Psalms 106:9

Psa 106:9 He rebuked the Red sea also, and it was dried up: so he led them through the depths, as through the wilderness.

Ver. 9. He rebuked the Red Sea also] Ingentia beneficia, flagitia, supplicia, as appeareth in the subsequent verses.

So he led them through the depths] Inter duas aquarum congeries, between two mountains of waters, which stood on each hand of them as a wall, and made a lane. Every main affliction is our Red Sea; which while it threateneth to swallow us up, preserveth us.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Psa_106:9

He rebuked the:Red Sea also.

Israel at the Red Sea

No doubt the children of Israel supposed that now all was over; the Egyptians had sent them away, entreating them to depart, and loading them with riches. They said within themselves, We shall now march to Canaan at once; there will be no more dangers, no more trials. Not quite so speedily, says God; the time is not arrived yet for you to rest. It is true I have delivered you from Egypt; but there is much you have to learn before you will be prepared to dwell in Canaan. Therefore I shall lead you about, and instruct you, and teach you.

I. The children of Israel just now had three difficulties--three exceeding great dangers. And so I believe that every heir of heaven, within a very short period after the time of his deliverance, will meet with the same.

1. The first they had was a great trial sent by God Himself. There was the Red Sea in the front of them. Now, it was not an enemy that put the sea there; it was God Himself. We may therefore think, that the Red Sea represents some great and trying providence, which the Lord will be sure to place in the path of every new-born child; in order to try his faith, and to test the sincerity of his trust in God.

2. Then the children of Israel had a second difficulty. They would not have cared about the Red Sea a single atom, if they had not been terrified by the Egyptians who were behind them. These are the representatives of those sins of ours which we thought were clean dead and gone. The pangs after we come out of Egypt are at times even more painful than those we feel in the house of bondage; and there is usually a time of trial a little while after the new birth, which is even more terrible and awful than the previous agony of the soul, though not usually so protracted.

3. But there was a third difficulty, which perhaps wrought them more misery than either of the other two; these poor children of Israel had such faint hearts. They no sooner saw the Egyptians than they began to cry out; and when they beheld the Red Sea before them, they murmured against their Deliverer. A faint heart is the worst foe a Christian can have; whilst he keeps his faith firm, whilst the anchor is fixed deep in the rock, he never need fear the storm; but when the hand of faith is palsied, or the eye of faith is dim, it will go hard with us.

II. But, thanks be to God I the children of Israel had three helps. Oh! child of God, dost thou discern this mystery? Whenever thou hast three trials, thou wilt always have three promises; and if thou hadst forty afflictions, thou wouldst have forty measures of grace.

1. The first help they had was Providence. Providence put the Red Sea there, and piled the rocks on either hand, while providence represented by the fiery cloudy pillar had led them to its shore, and conducted them into the defile, and now the same pillar of providence came to their assistance. They had not come thither undirected, and therefore they should not be left unprotected, for the same cloudy pillar which led them there came behind them to protect them. Cheer up, then, heir of grace! What is thy trial? Has providence brought it upon thee? If so, unerring wisdom will deliver thee from it.

2. Again: the children of Israel had another refuge, in the fact that they knew that they were the covenant people of God, and that, though they were in difficulties, God had brought them there, and therefore God was bound in honour to bring them out of that trouble into which He had brought them. Well, says the child of God, I know I am in a strait, but this one thing I also know, that I did not come out of Egypt by myself--I know that He brought me out; I know that I did not escape by my own power, or slay my first-born sins myself--I know that He did it; and though I fled from the tyrant--I know that He made my feet mighty for travel, for there was not one feeble in all our tribes; I know that though I am at the Red Sea, I did not run there uncalled, but He bade me go there, and therefore I give to the winds my fears; for if He hath led me here into this difficulty, He will lead me out, and lead me through.

3. The third refuge which the children of Israel had was in a man; and neither of the two others, without that, would have been of any avail. It was the man Moses. He did everything for them. Thy greatest refuge, O child of God! in all thy trials, is in a man: not in Moses, but in Jesus; not in the servant, but in the master. He is interceding for thee, unseen and unheard by thee, even as Moses did for the children of Israel. Look! on yonder rock of heaven He stands, cross in hand, even as Moses with his rod. Cry to Him, for with that uplifted cross He will cleave a path for thee, and guide thee through the sea; He will make those hoary floods, which had been friends for ever, stand asunder like foes. Call to Him, and He will make thee a way in the midst of the ocean, and a path through the pathless sea.

III. God had a design in it. And here, also, we wish you to regard with attention what Gods design is, in leading the Christian into exceeding great trials in the early part of his life. They were all baptized, says the apostle, unto Moses, in the cloud and in the sea. Gods design in bringing His people into trouble, and raising all their sins at their heels, is to give them a thorough baptism into His service, consecrating them for ever to Himself. I mean by baptism this morning, not the rite, but what baptism represents. Baptism signifies dedication to God--initiation into Gods service. It is not when we are first converted that we so fully dedicate ourselves to God, as afterwards, when some great Red Sea rolls before us. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

9. (Psa 106:9) And he rebuked the Red Sea and it dried up, and ihe made them go through the deeps like the desert. This is merely a specification of the general statement in the preceding verse. The divine intervention here commemorated was the more remarkable because it took place on the very spot where they first rebelled, as mentioned in Psa 106:7. Though they disobeyed him at the Red Sea, he nevertheless dried the Red Sea, i.e. as much of it as was required to furnish them a passage. Rebuked, as in Psa 104:7. Like the desert, as in the desert, i.e. in a level and extensive plain, without obstruction or unevenness. See my note on Isa 63:13, where the same comparison is used.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Psalms Translated and Explained (1850) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

