Psalms 114:3-5
The sea looked and fled; Jordan turned back. The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs. What ails you, O sea, that you flee? O Jordan, that you turn back?
English Standard Version (ESV)
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This verse beautifully personifies the sea and the Jordan River, making them seem like living beings who witnessed God's power in action. The "it" they saw is deliberately unexpressed, forcing us to realize that nature itself recognized its Creator's awe-inspiring intervention on behalf of His people.
This psalm is celebrating God's mighty deliverance of Israel from Egypt, recounting how both the Red Sea and the Jordan River miraculously parted for them. The verses preceding this one describe Israel's departure from Egypt, and immediately following, the psalm continues to personify natural elements like mountains as trembling in awe of God's power displayed for His people.
The sea fled? The Jordan turned back? How can water act like a living being? This psalm paints a vivid picture of a world responding to its Creator.
A World in Awe
This verse uses a powerful literary device called personification. The Red Sea and the River Jordan aren't just bodies of water here; they are described as if they have eyes to see and the ability to react with fear and retreat.
These aren't just poetic descriptions. They show a universe that trembles and obeys when God’s presence is made manifest. Nature itself bears witness to God’s power and His faithfulness to His people.
What caused the sea to flee and the Jordan to turn back? Was it just raw power, or something more profound?
God's Presence is the Cause
While the psalm emphasizes the effects of God's actions – the fleeing sea, the turned-back Jordan – the underlying cause is the manifest presence of God.
This psalm uses the dramatic parting of the Red Sea and the Jordan River during the Exodus and the entry into Canaan as powerful symbols of God's intervention and sovereignty over nature itself.
c. 1446 BC— this verse
Exodus from Egypt
The Israelites, after centuries of slavery, are dramatically led out of Egypt by God's power, culminating in the parting of the Red Sea.
c. 1406 BC
Crossing the Jordan River
As the Israelites prepare to enter the Promised Land, the Jordan River miraculously parts, allowing them to cross on dry ground.
c. 1406 BC
Conquest of Canaan Begins
Following the Jordan crossing, the Israelites begin their military campaign to take possession of the land promised to Abraham.
This passage describes the Red Sea parting for the Israelites, directly mirroring the 'sea saw and fled' imagery in Psalm 114:3 and showing God's direct intervention.
Joshua 3:13-17This passage details the Jordan River stopping its flow as the Ark of the Covenant approached, illustrating the 'Jordan turned back' phenomenon from Psalm 114:3.
Habakkuk 3:10This verse describes the mountains trembling and the waters raging, echoing the personification of nature reacting in awe to God's presence, similar to Psalm 114:3.
Isaiah 51:10This verse references God drying up the sea and making a path through its depths, directly recalling the miracle at the Red Sea that Psalm 114:3 commemorates.
poolePsalms 114:3: "The sea saw it, and fled: Jordan was driven back."
Saw it, to wit, this glorious work of God in bringing his people out of Egypt.
ellicottPsalms 114:3: "The sea saw it, and fled: Jordan was driven back."
(3) Fled. —The Authorised Version weakens the effect by rendering “it was driven back.” (See Joshua 3:16 .) The scene presented is of the “descending stream” (the words employed seem to have a special reference to that peculiar and most significant name of the “Jordan”) not parted asunder, as we generally fancy, but, as the psalm expresses it, “turned backwards” (Stanley, Jewish Church, i. 229).
This verse beautifully personifies the sea and the Jordan River, making them seem like living beings who witnessed God's power in action. The "it" they saw is deliberately unexpressed, forcing us to realize that nature itself recognized its Creator's awe-inspiring intervention on behalf of His people.
This psalm is celebrating God's mighty deliverance of Israel from Egypt, recounting how both the Red Sea and the Jordan River miraculously parted for them. The verses preceding this one describe Israel's departure from Egypt, and immediately following, the psalm continues to personify natural elements like mountains as trembling in awe of God's power displayed for His people.
This psalm is celebrating God's mighty deliverance of Israel from Egypt, recounting how both the Red Sea and the Jordan River miraculously parted for them. The verses preceding this one describe Israel's departure from Egypt, and immediately following, the psalm continues to personify natural elements like mountains as trembling in awe of God's power displayed for His people.
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These ancient miracles of water parting are incredible. But do they have anything to say to us today, far removed from the Exodus?
More Than Just History
The psalm doesn't just recount historical events; it points to deeper spiritual realities and their fulfillment.
"The sea looked and fled; Jordan turned back. The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs. What ails you, O sea, that you flee? O Jordan, that you turn back?" — This verse beautifully personifies the sea and the Jordan River, making them seem like living beings who witnessed God's power in action. The "it" they saw is deliberately unexpressed, forcing us to…
