Bible Strands
Psalms 24:2
For He has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — David speaks as the psalmist declaring the LORD's ownership of the earth, a statement that immediately precedes a question about who may approach God's holy place. The verse functions as the foundational reason for the worship context that follows.
The words — The Hebrew יְסָדָ֑/הּ (ye.sa.Da/h) literally means "he founded it," and יְכוֹנְנֶֽ/הָ (ye.kho.Ne./ha) means "he established it." These verbs describe God's act of fixing the earth upon the seas and rivers.
The thread — This motif of God grounding the earth in waters appears in Genesis 1:9 when dry land emerges from gathered waters, and in Psalms 136:6 where He spreads the earth upon the waters. Jeremiah 5:22 similarly recalls God setting boundaries for the seas.
Why it lands — The text explicitly states that God founded and established the earth upon the waters, asserting His absolute control over creation. It requires the reader to acknowledge this sovereign act as the necessary ground for approaching His presence.
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
For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 5:22 Do you not fear Me?” declares the LORD. “Do you not tremble before Me, the One who set the sand as the boundary for the sea, an enduring barrier it cannot cross? The waves surge, but they cannot prevail. They roar but cannot cross it.
- Psalms 136:6 He spread out the earth upon the waters. His loving devotion endures forever.
- Genesis 1:9 And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered into one place, so that the dry land may appear.” And it was so.
- Psalms 104:5 He set the earth on its foundations, never to be moved.
- Job 38:4 Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding.
- Psalms 33:6 By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and all the stars by the breath of His mouth.
- Jeremiah 10:11 Thus you are to tell them: “These gods, who have made neither the heavens nor the earth, will perish from this earth and from under these heavens.”
- Job 38:8 Who enclosed the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb,
- Psalms 96:10 Declare among the nations: “The LORD reigns!” The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved; He will judge the peoples with equity.
- 2 Peter 3:5 But they deliberately overlook the fact that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water,