The writer places before himself and his readers a number of revealing reasons why he is sure the Lord reigns. God’s reign is secure because it never changes (vs 2,5). Human rulers come and go with each election, or on their death. God’s rule lasts for ever. His rule is strong (v 1) and holy (v 5), which means it is secure and cannot be toppled by any competitor. There are no legitimate pretenders to his throne.

The central part of the psalm speaks directly to the Hebrew people who were its first readers. In the Old Testament the sea is usually a picture of chaos (Genesis 1:2), darkness and judgement leading to death (the story of Jonah illustrates this). In this psalm however, it is the sea which has lifted up its voice in praise to God, acknowledging his much greater power (v 4). Remember that heaven itself is defined in the Bible by its lack of sea (Revelation 21:1). Chaos, judgement and death will be distant and powerless memories in the light of God’s perfect reign in Christ.

Renew our confidence in you, Lord, so that the firm foundations of faith may sustain us in times of danger and difficulty.

The faith and worship of biblical Israel is structured by two forms of praise and prayer: on the one hand there is the uninhibited and joyful celebration of God as Creator, Redeemer and Sovereign Lord over all the forces of darkness; on the other, there are psalms of lament which, while continuing to affirm God’s glory, raise questions concerning suffering, injustice and historical events which might suggest that the ancient chaos is returning. Our psalm today belongs firmly and emphatically in the first category. 

Every line in this psalm asserts the sovereign glory and control of God; he is eternal, majestic and holy and, because this is his character, the world, which is his creation, is ‘established, firm and secure’ (v 1). The wonderful description of the power of the seas in verses 3 and 4 echoes the mythologies of the ancient world: order had to be established against the massive powers of chaos represented by the raging of the seas – and human beings remained in constant fear that such terrors would return to overwhelm and destroy civilisation. The psalmist acknowledges the terrifying force of the waves of the sea and the very real threat they pose, yet he knows a power ‘Mightier than the thunder of the great waters’ because ‘the Lord on high is mighty’ (v 4). Artur Weiser comments that the raging of the seas is here celebrated because ‘behind them towers the mighty God, whose power gloriously proves itself in the taming of the raging elements’.¹

In our times, the threat posed by the sea has returned in the age of global warming and we have to ask whether the fundamental cause of this crisis has to be located precisely in the loss of the theological foundations celebrated in this psalm.

Reread the psalm and let the writer’s confidence in God renew and strengthen your own comfort and hope.

¹ Artur Weiser, The Psalms, SCM Press, 1962, p620