Psalms 33:8

33:8 Let the whole earth fear ¹  the Lord!

Let all who live in the world stand in awe of him!

Psalms 77:18

77:18 Your thunderous voice was heard in the wind;

the lightning bolts lit up the world;

the earth trembled and shook. ² 

Psalms 89:11

89:11 The heavens belong to you, as does the earth.

You made the world and all it contains. ³ 

Psalms 90:2

90:2 Even before the mountains came into existence, ⁴ 

or you brought the world into being, ⁵ 

you were the eternal God. ⁶ 

Psalms 96:10

96:10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!

The world is established, it cannot be moved.

He judges the nations fairly.”

Psalms 98:7

98:7 Let the sea and everything in it shout,

along with the world and those who live in it!

---

¹ tn In this context “fear” probably means “to demonstrate respect for the Lord’s power and authority by worshiping him and obeying his commandments.”

² tn The prefixed verbal form may be taken as a preterite or as an imperfect with past progressive force.

sn Verses 16-18 depict the Lord coming in the storm to battle his enemies and subdue the sea. There is no record of such a storm in the historical account of the Red Sea crossing. The language the psalmist uses here is stereotypical and originates in Canaanite myth, where the storm god Baal subdues the sea in his quest for kingship. The psalmist has employed the stereotypical imagery to portray the exodus vividly and at the same time affirm that it is not Baal who subdues the sea, but Yahweh.

³ tn Heb “the world and its fullness, you established them.”

⁴ tn Heb “were born.”

⁵ tn Heb “and you gave birth to the earth and world.” The Polel verbal form in the Hebrew text pictures God giving birth to the world. The LXX and some other ancient textual witnesses assume a polal (passive) verbal form here. In this case the earth becomes the subject of the verb and the verb is understood as third feminine singular rather than second masculine singular.

⁶ tn Heb “and from everlasting to everlasting you [are] God.” Instead of אֵל (’el, “God”) the LXX reads אַל (’al, “not”) and joins the negative particle to the following verse, making the verb תָּשֵׁב (tashev) a jussive. In this case v. 3a reads as a prayer, “do not turn man back to a low place.” However, taking תָּשֵׁב as a jussive is problematic in light of the following following wayyiqtol form וַתֹּאמֶר (vato’mer, “and you said/say”).