When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language;
When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob means Jacob's family leaving the foreign-speaking Egyptians. It opens a historical psalm recounting God's providential deliverance, sung as part of Psalms 113-118 on Passover to recall the departure from Egypt. The departure was no triumph of man, for Israel was utterly helpless with no escape and God saved them for His name's sake to make His mighty power known. Its poetic sequel that Judah became His sanctuary and Israel His dominion means God took them as His nation to rule as King and dwell among them, with His sanctuary located within Judah's territory at Jerusalem which He chose. The going out of Egypt became the symbol of the soul's deliverance from sin and death, so Egypt represents the sinful world God's people are now called to come out of, trusting the same wonder-working God in every daily strait.
Words and Worship Setting
The house of Jacob is Jacob's family, and the people of strange language are the foreign-speaking Egyptians whom they left when Israel went out of Egypt. The verse opens a poetic stanza describing that departure. That stanza belongs to a psalm arranged in strophes and antistrophes, forms used in worship through recitation or song by leaders and groups, with instrumental music.
The psalm uses personification, attributing life and action to an inanimate object. It is one of four historical psalms, a class that recounts in detail the ancient history of the Hebrew people. Among those recounted events is the leading out of the Hebrew people from Egypt, and in this the psalm stands as a witness to God's providential deliverance of Israel.
The psalm belongs to Psalms 113-118 sung on Passover occasions. It was chanted as part of the first portion of the great Hallelujah at the Passover feast, recalling Israel's deliverance from Egypt. It was among the praise songs sung just before the betrayal. The psalm is also associated with the return from Babylonian captivity. In that association it belongs with psalms reflecting the returning exiles' mingled joy, sorrow, and anxiety, and referring to the building and dedication of the second temple and the triumphs connected with it.
Deliverance and Divine Kingdom
The going out from a foreign-speaking people is remembered as God's deliverance, the beginning of a history of deliverance that includes the retreat of the sea and the turning back of the Jordan as wonderful acts before the Lord. At the going out the people were shut in by mountains and sea with pursuers behind and no escape, utterly helpless with nothing to do but stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, so the deliverance was no triumph of man. God saved them for His name's sake to make His mighty power known, and that deed reveals what God is like.
The departure began a journey through the wilderness under God's guidance, as He led His people safely from bondage toward Canaan with His presence accompanying them by the pillar of cloud and fire. In poetic language the same statement continues that Judah became His sanctuary and Israel His dominion, meaning God regarded Israel as His nation and ruled as its King whether or not the people had an earthly ruler. This proves the Lord has always had a kingdom on earth even though Satan has ruled since the fall only as a usurper, with some always loyal to God. So far as civil duties were concerned, that kingdom was given to Saul, then to David, to Solomon, and on down to Zedekiah.
Judah being called God's sanctuary does not mean the tribe itself or the whole church was the sanctuary, for read literally it would confine the sanctuary to one of the twelve tribes, only a portion of Israel and not the whole. It is a figure of speech meaning the sanctuary was located within Judah's territory, because God chose Jerusalem in Judah, Mount Zion which He loved, as the place where His sanctuary would be located and built like high palaces, as Psalm 78:68-69 explains. Even if the church were called the sanctuary elsewhere, that would not decide the sanctuary of Daniel 8:13-14, where the sanctuary and the host, the church, are spoken of as two different objects given to be trodden under foot. The deliverance from Egypt was joined to God's purpose to dwell among His people, with Judah becoming His sanctuary and Israel His dominion, and the sanctuary and its services witnessed to His purpose to make humanity His dwelling place through His Son taking human flesh.
Symbol and Present Call
The going out from Egypt became the standing symbol of the deliverance of the soul from sin and death. The great words Saviour and redemption took their place in Scripture in connection with that deliverance and with the return from captivity that continually recalled it. They reach their fullest meaning in the victorious host standing by the glassy sea singing the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb.
Egypt represents the sinful world. The exodus therefore points to the present call for God's people to come out of the world, which they must answer rather than go down with the world. The same God who opened the sea and who redeems through the sacrifice of His Son those enslaved by sin is the God of daily life. He is to be appealed to in every strait for a plain path because of enemies, for He is faithful and with temptation will make a way to escape. He gives through the wonder-working Spirit a more powerful instrument for impassable waters than Elijah's mantle.
