea, Jordan, and the mountains, in a familiar and poetical strain, as lately he ascribed to them a sense and reverence for God’s power. And, by these similitudes, he very sharply reproves the insensibility of those persons, who do not employ the intelligence which God has given them in the contemplation of his works. The appearance which he tells us the sea assumed, is more than sufficient to condemn their blindness. It could not be dried up, the river Jordan could not roll back its waters, had not God, by his invisible agency, constrained them to render obedience to his command. The words are indeed directed to the sea, the Jordan, and the mountains, but they are more immediately addressed to us, that every one of us, on self-reflection, may carefully and attentively weigh this matter. And, therefore, as often as we meet with these words, let each of us reiterate the sentiment, — “Such a change cannot be attributed to nature, and to subordinate causes, but the hand of God is manifest here.” The figure drawn from thelambs andrams would appear to be inferior to the magnitude of the subject. But it was the prophet’s intention to express in the homeliest way the incredible manner in which God, on these occasions, displayed his power. The stability of the earth being, as it were, founded on the mountains, what connection can they have with rams and lambs, that they should be agitated, skipping hither and thither? In speaking in this homely style, he does not mean to detract from the greatness of the miracle, but more forcibly to engrave these extraordinary tokens of God’s power on the illiterate.
McArther Bible Commentary
In poetic imagery, God questioned why the most fixed of geographical features, i.e., water and mountains, could not resist His power and will.
Bible Cross References
Exodus 14:21 Joshua 3:16 Psalm 114:6 Habakkuk 3:8

Verse 6

Bible Cross References
Psalm 18:7 Psalm 29:6 Psalm 114:5 Psalm 114:7 Zechariah 4:7

Verse 7

John Calvin Bible Commentary
At the presence of the LordHaving aroused the senses of men by interrogations, he now furnishes a reply, which many understand to be a personification of the earth; because they takeי,yod, to be the affix of the verbחולי, chuli; and they represent the earth as saying, It is my duty to tremble at the presence of the Lord. This fanciful interpretation is untenable; for the term,earth, is immediately subjoined. Others, with more propriety, considering theי,yod, in this, as in many other passages, to be redundant, adopt this interpretation: It is reasonable and becoming that the earth should tremble in the presence of the Lord. Again, the termחולי,chuli, is by many rendered in the imperative mood; which interpretation I readily adopt, as it is most probable that the prophet again makes an appeal to the earth, that the hearts of men may be the more sensibly moved. The meaning is the same, — It must be that the earth quake at the presence of her King. And this view receives confirmation from the termאדון,adon, being used, which signifiesa lord or a master. He then immediately introduces the nameof the God of Jacob,for the purpose of banishing from men all notions of false gods. Their minds being prone to deceit, they are always in great danger of allowing idols to usurp the place of the true God. Another miracle is mentioned, in which God, after the passage of the people through the Red Sea, gave an additional splendid manifestation of his power in the wilderness. The glory of God, as he informs us, did not appear for one day only, on the departure of the people; it constantly shone in his other works, as when a stream suddenly issued out of the dry rock,Exodus 17:6. Waters may be found trickling out from among rocks and stony places, but to make them flow out of a dry rock, was unquestionably above the ordinary course of nature, or miraculous. I have no intention of entering into any ingenious discussion, how the stone was converted into water; all that the prophet means amounts simply to this, that water flowed in places formerly dry and hard. How absurd, then, is it for the sophists to pretend that a transubstantiation takes place in every case in which the Scripture affirms that a change has been produced? The substance of the stone was not converted into water, but God miraculously created the water, which gushed out of the dry rock.
McArther Bible Commentary
Tremble. This is the only proper response of helpless nature before the omnipotent God.
Bible Cross References
Psalm 96:9 Psalm 104:32 Psalm 114:6

Verse 8

McArther Bible Commentary
the rock. This refers to the first incident at Massah/Meribah (Exo 17:5-6) and/or the second (Num 20:8-11).
Bible Cross References
Exodus 17:6 Numbers 20:11 Deuteronomy 8:15 Psalm 74:15 Psalm 78:15 Psalm 105:41 Psalm 107:35