Psalms 77:17

17 The clouds poured down their rain. The sky thundered. Your lightning flashed back and forth like arrows.

Psalms 77:17 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 77:17

The clouds poured out water
This, with some other circumstances which follow, are not related by Moses in the history of this affair; but as they are here recorded by an inspired penman, there is no doubt to be made of the truth of them; besides Josephus F1 relates the same things; he says, that at the time when the Egyptians were drowned in the Red sea, rains descended from heaven, and there were terrible thunders, lightnings, and thunderbolts; this was when the Lord looked through the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians, ( Exodus 14:24 ) ,

the skies sent out a sound;
or the airy clouds, the lighter ones, and which were higher in the heavens, as the others before mentioned were thick clouds, full of water, and hung lower; these were thunderclouds, and thunder is the sound which they sent forth, as in the following verse:

thine arrows also went abroad:
that is, lightnings, as in ( Psalms 18:14 ) , so Aben Ezra; but Kimchi interprets them of hailstones.


FOOTNOTES:

F1 Antiqu. l. 2. c. 16. sect. 3.

Psalms 77:17 In-Context

15 By your power you have saved your people, the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.Selah
16 God, the waters saw you; they saw you and became afraid; the deep waters shook with fear.
17 The clouds poured down their rain. The sky thundered. Your lightning flashed back and forth like arrows.
18 Your thunder sounded in the whirlwind. Lightning lit up the world. The earth trembled and shook.
19 You made a way through the sea and paths through the deep waters, but your footprints were not seen.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.