Psalm 93

"mightier than the waves of the sea"

In the ancient Near East, the sea was a primeval, chaotic power. In the Babylonian creation story the Enuma Elish, Tiamat, the Mother of the Gods, is a primordial sea goddess who embodied chaos. In Ugaritic texts, the weather god Baal battles Yam, the chaotic sea deity. In Egypt the sea god was Nu, who was called the "Father of the Gods." Living in the waters of Nu was the great snake Apep, called "the Lord of Chaos" as the embodiment of disorder and darkness.

Given this cultural background, it's not surprising that the Hebrew Scriptures describe Yahweh as Lord over both sea and serpent. From Psalm 74:

You divided the sea by your might;
you broke the heads of the sea monsters on the waters.
You crushed the heads of Leviathan;
you gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.

What's of interest here is how the sea and serpent represent some unruliness (even un-rule-ableness) at work in the world in relation to the reign of God. Some chaotic force in creation resists. The Lord of Chaos has to be put down.

To be sure, it's difficult to weave this imagery into a coherent, systematic account. So much of this material in Scripture is poetic and allusive rather than propositional and dogmatic. God created the world ex nihilo and it was primordially good. And yet, the sea is filled with monsters. We see this marring all around us, the darkness and disorder. Revelation describes Satan as "the ancient serpent." The Lord of Chaos troubles the earth.

Psalm 93 is described as an Enthronement Psalm. Yahwah is envisioned taking his seat on his throne and establishing his rule over the earth. In depicting this, Psalm 93 highlights the Lord taming the sea:

The Lord reigns; he is robed in majesty;
the Lord is robed; he has put on strength as his belt.
Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.
Your throne is established from of old;
you are from everlasting.

The floods have lifted up, O Lord,
the floods have lifted up their voice;
the floods lift up their roaring.
Mightier than the thunders of many waters,
mightier than the waves of the sea,
the Lord on high is mighty!

And more than a taming is hinted at, the sea breaks out in praise: "The floods have lifted up their voice." In the New Testament this is proclaimed as Christ's victory over all the rebellious powers in heaven and earth. As Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 15:24-26:

Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

The Lord of Chaos will come to heel. Darkness and chaos will be defeated.

The Lord is mightier than the waves of the sea.