TRV
Translation
King James Version
The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea.
Complete Jewish Bible
More than the sound of rushing waters or the mighty breakers of the sea, ADONAI on high is mighty.
Berean Standard Bible
Above the roar of many waters— the mighty breakers of the sea— the LORD on high is majestic.
American Standard Version
Above the voices of many waters, The mighty breakers of the sea, Jehovah on high is mighty.
World English Bible Messianic
Above the voices of many waters, the mighty breakers of the sea, The LORD on high is mighty.
Geneva Bible (1599)
The waues of ye sea are marueilous through the noyse of many waters, yet the Lord on High is more mightie.
Young's Literal Translation
Than the voices of many mighty waters, Breakers of a sea, mighty on high is Jehovah,
In the KJVVerse 15,431 of 31,102
Study This Verse
Commentary on Psalms 93 verses 1–5
1 ¶ The LORD reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the LORD is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved.
2 Thy throne is established of old: thou art from everlasting.
3 The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves.
4 The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea.
5 Thy testimonies are very sure: holiness becometh thine house, O LORD, for ever.
Next to the being of God there is nothing that we are more concerned to believe and consider than God's dominion, that Jehovah is God, and that this God reigns (Psa 93:1), not only that he is King of right, and is the owner and proprietor of all persons and things, but that he is King in fact, and does direct and dispose of all the creatures and all their actions according to the counsel of his own will. This is celebrated here, and in many other psalms: The Lord reigns. It is the song of the gospel church, of the glorified church (Rev 19:6), Hallelujah; the Lord God omnipotent reigns. Here we are told how he reigns.
I. The Lord reigns gloriously: He is clothed with majesty. The majesty of earthly princes, compared with God's terrible majesty, is but like the glimmerings of a glow-worm compared with the brightness of the sun when he goes forth in his strength. Are the enemies of God's kingdom great and formidable? Yet let us not fear them, for God's majesty will eclipse theirs.
II. He reigns powerfully. He is not only clothed with majesty, as a prince in his court, but he is clothed with strength, as a general in the camp. He has wherewithal to support his greatness and to make it truly formidable. See him not only clad in robes, but clad in armour. Both strength and honour are his clothing. He can do every thing, and with him nothing is impossible. 1. With this power he has girded himself; it is not derived from any other, nor does the executing of it depend upon any other, but he has it of himself and with it does whatsoever he pleases. Let us not fear the power of man, which is borrowed and bounded, but fear him who has power to kill and cast into hell. 2. To this power it is owing that the world stands to this day. The world also is established; it was so at first, by the creating power of God, when he founded it upon the seas; it is so still, by that providence which upholds all things and is a continued creation; it is so established that though he has hanged the earth upon nothing (Job 26:7) yet it cannot be moved; all things continue to this day, according to his ordinance. Note, The preserving of the powers of nature and the course of nature is what the God of nature must have the glory of; and we who have the benefit thereof daily are very careless and ungrateful if we give him not the glory of it. Though God clothes himself with majesty, yet he condescends to take care of this lower world and to settle its affairs; and, if he established the world, much more will he establish his church, that it cannot be moved.
III. He reigns eternally (Psa 93:2): Thy throne is established of old. 1. God's right to rule the world is founded in his making it; he that gave being to it, no doubt, may give law to it, and so his title to the government is incontestable: Thy throne is established; it is a title without a flaw in it. And it is ancient: it is established of old, from the beginning of time, before any other rule, principality, or power was erected, as it will continue when all other rule, principality, and power shall be put down, Co1 15:24. 2. The whole administration of his government was settled in his eternal counsels before all worlds; for he does all according to the purpose which he purposed in himself; The chariots of Providence came down from between the mountains of brass, from those decrees which are fixed as the everlasting mountains (Zac 6:1): Thou art from everlasting, and therefore thy throne is established of old; because God himself was from everlasting, his throne and all the determinations of it were so too; for in an eternal mind there could not but be eternal thoughts.
