Psalms 93 Footnotes

Ps 93 The expression “the LORD reigns,” common in the enthronement psalms (47; 93; 95–99), can also be translated “Yahweh has become King.” The expression could be taken in several ways. It could express the general truth that, as Creator, he is sovereign over all things. It could be the celebration of some great victory that has revealed his rule. It could be an expression associated with a festival celebrating Yahweh’s enthronement. Or it could be eschatological, as in Is 52:7 which refers to the salvation or deliverance to come. The imagery of the Lord’s reigning corresponds to phenomena that accompany the coming “day of the LORD” (Joel, Amos), often called the second coming. The psalmist lavishly praised God’s sovereignty with poetic language, and all these options could apply simultaneously; it is not necessary to choose between them.

93:3 The reference may be to the victory at the Red Sea; it could also be directed against pagan religions that feared the power of the seas. In Canaanite literature Baal’s great victory is over Yam (“Sea”). But in the biblical perspective only the living God can control the chaos of nature, or the nations that the “seas” symbolize (Is 8:7-8; Jr 46:7-8).