Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb?
The sea is pictured as bursting forth at creation like a newborn issuing from the womb, then being shut in and restrained by God. The verse belongs to a poetic revelation of God's majesty and power in creation, showing His authority over the sea and the natural world. Around it God is described as clothing the sea with clouds and darkness and as setting bars, doors, and limits that stop its proud waves.
God set the sea within limits and governs it by law, working by His own laws as a God of order. He balances the waters and marks their bed, gives the sea its decree and shuts it up with doors, setting its boundary and appointed bounds. He is ruler of nations and the course of nature is under His jurisdiction.
God's control of the sea is a mystery of nature that displays His power and shows human wisdom and strength to be limited and weak before Him. The question calls attention to that mystery rather than asking people to explain it. The ocean's apparent fury and force do not mean it is uncontrolled, for its boundaries and its force reveal that creation is under God's control.
By continual divine power He keeps the sea within its appointed bounds, holding the winds, controlling tempests, calming the angry sea, and holding back and releasing the deep at His word. He places the elements under mighty angels who at His bidding hold back wind and wave so they do not destroy. Without that continual restraint, storm-driven waters would wreck ships and drown those at sea.
He showed this restraining power at the Red Sea, rolling up the mighty deep and piling up walls to make a path for more than a million of His people delivered from Egyptian slavery. He did not suffer the waters to pursue their natural course until every soul of Israel was safely across, then let the impetuous waters rush on to slay Pharaoh and all his host. The same restraining power mercifully shields from accident, lightning, tempest, and death at sea and brings vessels safely to harbor, which calls for gratitude. In this He mixes mercy with judgment by preserving those who love God and keep His commandments.
The sea is pictured as bursting forth at creation like a newborn issuing from the womb, then being shut in and restrained by God. The verse belongs to a poetic revelation of God's majesty and power in creation, showing His authority over the sea and the natural world. Around it God is described as clothing the sea with clouds and darkness and as setting bars, doors, and limits that stop its proud waves.
God set the sea within limits and governs it by law, working by His own laws as a God of order. He balances the waters and marks their bed, gives the sea its decree and shuts it up with doors, setting its boundary and appointed bounds. He is ruler of nations and the course of nature is under His jurisdiction.
God's control of the sea is a mystery of nature that displays His power and shows human wisdom and strength to be limited and weak before Him. The question calls attention to that mystery rather than asking people to explain it. The ocean's apparent fury and force do not mean it is uncontrolled, for its boundaries and its force reveal that creation is under God's control.
By continual divine power He keeps the sea within its appointed bounds, holding the winds, controlling tempests, calming the angry sea, and holding back and releasing the deep at His word. He places the elements under mighty angels who at His bidding hold back wind and wave so they do not destroy. Without that continual restraint, storm-driven waters would wreck ships and drown those at sea.
He showed this restraining power at the Red Sea, rolling up the mighty deep and piling up walls to make a path for more than a million of His people delivered from Egyptian slavery. He did not suffer the waters to pursue their natural course until every soul of Israel was safely across, then let the impetuous waters rush on to slay Pharaoh and all his host. The same restraining power mercifully shields from accident, lightning, tempest, and death at sea and brings vessels safely to harbor, which calls for gratitude. In this He mixes mercy with judgment by preserving those who love God and keep His commandments.