Psalms 77:14
Ver. 14. Thou art the God that doest wonders,.... In nature, providence, and grace; it seems chiefly to regard what was done for the Israelites in Egypt, and in the wilderness, see Ps 78:12,thou hast declared thy strength among the people; the nations of the world, who heard what the Lord did for Israel by his mighty power, and with an outstretched arm, as follows. Psalms 77:15Ver. 15. Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people,.... The people of Israel out of Egypt, which was typical of the redemption of the Lord's people by Christ, the arm and power of God:the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Joseph is particularly mentioned for honour's sake, and because he was the means of supporting Jacob and his family in Egypt; and had special faith in their deliverance from thence; the Targum is,"the sons whom Jacob begot, and Joseph nourished.''Selah. See Gill on "Ps 3:2". Psalms 77:16Ver. 16. The waters saw thee, O God,.... The waters not of Jordan, but of the Red sea; these felt and perceived the power of God, in causing a strong east wind, which dried it up, and made way for the children of Israel to pass through it as on dry land: compare with this Ps 114:3,the waters saw thee; which is repeated for the confirmation of it, and to excite attention to it, as well as to express the psalmist's admiration at it; the Targum is,"they saw thy majesty in the midst of the sea, O God; they saw thy power upon the sea;''not the Egyptians, but the sons of Jacob and Joseph; the old Syriac church understood these waters of the waters of Jordan, at the baptism of Christ, when in their way they saw the incarnate God, and felt his sacred body laid in them, by which he was made manifest to Israel; but Jerom better interprets them, by the help of Re 17:15 of people, nations, and tongues; some of which saw Christ corporeally, others spiritually, and by faith, as preached in the Gospel to the Gentile world:they were afraid; of the majesty of God, obeyed their Sovereign, of whom they stood in awe, gave way unto him, and fled at his rebuke, see Ps 114:5 or "were in pain" {z}, as a woman in travail, as were the Gentile world at the preaching of the Gospel of redemption and salvation by Christ, Ro 8:22,the depths also were troubled; not only the surface, or waves of the waters, were moved by the strong east wind, through the power of God, but the bottom of the sea was reached by it; the depths were congealed in the midst of it, the channels of water were seen, and the foundation of the world discovered, and the children of Israel went through the deep as on dry land, see Ex 15:8.{z} wlyx "parturierunt", Montanus, Vatablus; "dolore corruptae sunt, videl dolore parturientium", Piscator; so Ainsworth. Psalms 77:17Ver. 17. The clouds poured out water,.... This, with some other circumstances which follow, are not related by Moses in the history of this affair; but as they are here recorded by an inspired penman, there is no doubt to be made of the truth of them; besides Josephus {a} relates the same things; he says, that at the time when the Egyptians were drowned in the Red sea, rains descended from heaven, and there were terrible thunders, lightnings, and thunderbolts; this was when the Lord looked through the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians, Ex 14:24,the skies sent out a sound; or the airy clouds, the lighter ones, and which were higher in the heavens, as the others before mentioned were thick clouds, full of water, and hung lower; these were thunderclouds, and thunder is the sound which they sent forth, as in the following verse:thine arrows also went abroad: that is, lightnings, as in Ps 18:14, so Aben Ezra; but Kimchi interprets them of hailstones.{a} Antiqu. l. 2. c. 16. sect. 3. Psalms 77:18Ver. 18. The voice of thy thunder was in the heaven,.... Thunder is the voice of God, Job 37:5 this is heard in "the orb" {b}, or the air, so called, because spherical; the Targum is"the voice of thy thunder was heard in the wheel;''so the word here used sometimes signifies; so Eze 10:13, and is so rendered here by some {c}; some think this refers to the wheels of the chariots of the Egyptians, which were taken off, it may be by the force of thunder and lightning, so that they drove on heavily, Ex 14:25,the lightnings lightened the world; not only that part of the world where the Israelites and Egyptians were, but the whole world; for lightning comes out of the east, and shines to the west, Mt 24:27, this was in the night, and a very dark night it was, as Josephus {d} affirms; see Ps 97:4,the earth trembled and shook; there was an earthquake at the same time; unless this is to be understood of the panic which the inhabitants of the earth were put into on hearing of this wonderful event, Jos 2:9.{b} lglgb "in rotunditate", Montanus, Vatablus; "in isto orbe", Junius & Tremeullis; "in orbe", Cocceius; "in sphaera", Arab. {c} "In rota", Pagninus, Tigurine version, Musculus, Gejerus; "in rotis", Muis, Syr. vid. Suidam in voce trocov. {d} Ut supra. (Antiq. l. 2. c. 16. sect. 3.) Psalms 77:19Ver. 19. Thy way is in the sea,.... In the sea of Suph, as the Targum, the Red sea; it was the Lord that made the way in the sea for the Israelites, and went before them, and led them through it:and thy path in the great waters; because the word rendered path is written with y yod, and is in the plural number, though the Masorites observe, that that letter is redundant, and so the word is singular; hence the Jews imagine there were more paths than one, even twelve, according to the number of the tribes, and which they think is intimated in Ps 136:13,and thy footsteps are not known; not by the Egyptians, who assayed to follow after the people of Israel with the Lord at the head of them, nor by any since; for the waters returned and covered the place on which the Israelites went as on dry ground; so that no footsteps or traces were to be seen at all ever since; and such are the ways God, many of them in providence as well as in grace, Ro 11:33, it may be rendered "thy heels", which made the footsteps or impressions; which latter being the works of God, may be seen and known, but not the former, he being invisible; so Gussetius {e} observes.{e} Comment. Ebr. p. 633. Psalms 77:20Ver. 20. Thou leddest thy people like a flock,.... Either through the Red sea, according to R. Moses Hacohen, as Aben Ezra observes; see Isa 63:11, or rather, as he and Kimchi, through the wilderness, after they were led through the sea; the people of Israel are compared to a flock of sheep; the Lord is represented as the Shepherd of them, who took care of them, protected and preserved them from their enemies:by the hand of Moses and Aaron; the one was their civil and the other their ecclesiastical governor, and both under the Lord, and instruments of his, in guiding and conducting the people in all things needful for them. The Arabic version adds, "Allelujah"; from all this the psalmist concluded, though it is not mentioned, that as God had delivered his people of old out of their straits and difficulties, so he hoped and believed, that as he could, he would deliver him in his own time and way; and by this means his faith was relieved and strengthened.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.