When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob means Jacob's family leaving the foreign-speaking Egyptians. It opens a historical psalm recounting God's providential deliverance, sung as part of Psalms 113-118 on Passover to recall the departure from Egypt. The departure was no triumph of man, for Israel was utterly helpless with no escape and God saved them for His name's sake to make His mighty power known. Its poetic sequel that Judah became His sanctuary and Israel His dominion means God took them as His nation to rule as King and dwell among them, with His sanctuary located within Judah's territory at Jerusalem which He chose. The going out of Egypt became the symbol of the soul's deliverance from sin and death, so Egypt represents the sinful world God's people are now called to come out of, trusting the same wonder-working God in every daily strait.
Words and Worship Setting
The house of Jacob is Jacob's family, and the people of strange language are the foreign-speaking Egyptians whom they left when Israel went out of Egypt. The verse opens a poetic stanza describing that departure. That stanza belongs to a psalm arranged in strophes and antistrophes, forms used in worship through recitation or song by leaders and groups, with instrumental music.
The psalm uses personification, attributing life and action to an inanimate object. It is one of four historical psalms, a class that recounts in detail the ancient history of the Hebrew people. Among those recounted events is the leading out of the Hebrew people from Egypt, and in this the psalm stands as a witness to God's providential deliverance of Israel.
The psalm belongs to Psalms 113-118 sung on Passover occasions. It was chanted as part of the first portion of the great Hallelujah at the Passover feast, recalling Israel's deliverance from Egypt. It was among the praise songs sung just before the betrayal. The psalm is also associated with the return from Babylonian captivity. In that association it belongs with psalms reflecting the returning exiles' mingled joy, sorrow, and anxiety, and referring to the building and dedication of the second temple and the triumphs connected with it.
Deliverance and Divine Kingdom
The going out from a foreign-speaking people is remembered as God's deliverance, the beginning of a history of deliverance that includes the retreat of the sea and the turning back of the Jordan as wonderful acts before the Lord. At the going out the people were shut in by mountains and sea with pursuers behind and no escape, utterly helpless with nothing to do but stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, so the deliverance was no triumph of man. God saved them for His name's sake to make His mighty power known, and that deed reveals what God is like.
The departure began a journey through the wilderness under God's guidance, as He led His people safely from bondage toward Canaan with His presence accompanying them by the pillar of cloud and fire. In poetic language the same statement continues that Judah became His sanctuary and Israel His dominion, meaning God regarded Israel as His nation and ruled as its King whether or not the people had an earthly ruler. This proves the Lord has always had a kingdom on earth even though Satan has ruled since the fall only as a usurper, with some always loyal to God. So far as civil duties were concerned, that kingdom was given to Saul, then to David, to Solomon, and on down to Zedekiah.
Judah being called God's sanctuary does not mean the tribe itself or the whole church was the sanctuary, for read literally it would confine the sanctuary to one of the twelve tribes, only a portion of Israel and not the whole. It is a figure of speech meaning the sanctuary was located within Judah's territory, because God chose Jerusalem in Judah, Mount Zion which He loved, as the place where His sanctuary would be located and built like high palaces, as Psalm 78:68-69 explains. Even if the church were called the sanctuary elsewhere, that would not decide the sanctuary of Daniel 8:13-14, where the sanctuary and the host, the church, are spoken of as two different objects given to be trodden under foot. The deliverance from Egypt was joined to God's purpose to dwell among His people, with Judah becoming His sanctuary and Israel His dominion, and the sanctuary and its services witnessed to His purpose to make humanity His dwelling place through His Son taking human flesh.
Symbol and Present Call
The going out from Egypt became the standing symbol of the deliverance of the soul from sin and death. The great words Saviour and redemption took their place in Scripture in connection with that deliverance and with the return from captivity that continually recalled it. They reach their fullest meaning in the victorious host standing by the glassy sea singing the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb.
Egypt represents the sinful world. The exodus therefore points to the present call for God's people to come out of the world, which they must answer rather than go down with the world. The same God who opened the sea and who redeems through the sacrifice of His Son those enslaved by sin is the God of daily life. He is to be appealed to in every strait for a plain path because of enemies, for He is faithful and with temptation will make a way to escape. He gives through the wonder-working Spirit a more powerful instrument for impassable waters than Elijah's mantle.