IV. He reigns triumphantly, Psa 93:3, Psa 93:4. We have here, 1. A threatening storm supposed: The floods have lifted up, O Lord! (to God himself the remonstrance is made) the floods have lifted up their voice, which speaks terror; nay, they have lifted up their waves, which speaks real danger. It alludes to a tempestuous sea, such as the wicked are compared to, Isa 57:20. The heathen rage (Psa 2:1) and think to ruin the church, to overwhelm it like a deluge, to sink it like a ship at sea. The church is said to be tossed with tempests (Isa 54:11), and the floods of ungodly men make the saints afraid, Psa 18:4. We may apply it to the tumults that are sometimes in our own bosoms, through prevailing passions and frights, which put the soul into disorder, and are ready to overthrow its graces and comforts; but, if the Lord reign there, even the winds and seas shall obey him. 2. An immovable anchor cast in this storm (Psa 93:4): The Lord himself is mightier. Let this keep our minds fixed, (1.) That God is on high, above them, which denotes his safety (they cannot reach him, Psa 29:10) and his sovereignty; they are ruled by him, they are overruled, and, wherein they rebel, overcome, Exo 18:11. (2.) That he is mightier, does more wondrous things than the noise of many waters; they cannot disturb his rest or rule; they cannot defeat his designs and purposes. Observe, The power of the church's enemies is but as the noise of many waters; there is more of sound than substance in it. Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise, Jer 46:17. The church's friends are commonly more frightened than hurt. God is mightier than this noise; he is mighty to preserve his people's interests from being ruined by these many waters and his people's spirits from being terrified by the noise of them. He can, when he pleases, command peace to the church (Psa 65:7), peace in the soul, Isa 26:3. Note, The unlimited sovereignty and irresistible power of the great Jehovah are very encouraging to the people of God, in reference to all the noises and hurries they meet with in this world, Psa 46:1, Psa 46:2.
V. He reigns in truth and holiness, Psa 93:5. 1. All his promises are inviolably faithful: Thy testimonies are very sure. As God is able to protect his church, so he is true to the promises he has made of its safety and victory. His word is passed, and all the saints may rely upon it. Whatever was foretold concerning the kingdom of the Messiah would certainly have its accomplishment in due time. Those testimonies upon which the faith and hope of the Old Testament saints were built were very sure, and would not fail them. 2. All his people ought to be conscientiously pure: Holiness becomes thy house, O Lord! for ever. God's church is his house; it is a holy house, cleansed from sin, consecrated by God, and employed in his service. The holiness of it is its beauty (nothing better becomes the saints than conformity to God's image and an entire devotedness to his honour), and it is its strength and safety; it is the holiness of God's house that secures it against the many waters and their noise. Where there is purity there shall be peace. Fashions change, and that which is becoming at one time is not so at another; but holiness always becomes God's house and family, and those who belong to it; it is perpetually decent; and nothing so ill becomes the worshippers of the holy God as unholiness.
Matthew Henry (1662–1714) — Commentary on the Whole Bible. This section covers verses 1–5. Public domain.
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Augustine of HippoAD 430
Exposition on Psalm 93
"The floods lift up their voices" [Psalm 93:3]. What are these floods, which have lift up their voices? We heard them not: neither when our Lord was born, did we hear rivers speak, nor when He was baptized, nor when He suffered; we heard not that rivers did speak. Read the Gospel, you find not that rivers spoke. It is not enough that they spoke: "They have lift up their voice:" they have not only spoken, but bravely, mightily, in a lofty voice. What are those rivers which have spoken?...The Spirit itself was a mighty river, whence many rivers were filled. Of that river the Psalmist says in another passage, "The rivers of the flood thereof shall make glad the city of God." Rivers then were made to flow from the belly of the disciples, when they received the Holy Spirit: themselves were rivers, when they had received that Holy Spirit. Whence did those rivers lift their voices? Wherefore did they lift them up? Because at first they feared. Peter was not yet a river, when at the question of the maid-servant he thrice denied Christ: "I do not know the man." [Matthew 26:69-74] Here he lies through fear: he lifts not his voice as yet: he is not yet the river. But when they were filled with the Holy Spirit, the Jews sent for them, and enjoined them not to preach at all, nor to teach in the name of Jesus....For when the Apostles had been dismissed from the council of the Jews, they came to their own friends, and told them what the priests and elders said unto them: but they on hearing lifted up their voices with one accord unto the Lord, and said, "Lord, it is You who has made heaven and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is;" [Acts 4:24] and the rest which floods lifting up their voices might say, "Wonderful are the hangings of the sea" [Psalm 93:4]. For when the disciples had lifted up their voices unto Him, many believed, and many received the Holy Spirit, and many rivers instead of few began to lift up their voice. Hence there follows, "from the voices of many waters, wonderful are the hangings of the sea;" that is, the waves of the world. When Christ had begun to be preached by so powerful voices, the sea became enraged, persecutions began to thicken. When therefore the rivers had lift up their voice, "from the voices of many waters, wonderful" were "the hangings of the sea." To be hung aloft is to be lifted up; when the sea rages, the waves are hung as from above. Let the waves hang over as they choose; let the sea roar as it chooses; the hangings of the sea indeed are mighty, mighty are the threatenings, mighty the persecutions; but see what follows: "but yet the Lord, who dwells on high, is mightier." Let therefore the sea restrain itself, and sometime become calmed; let peace be granted by Christians. The sea was disturbed, the vessel was tossed; the vessel is the Church: the sea, the world. The Lord came, He walked over the sea, and calmed the waves. How did the Lord walk over the sea? Above the heads of those mighty foaming waves. Principalities and kings believed; they were subdued unto Christ. Let us not therefore be frightened; because "the Lord, who dwells on high, is mightier."
