Bible Strands
Psalms 18:15
The channels of the sea appeared, and the foundations of the world were exposed, at Your rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The psalmist describes Yahweh’s deliverance from enemies, framing divine intervention as a cosmic event that occurs when God acts on behalf of the oppressed. The words — The Hebrew verbs וַיֵּרָאוּ (va.ye.re'u, "they appeared") and וַיִּגָּלוּ (va.yi.galu, "they were uncovered") state that the sea channels and world foundations were laid bare by God’s rebuke (מִגַּעֲרָתְךָ, mi.ga'arat'kha). The thread — This imagery of divine speech exposing creation appears in Psalms 106:9, where Yahweh rebukes the Red Sea to dry it up, and Exodus 15:8, where the blast of His nostrils piles up the waters. Job 4:9 similarly uses the "blast of His anger" to describe the destruction of the wicked, not the parting of waters. Why it lands — The text demands recognition that God’s word operates with physical force, and it asks the reader to trust that the same power that rearranges creation can also draw them out of deep waters.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.
Cross-references
- Psalms 106:9 He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up; He led them through the depths as through a desert.
- Exodus 15:8 At the blast of Your nostrils the waters piled up; like a wall the currents stood firm; the depths congealed in the heart of the sea.
- Job 4:9 By the breath of God they perish, and by the blast of His anger they are consumed.
- Psalms 76:6 At Your rebuke, O God of Jacob, both horse and rider lie stunned.
- Micah 6:2 Hear, O mountains, the LORD’s indictment, you enduring foundations of the earth. For the LORD has a case against His people, and He will argue it against Israel:
- Joshua 3:13 When the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the LORD—the Lord of all the earth—touch down in the waters of the Jordan, its flowing waters will be cut off and will stand up in a heap.”
- 2 Samuel 22:16 The channels of the sea appeared, and the foundations of the world were exposed at the rebuke of the LORD, at the blast of the breath of His nostrils.
- Psalms 104:5 He set the earth on its foundations, never to be moved.
- Jeremiah 31:37 This is what the LORD says: “Only if the heavens above could be measured and the foundations of the earth below searched out would I reject all of Israel’s descendants because of all they have done,” declares the LORD.
- 2 Kings 19:7 Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear a rumor and return to his own land, where I will cause him to fall by the sword.’”