Psalm 114 Devotional

When the Sea Ran Away

“Judah became God’s sanctuary, Israel His dominion.”Psalm 114:2 (BSB)

This short poem retells the exodus with vivid, almost playful pictures. When Israel left Egypt, the sea looked and fled, the Jordan turned back, and the mountains skipped like rams (114:3-4). Then the poet asks the sea and the hills what made them act that way (114:5-6). The answer comes in verse 7: the presence of the Lord, the God of Jacob. Creation could not stay still when he moved.

But the center of the psalm is quieter. When God brought his people out, Judah became his sanctuary and Israel his realm (114:2). The exodus was not only an escape from Egypt. God was making a people to be his own dwelling. And the God who drives back seas also turns hard rock into a pool for thirsty travelers (114:8). Paul says the rock that accompanied Israel in the wilderness was Christ (1 Corinthians 10:4). The power that makes mountains tremble also provides water in the desert. His presence still makes obstacles give way, and his care still reaches the thirsty.

To think about: What obstacle feels immovable to you right now, and how does this psalm's picture of God's presence speak to it?