TRV
Translation
King James Version
The voice of thy thunder was in the heaven: the lightnings lightened the world: the earth trembled and shook.
Complete Jewish Bible
The sound of your thunder was in the whirlwind, the lightning flashes lit up the world, the earth trembled and shook.
Berean Standard Bible
Your thunder resounded in the whirlwind; the lightning lit up the world; the earth trembled and quaked.
American Standard Version
The voice of thy thunder was in the whirlwind; The lightnings lightened the world: The earth trembled and shook.
World English Bible Messianic
The voice of your thunder was in the whirlwind. The lightnings lit up the world. The earth trembled and shook.
Geneva Bible (1599)
The voyce of thy thunder was rounde about: the lightnings lightened the worlde: the earth trembled and shooke.
Young's Literal Translation
The voice of Thy thunder is in the spheres, Lightnings have lightened the world, The earth hath trembled, yea, it shaketh.
See also
In the KJVVerse 15,112 of 31,102
Study This Verse
Commentary on Psalms 77 verses 11–20
11 ¶ I will remember the works of the LORD: surely I will remember thy wonders of old.
12 I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings.
13 Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God?
14 Thou art the God that doest wonders: thou hast declared thy strength among the people.
15 Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah.
16 The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee; they were afraid: the depths also were troubled.
17 The clouds poured out water: the skies sent out a sound: thine arrows also went abroad.
18 The voice of thy thunder was in the heaven: the lightnings lightened the world: the earth trembled and shook.
19 Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known.
20 Thou leddest thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
The psalmist here recovers himself out of the great distress and plague he was in, and silences his own fears of God's casting off his people by the remembrance of the great things he had done for them formerly, which though he had in vain tried to quiet himself with (Psa 77:5, Psa 77:6) yet he tried again, and, upon this second trial, found it not in vain. It is good to persevere in the proper means for the strengthening of faith, though they do not prove effectual at first: "I will remember, surely I will, what God has done for his people of old, till I can thence infer a happy issue of the present dark dispensation," Psa 77:11, Psa 77:12. Note, 1. The works of the Lord, for his people, have been wondrous works. 2. They are recorded for us, that they may be remembered by us. 3. That we may have benefit by the remembrance of them we must meditate upon them, and dwell upon them in our thoughts, and must talk of them, that we may inform ourselves and others further concerning them. 4. The due remembrance of the works of God will be a powerful antidote against distrust of his promise and goodness; for he is God and changes not. If he begin, he will finish his work and bring forth the top-stone.
Two things, in general, satisfied him very much:
I. That God's way is in the sanctuary, Psa 77:13. It is in holiness, so some. When we cannot solve the particular difficulties that may arise in our constructions of the divine providence, this we are sure of, in general, that God is holy in all his works, that they are all worthy of himself and consonant to the eternal purity and rectitude of his nature. He has holy ends in all he does, and will be sanctified in every dispensation of his providence. His way is according to his promise, which he has spoken in his holiness and made known in the sanctuary. What he has done is according to what he has said and may be interpreted by it; and from what he has said we may easily gather that he will not cast off his people for ever. God's way is for the sanctuary, and for the benefit of it. All he does is intended for the good of his church.
