Week 15 Psalm 93
The third & fourth verses spend quite a bit of time talking about oceanic power to make the point that the Lord is mightier than the sea:
The floods have lifted up, Lord,
the floods have lifted up their voice;
the floods lift up their pounding waves.
Greater than the roar of a huge torrent—
the mighty breakers of the sea—
the Lord on high is majestic.
The psalm-writer could have briefed things up. For instance:
“The Lord is greater than a north Atlantic gale”.
But he didn’t. So when I’m reading the psalms I try to keep in mind that the writer has an idea he wants to convey and he’s conveying it (in his view) in an appealing way.
Let’s face it…I could write up an accurate list of this psalm’s basic ideas in bullet-points. The Lord is:
• The King
• Majestic
• Immoveable
• Everlasting
• Powerful
• Holy
And I think my list covers the main attributes of the Lord. But I’d also have to admit that my version isn’t very elegant. Not compelling. Not forceful. Kind of ho-hum. Sure…it conveys key facts. But in a stiff & wooden & kind of boring way.
Factual information about the Lord can be communicated concisely & clearly & accurately. But I figure the writer asked himself: ‘how do I make it attention-grabbing too?’ And he knew that a bullet-pointed list wouldn’t be half as absorbing as a word picture.
Note: quote from Psalm 95:3-4 (CSB)