The presence of the Lord in the midst of His people, dealing with every opposition, and meeting every need.
Prophetically the psalm looks on to the time when restored Israel will acknowledge that, as in the past so now, they owe their deliverance and blessing to the presence of the Lord acting in almighty power.
(vv. 1-2) The introductory verses look back to the commencement of Israel’s history as separated from the nations. They celebrate the deliverance of God’s people from Egypt, as well as the purpose for which they were redeemed. If God set Israel free, it was that He might dwell among, and rule over, His people: that Judah might become “his sanctuary,” and Israel “his dominion” (Ex. 15:17-18; 19:617Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, O Lord, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in, in the Sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established. 18The Lord shall reign for ever and ever. (Exodus 15:17‑18)
6And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. (Exodus 19:6)).
(vv. 3-4) The verses that follow set forth the mighty power that wrought on behalf of Israel in the days of their former deliverances. At the deliverance from Egypt the Red Sea fled, and thus witnessed to the presence of irresistible power, even as at the end of their journey, at the entrance to the Land, Jordan was driven back. Between the Red Sea and the Jordan, the mountains of the desert had to bear witness to an unseen power when Sinai quaked greatly (Ex. 19:1818And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. (Exodus 19:18)).
(vv. 5-6) What ailed the sea, the river, and the mountains? What mighty power was present from which the sea fled, before which the waters of the river were driven back, and the mountains shook?