Even Though, Part 3: Transcendence in Action 

Part 1: Getting Started | Part 2: Personal Transcendence

The psalmist has shown in verses 5-8 that God is transcendent in his person and attributes; now he pivots to consider God’s works.

⁹ Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them. ¹⁰ Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces, as one that is slain; thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy strong arm. ¹¹ The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: as for the world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them. ¹² The north and the south thou hast created them: Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy name. ¹³ Thou hast a mighty arm: strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand. ¹⁴ Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face (Ps 89.9-14).

God is powerful enough to rule over the sea (Ps 89.9). This is no paean to some Israelite version of Neptune with his trident; the psalmist will show shortly that God is not just a “sea god.” So why does he start with the sea?

To someone in the ancient world, nothing on earth was stronger than the sea; it does as it wishes, whether in a few inches of tidal shift or in a 30-foot wave crashing over a hapless boat. Israel is a coastal nation, and all who have seen the sea have been awed by its immenseness and its power.

And Yahweh, God of Hosts (Ps 89.8), rules over it.

It’s hard to know where Ethan the Ezrahite conceived the idea of God’s stilling the raging sea. We think of Jesus on the Sea of Galilee, of course, or of Jonah being protected from the raging storm by a great fish. But neither of those events had occurred by Ethan’s time. He did know, however, about God’s use of the Red Sea to crush the armies of Egypt (cf Is 51.9-10).

He then speaks of “[breaking] Rahab in pieces” (Ps 89.10). This is puzzling to Bible readers who think only of the Jerichoan prostitute (Jos 2.1) when they hear the name. This is actually a completely different name; in Hebrew this name is Rahab, while the prostitute’s name is Rachab. This Rahab was a mythical sea monster, often spoken of among Canaanite peoples (Job 9.13, 26.12; Is 51.9 [note the use of the name here in connection with the Red Sea account]). The psalmist’s mention of it need not be taken as a sign that he believed it was real, though he may have. (Biblical authors almost certainly were wrong about various things—as all humans are—but the Spirit prevented them from saying anything untrue in their canonical writings [2P 1.21].) His point, clearly, is that God is greater than the most fearsome creatures imaginable—even those whose rampages might make the raging sea even more violent.

And now he moves beyond even the immensity of the sea to the exponentially vaster earth, and even the heavens—and I’m reasonably sure that this Israelite psalmist had no idea how really vast the heavens are, since light years hadn’t been invented yet.

He mentions one of the most impressive structures on earth, the mountains—specifically Hermon and Tabor. Hermon is the largest mountain in the region—tall enough to be snow-capped—and Tabor is a major landmark within the tribal allotments of Israel, rising over the plain of Jezreel. Living where he does, Ethan has chosen the most impressive topographical features he knows.

And God rules over them. In fact, he created them, brought them into being (Ps 89.11). A creator can do what he wishes with the products of his hands. The sea, the earth, the sky—it’s all his product and his servant.

Someone with this kind of power could be terrifying—a Godzilla, rampaging through the cities and destroying all in his path (Ps 89.13). But the psalmist reminds us that the Creator and Lord of all these powerful forces is not like that. He’s righteous and just, a reliable maintainer rather than a blind destroyer (Ps 89.14). Preceding him in his path through his creation are lovingkindess (hesed) and truth (emeth, a sister word to emunah). His enemies should be afraid of him, but we his people need not fear.

How do we respond to such a God? Our psalmist friend will get to that next.

Photo by Jeremy Perkins on Unsplash