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 93:4 powerfully declares the unparalleled supremacy and transcendent might of the Lord, who is enthroned "on high." Through vivid poetic imagery, the verse asserts that God's power far exceeds the most formidable and tumultuous forces of creation, specifically the "noise of many waters" and the "mighty waves of the sea." This declaration serves as a profound affirmation of divine sovereignty, control, and the unshakeable stability of God's eternal reign over all chaos and opposition.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Psalms 93:4 employs several powerful literary devices to convey its message of divine supremacy. Imagery is central, as the psalmist vividly paints a picture of the tumultuous sea with its "noise" and "mighty waves," appealing to the reader's sense of hearing and sight to evoke the overwhelming power of nature. This concrete imagery then serves as a powerful point of Contrast to highlight the even greater, incomparable power of the Lord. The "noise of many waters" and "the mighty waves of the sea" function as Metaphors for any overwhelming, chaotic, or threatening force – whether literal natural disasters, human turmoil, or the tumultuous nations of the world. This allows the verse to speak to a universal human experience of facing overwhelming challenges. Furthermore, the verse utilizes Synonymous Parallelism, where "the noise of many waters" and "the mighty waves of the sea" essentially convey the same idea through different but reinforcing images. This repetition serves to amplify the message and impress upon the reader the sheer magnitude of God's power in contrast to even the most formidable earthly forces.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Psalms 93:4 is a profound theological statement on God's absolute sovereignty and His inherent power over all creation, particularly over forces that symbolize chaos and opposition. It echoes the biblical narrative of God as the Creator who brings order out of disorder, establishing His dominion over the primeval waters (Genesis 1). This verse reassures believers that the same God who set boundaries for the raging sea also governs the affairs of humanity and the cosmos. It underscores His unwavering control amidst any earthly tumult, whether literal storms, political unrest, or personal crises, affirming that His throne is eternally secure and His reign is unchallengeable.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
In a world frequently marked by uncertainty, conflict, and overwhelming challenges that can feel as chaotic and uncontrollable as "mighty waves," Psalms 93:4 offers immense comfort and a steadfast foundation for trust. This verse calls believers to lift their gaze above the immediate turmoil and fix it upon the Lord, who is incomparably greater than any problem, threat, or opposition we might face. It encourages us to find profound peace in the knowledge that God is ultimately in control, to trust in His unyielding and eternal power no matter how vast or complex a situation may seem, and to respond with profound reverence and adoration for a God whose power is limitless and whose throne is established forever. Amidst the loudest roars of life's challenges, this timeless declaration reminds us that the quiet, steadfast power of the Lord reigns supreme, inviting us to rest in His sovereign might and to live in confident assurance of His eternal reign.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
What do "many waters" and "mighty waves of the sea" symbolize in this verse?
Answer: In Psalms 93:4, "the noise of many waters" and "the mighty waves of the sea" carry both literal and symbolic meanings. Literally, they refer to the immense, powerful, and often destructive forces of the ocean, representing natural chaos and danger. Symbolically, these phrases are potent metaphors for any overwhelming, tumultuous, or threatening forces that might confront humanity or God's people. This can include the chaos of human rebellion, the unrest of hostile nations (as seen in Revelation 17:15, where "waters" symbolize peoples, multitudes, nations, and languages), societal upheaval, or even the spiritual forces of evil. The verse's core message is that regardless of how formidable or chaotic these forces appear, the Lord's power and sovereignty transcend them all, establishing His unshakeable reign.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Psalms 93:4 finds its ultimate and most profound fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus Christ. While the Old Testament declares God's sovereignty over the chaotic waters, the New Testament reveals this divine power incarnate in Jesus. He is the very embodiment of the Lord who is "on high" and "mightier than the noise of many waters." This is vividly demonstrated in the Gospels when Jesus, with a mere word, rebukes the wind and calms the raging sea, causing His disciples to marvel, "What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!" Mark 4:39. This miracle is not merely a display of supernatural power, but a direct manifestation of God's dominion over creation, proving Jesus to be Yahweh in the flesh. Furthermore, Christ's victory over sin, death, and the powers of darkness represents His ultimate triumph over the "mighty waves" of spiritual chaos that threatened humanity, securing eternal peace for His followers. As the one through whom all things were created and by whom all things hold together Colossians 1:16-17, and who upholds the universe by the word of His power Hebrews 1:3, Jesus is the living testament to the truth of Psalms 93:4, demonstrating God's unchallengeable might and the eternal stability of His reign.