II. That God's way is in the sea. Though God is holy, just, and good, in all he does, yet we cannot give an account of the reasons of his proceedings, nor make any certain judgment of his designs: His path is in the great waters and his footsteps are not known, Psa 77:19. God's ways are like the deep waters which cannot be fathomed (Psa 36:6), like the way of a ship in the sea, which cannot be tracked, Pro 30:18, Pro 30:19. God's proceedings are always to be acquiesced in, but cannot always be accounted for. He specifies some particulars, for which he goes as far back as the infancy of the Jewish church, and from which he gathers, 1. That there is no God to be compared with the God of Israel (Psa 77:13): Who is so great a God as our God? Let us first give to God the glory of the great things he has done for his people, and acknowledge him, therein, great above all comparison; and then we may take to ourselves the comfort of what he has done and encourage ourselves with it. 2. That he is a God of almighty power (Psa 77:14): "Thou art the God that alone doest wonders, above the power of any creature; thou hast visibly, and beyond any contradiction, declared thy strength among the people." What God has done for his church has been a standing declaration of his almighty power, for therein he has made bare his everlasting arm. (1.) God brought Israel out of Egypt, Psa 77:15. This was the beginning of mercy to them, and was yearly to be commemorated among them in the passover: "Thou hast with thy arm, stretched out in so many miracles, redeemed thy people out of the hand of the Egyptians." Though they were delivered by power, yet they are said to be redeemed, as if it had been done by price, because it was typical of the great redemption, which was to be wrought out, in the fulness of time, both by price and power. Those that were redeemed are here called not only the sons of Jacob, to whom the promise was made, but of Joseph also, who had a most firm and lively belief of the performance of it; for, when he was dying, he made mention of the departing of the children of Israel out of Egypt, and gave commandment concerning his bones. (2.) He divided the Red Sea before them (Psa 77:16): The waters gave way, and a lane was made through that crowd instantly, as if they had seen God himself at the head of the armies of Israel, and had retired for fear of him. Not only the surface of the waters, but the depths, were troubled, and opened to the right and to the left, in obedience to his word of command. (3.) He destroyed the Egyptians (Psa 77:17): The clouds poured out water upon them, while the pillar of fire, like an umbrella over the camp of Israel, sheltered it from the shower, in which, as in the deluge, the waters that were above the firmament concurred with those that were beneath the firmament to destroy the rebels. Then the skies sent out a sound; thy arrows also went abroad, which is explained (Psa 77:18): The voice of thy thunder was heard in the heaven (that was the sound which the skies sent forth); the lightnings lightened the world - those were the arrows which went abroad, by which the host of the Egyptians was discomfited, with so much terror that the earth of the adjacent coast trembled and shook. Thus God's way was in the sea, for the destruction of his enemies, as well as for the salvation of his people; and yet when the waters returned to their place his footsteps were not known (Psa 77:19); there was no mark set upon the place, as there was, afterwards, in Jordan, Jos 4:9. We do not read in the story of Israel's passing through the Red Sea that there were thunders and lightning, and an earthquake; yet there might be, and Josephus says there were, such displays of the divine terror upon that occasion. But it may refer to the thunders, lightnings, and earth quakes, that were at Mount Sinai when the law was given. (4.) He took his people Israel under his own guidance and protection (Psa 77:20): Thou leddest thy people like a clock. They being weak and helpless, and apt to wander like a flock of sheep, and lying exposed to the beasts of prey, God went before them with all the care and tenderness of a shepherd, that they might not fail. The pillar of cloud and fire led them; yet that is not here taken notice of, but the agency of Moses and Aaron, by whose hand God led them; they could not do it without God, but God did it with and by them. Moses was their governor, Aaron their high priest; they were guides, overseers, and rulers to Israel, and by them God led them. The right and happy administration of the two great ordinances of magistracy and ministry is, though not so great a miracle, yet as great a mercy to any people as the pillar of cloud and fire was to Israel in the wilderness.
The psalm concludes abruptly, and does not apply those ancient instances of God's power to the present distresses of the church, as one might have expected. But as soon as the good man began to meditate on these things he found he had gained his point; his very entrance upon this matter gave him light and joy (Psa 119:130); his fears suddenly and strangely vanished, so that he needed to go no further; he went his way, and did eat, and his countenance was no more sad, like Hannah, Sa1 1:18.
Matthew Henry (1662–1714) — Commentary on the Whole Bible. This section covers verses 11–20. Public domain.
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Ephrem the SyrianAD 373
COMMENTARY ON TATIAN’S DIATESSARON 12:9
“When our Lord had arrived and had entered the boat with Simon, the wind abated.” The Arian, therefore, who contradicts the birth [of the Lord] is also rejected, through the word that those who were in the boat spoke, “They came and worshiped him, and they were saying to him, ‘You are indeed the Son of God.’ ” It is he of whom it is written, “The waters saw you and trembled, and the depths too were stirred up. Your pathways are on many waters, and your footsteps are not known.” So they confessed by their word that he, concerning whom these things were spoken, was indeed the Son of God.
Ambrose of MilanAD 397
The Six Days of Creation 3.1.2
This is not the only example of the obedience of water available to us, for elsewhere we find it written, “The waters saw you, O God; the waters saw you, and they were afraid.” What is said here of the waters does not seem to be without a semblance of truth, since elsewhere the prophet also speaks in the same manner: “The sea saw and fled; Jordan was turned back.” Who does not know how in actual fact the sea fled at the crossing of the Hebrews? When the waters were divided, the people crossed over, believing because of the dust under their feet that the sea had fled and that the waters had vanished. Therefore, the Egyptian believed what he saw and entered in, but the waters that had fled returned for him. The waters, then, know how to gather, how to fear and how to flee, when commanded to do so by God. Let us imitate these waters, and let us recognize one congregation of the Lord, one church.
