Psalm 114 is a short exodus song that celebrates God bringing Israel out of Egypt. It links the Lord's saving presence with creation itself, showing sea, river, mountain, and rock responding to him. The psalm calls readers to recognize God's power, holiness, and care.
This psalm recalls Israel leaving Egypt and becoming God's chosen people under his rule. Creation is pictured as reacting to the Lord's presence: the sea flees, the Jordan turns back, and the mountains and hills move in fear and joy. The psalm then asks why these things happen and answers with a call for the whole earth to tremble before the God of Jacob. It ends by remembering God's provision in the wilderness, where he brought water from a rock and made hard ground give life.
Psalm 114 is part of the group of Psalms 113-118 often linked with praise for God's saving acts. It looks back to the exodus as a defining moment in Israel's history and ties God's redemption to his authority over the world he made. Its brief, poetic form gives it a strong place in worship and remembrance.
Themes to notice
Exodus deliveranceThe psalm remembers God leading his people out of Egypt and making them his own.
God over creationSea, river, mountain, and earth all answer to the Lord's presence and power.
Provision in hard placesThe closing line points to God's ability to bring life and water from what seems impossible.
Questions for Psalms 114
What stands out to you about the way Psalm 114 describes God's presence in creation?
How does remembering the exodus shape the psalm's picture of God as both powerful and caring?
What does the image of water from a rock teach about God's provision in difficult places?
Read the full text of Psalms 114 below, then open it in the reader to highlight, take notes, or ask follow-up Bible questions. No account is required to read.
Psalms 114
A Psalm of Exodus
1When Israel departed from Egypt,
the house of Jacob from a people of foreign tongue,
2Judah became God’s sanctuary,
and Israel His dominion.
3The sea observed and fled;
the Jordan turned back;
4the mountains skipped like rams,
the hills like lambs.
5Why was it, O sea, that you fled,
O Jordan, that you turned back,
6O mountains, that you skipped like rams,
O hills, like lambs?
7Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Jacob,
8who turned the rock into a pool,
the flint into a fountain of water!
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