106:9 Red Sea: See Exod 14:15-31.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 9. He rebuked the Red Sea] In the descriptions of the psalmist every thing has life. The sea is an animated being, behaves itself proudly, is rebuked, and retires in confusion.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

9. He rebuked &c.] Cp. Psa_104:7; Isa_50:2; Nah_1:4.

so he led them &c.] Apparently a reminiscence of Isa_63:13 : cp. Isa_51:10.

as through a wilderness] I.e. on dry ground, Exo_14:22. But R.V. marg. may be right in rendering pasture-land, suggesting the metaphor of a flock, Psa_77:20.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He rebuked the Red sea also, and it was dried up,.... By sending a strong east wind, which drove the waters back, and made the sea a dry land, Exo 14:21.

So he led them through the depths; that is, the deep waters of the sea, which were cast up as an heap, and stood as a wall on each side, through which they passed.

As through the wilderness; or rather, "as on a plain"; for a passage through a wilderness where no roads are, and many obstructions be, is not easy; and so it is manifestly to be understood in Isa 63:13, where Jarchi and Kimchi interpret it a plain and smooth ground, a champaign country; and so the word is used for a plain, in opposition to mountains, in Jer 9:10, and then the sense is, that God led them through the sea, being dried up, as if they were led through a plain and open country, where was nothing to obstruct their march; an emblem of baptism, Co1 10:1, and of the passage of the people of God through this world; See Gill on Psa 78:13.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

He rebuked the Red Sea also - The word rendered “rebuke” commonly means to chide - as when one is angry with another for having done wrong. Here it is evidently a poetic term, meaning that he spake “as if” he were angry; or “as if” the Red Sea did wrong in presenting an obstacle or obstruction to the passage of his people. Compare Exo 14:21-22,

So he led them through the depths - Through what had been the abyss; what had seemed to be depths, being covered with water.

As through the wilderness - As through a desert or dry place; as he afterward led them through the wilderness. The waters parted asunder, and made a way for them.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

As securely as if they had walked upon the dry land.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ver. 9. He rebuked the Red sea also, and it was dried up. A word did it. The sea heard his voice and obeyed. How many rebukes of God are lost upon us! Are we not more unmanageable than the ocean? God did, as it were, chide the sea, and say, "Wherefore dost thou stop the way of my people? Their path to Canaan lies through thy channel, how dare you hinder them?" The sea perceived its Master and his seed royal, and made way at once.

So he led them through the depths, as through the wilderness. As if it had been the dry floor of the desert the tribes passed over the bottom of the gulf; nor was their passage venturesome, for HE bade them go;nor dangerous, for He led them. We also have under divine protection passed through many trials and afflictions, and with the Lord as our guide we have experienced no fear and endured no perils. We have been led through the deeps as through the wilderness.

Ver. 9. He rebuked the Red sea also, and it was dried up. A poetical expression, signifying that the Red Sea retired at God's command, just as a slave would fly from his master's presence on being severely rebuked. Robert Bellarmine.

Ver. 9. He rebuked. We do not read that any voice was sent forth from heaven to rebuke the sea; but he hath called the Divine Power by which this was effected, a rebuke, unless indeed any one may choose to say, that the sea was secretly rebuked, so that the waters might hear, and yet men could not. The power by which God acts is very abstruse and mysterious, a power by which he causeth that even things devoid of sense instantly obey at his will. Augustine.

Ver. 9. Wilderness. Midbar; a broad expanse of poor dry land, suited for sheep walks (like our South Downs, or Salisbury Plain). Compare Isa 43:13. William Kay.

Ver. 9. Israel at the Red Sea. See "Spurgeon's Sermons", No. 72.

1. Israel's three difficulties.

(a) The Red Sea in front of them. This was not put there

by an enemy; but by God himself. The Red Sea

represents some great and trying providence placed in

the path of every newborn child of God, to try his

faith, and the sincerity of his trust in God.

b) The Egyptians behind them, the representatives of the sins which we thought were dead and gone. (c) The third difficulty was faint hearts within them.

2. Israel's three helps.

(a) Providence.

(b) Their knowledge that they were the covenant people of

God.

(c) The man, Moses. So the believer's hope and help is

in the God man Christ Jesus.

3. God's grand design in it. To give them a thorough baptism into his service, consecrating them for ever to himself (1Co 1-2).

Ver. 9. (second clause). Dangerous and difficult paths rendered safe and easy by God's leadership.

Psalms 106:10*

Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

9. Rebuked the Red sea—See note on Psa_104:7.

Through the depths—Through the cavernous and rocky bed of the Red sea, as if it were an open country. Exodus 14; Isa_51:10

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He rebuked the Red Sea also (comp. Psa_104:7, "At thy rebuke they i.e. the waters fled;" see also Isa_50:2 Nah_1:4) The Hebrew poets constantly represent God"s dealings with inanimate nature in terms proper to his dealings with his rational creatures, thus personifying material things. And it was dried up. (see Exo_14:21, Exo_14:22) So he led them through the depths, as through the wilderness. (comp. Isa_63:13) Midbar, the word translated "wilderness," is properly a smooth stretch of down, very level, and suited for sheep walks.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Led them - As securely as if they had walked upon the dry land.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

and He led them in the depths in the desert The Sea of Reeds was in the desert, for it is written (Exod. 14:13): “the desert has closed upon them, etc.”; (Exod. 3:18): “three days’ journey in the desert.”

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.