Augustine of HippoAD 430
Exposition on Psalm 77
"The voice of Your thunder is in the wheel" [Psalm 77:18]. What is this? How are we to understand it? May the Lord give aid. When boys we were wont to imagine, whenever we heard thunderings from Heaven, that carriages were going forth as it were from the stables. For thunder does make a sort of rolling like carriages. Must we return to these boyish thoughts, in order to understand, "the voice of Your thunder is in the wheel," as though God has certain carriages in the clouds, and the passing along of the carriages does raise that sound? Far be it. This is boyish, vain, trifling. What is then, "The voice of Your thunder is in the wheel"? Your voice rolls. Not even this do I understand. What shall we do? Let us question Idithun himself, to see whether perchance he may himself explain what he has said: "The voice," he says, "of Your thunder is in the wheel." I do not understand. I will hear what you say, "Your lightnings have appeared to the round world." Say then, I had no understanding. The round world is a wheel. For the circuit of the round world is with reason called also an "orb:" whence also a small wheel is called an "orbiculus." "The voice of Your thunder is in the wheel:" Your "lightnings have appeared to the round world." Those clouds in a wheel have gone about the round world, have gone about with thundering and with lightning, they have shaken the abyss, with commandments they have thundered, with miracles they have lightened. "Unto every land has gone forth the sound of them, and unto the ends of the orb the words of them." "The land has been moved and made to tremble:" that is, all men that dwell in the land. But by a figure the land itself is sea. Why? Because all nations are called by the name of sea, inasmuch as human life is bitter, and exposed to storms and tempests. Moreover if you observe this, how men devour one another like fishes, how the stronger does swallow up the weaker— it is then a sea, unto it the Evangelists went.
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.
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SUMMARY
Psalms 77:18 masterfully depicts God's overwhelming power and majesty through a dramatic display of natural phenomena: thunder, lightning, and a trembling earth. This pivotal verse within Asaph's lament serves as a powerful reminder of God's absolute sovereignty over creation and His decisive intervention in the history of His people, particularly evoking the awe-inspiring events of the Exodus and the covenant at Mount Sinai. It underscores the incomparable greatness of the Almighty, designed to instill profound awe and unwavering trust in His enduring faithfulness, even amidst deep personal distress.
CONTEXT
Literary Context: Psalm 77 is a deeply personal and profound lament penned by Asaph, a chief musician and seer, who initially pours out his soul in distress, questioning God's apparent absence and past faithfulness, as seen in his anguished cries in Psalms 77:7-9. The psalm undergoes a significant turning point around Psalms 77:10, where Asaph resolves to remember God's mighty deeds of old. This resolution ushers in a magnificent recounting of God's redemptive work, focusing on the Exodus as the quintessential demonstration of divine power and faithfulness. Verses Psalms 77:13-19 vividly describe God's powerful intervention, culminating in the dramatic imagery of Psalms 77:18, which underscores the overwhelming nature of God's presence during these historical events. The verse functions as a climactic description of the divine manifestation that accompanied Israel's deliverance, solidifying Asaph's renewed trust.
Historical & Cultural Context: The imagery in Psalms 77:18 directly evokes the theophany at Mount Sinai, a foundational event in Israel's history meticulously described in Exodus 19. At Sinai, God descended in fire, smoke, thunder, and lightning, causing the mountain to tremble violently. This momentous event established the covenant with Israel and revealed God's character as both holy and powerfully present. In ancient Near Eastern cultures, thunder and lightning were often associated with divine presence and power, but for Israel, these phenomena were uniquely linked to Yahweh's direct, personal, and awe-inspiring revelation to His chosen people. The trembling earth further emphasized the cosmic significance of God's appearance, demonstrating His absolute sovereignty over all creation and His unique covenant relationship with Israel.
Key Themes: This verse powerfully contributes to several key themes within Psalm 77 and the broader Psalter. Firstly, it highlights Divine Majesty and Power, portraying God as the incomparable sovereign whose voice commands the elements and whose presence shakes the very foundations of the earth. This theme serves to powerfully counter Asaph's initial doubts about God's ability or willingness to act, as expressed earlier in the psalm. Secondly, it underscores God's Active Intervention in History, specifically His redemptive work in the Exodus, reminding the psalmist and the reader that God is not distant but intimately involved in the deliverance of His people. The natural phenomena are not random occurrences but instruments of His divine will, demonstrating His purposeful engagement with humanity. Thirdly, it evokes Awe and Reverence before the living God, compelling a response of profound respect and humility in the face of such overwhelming power. Finally, the verse reinforces the theme of Remembrance of God's Wonders, serving as a potent anchor for faith. By recalling God's past, undeniable acts of power, Asaph moves from despair to renewed confidence, echoing his resolve to "remember the works of the Lord" from Psalms 77:11.
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Psalms 77:18 is rich in literary devices that amplify its powerful message. Theophany is central, as the verse describes a visible and audible manifestation of God's presence, specifically recalling the dramatic events at Mount Sinai. The natural elements – thunder, lightning, and earthquake – serve as the instruments of this divine revelation. Personification is evident in "the voice of thy thunder," attributing an active, communicative quality to the thunder, implying that God Himself is speaking through it. The earth is also personified as it "trembled and shook," reacting to God's presence as if in awe or fear. Imagery is intensely vivid, appealing to both sound ("voice of thy thunder") and sight ("lightnings lightened the world"), as well as kinesthetic sensation ("the earth trembled and shook"). This sensory richness creates an immersive experience for the reader, conveying the overwhelming power and majesty of God. The use of Hyperbole or extreme language ("lightened the world," "earth trembled and shook") further emphasizes the extraordinary scale of God's power, suggesting a cosmic response to His presence that transcends ordinary experience.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Psalms 77:18 stands as a profound theological statement on God's absolute sovereignty and His active, often dramatic, intervention in human history. It reminds us that the God of Israel is not a distant deity but one who reveals Himself with overwhelming power, capable of shaking the very foundations of creation. This display of divine might serves not only to establish His authority but also to assure His people of His enduring faithfulness and ability to deliver. The verse encapsulates the biblical truth that God's power is limitless, and His control over the natural world is complete, making Him worthy of ultimate trust and reverence.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Psalms 77:18 offers a powerful anchor for faith in a world often characterized by chaos and uncertainty. When we feel overwhelmed by personal trials, societal turmoil, or the apparent silence of God, this verse calls us to remember the God who commanded thunder, unleashed lightning, and made the earth tremble. It challenges our often-tame perceptions of God, inviting us to cultivate a profound sense of awe and reverence for His incomparable majesty. The God who acted with such overwhelming power in the past is the same God who is sovereign over our present circumstances. Remembering His historical interventions strengthens our trust that He is capable of handling any difficulty and that His purposes will ultimately prevail. This verse encourages us to move beyond intellectual assent to God's power and to experience a deep, visceral recognition of His overwhelming presence and might, fostering a robust faith that endures through all seasons.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
What is the significance of God manifesting through natural phenomena like thunder and lightning?
Answer: God's manifestation through natural phenomena like thunder, lightning, and earthquakes (known as a theophany) is highly significant in biblical theology. It underscores His absolute sovereignty over creation, demonstrating that He is not merely a distant deity but one who actively controls and uses the elements to reveal His presence, power, and purposes. This form of revelation is inherently awe-inspiring and terrifying, emphasizing God's holiness, majesty, and unapproachable glory. It also serves as a powerful sign of His covenant presence with His people, as seen most prominently at Mount Sinai (e.g., Exodus 19:16-19). Such displays of power are meant to instill both reverence and trust, reminding humanity of God's incomparable greatness and His ability to intervene decisively in the world.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
While Psalms 77:18 vividly describes a powerful Old Testament theophany, primarily pointing to God's dramatic revelation at Sinai, it ultimately foreshadows and finds its ultimate fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus Christ. The "voice of thy thunder" and the "lightnings" that "lightened the world" speak of a divine presence that shakes the earth, a power that is fully embodied in Christ. He is the very "radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being" (Hebrews 1:3). The power over creation displayed in the Exodus is echoed in Christ's own earthly ministry, where He calmed raging storms (Mark 4:39), walked on water (Matthew 14:25), and demonstrated absolute authority over all natural forces. Furthermore, the awe-inspiring manifestation of God's power in the Old Testament anticipates the ultimate revelation of God's glory in Christ's second coming, which will be accompanied by cosmic signs in the heavens and a shaking of the earth (Matthew 24:29-30; Revelation 6:12-17). Thus, the terrifying majesty of God in Psalms 77:18 points to the One through whom all things were made and by whom all things are sustained, the Lamb who is also the Lion, whose ultimate return will bring both judgment and complete restoration, shaking not only the earth but also the heavens (Hebrews 12:26-27).