Bible Strands
Psalms 89:9
You rule the raging sea; when its waves mount up, You still them.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — A psalmist addresses the LORD God of Hosts, declaring His sovereign rule over the sea. This sits between a general praise of God's uniqueness (v.8) and a specific act of crushing an enemy (v.10).
The words — תְּשַׁבְּחֵם (təšabbəḥēm), "you calm them," draws on the root shabbach, "to be silent, to be still"—the same root behind Shabbat. The sea is not destroyed but commanded into rest.
The thread — Psalms 65:7 echoes the stilling of roaring seas; Psalms 107:25 shows the reverse, God speaking a tempest into being. Mark 4:41 applies the same logic to Jesus: "Who is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?"
Why it lands — The verse places the reader before a God whose authority is not abstract but demonstrated over the most violent, uncontrollable force in the ancient world. It demands that whatever chaos a reader faces be measured against that standard.
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
Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.
Cross-references
- Psalms 65:7 You stilled the roaring of the seas, the pounding of their waves, and the tumult of the nations.
- Psalms 107:25 For He spoke and raised a tempest that lifted the waves of the sea.
- Mark 4:41 Overwhelmed with fear, they asked one another, “Who is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”
- Matthew 8:24 Suddenly a violent storm came up on the sea, so that the boat was engulfed by the waves. But Jesus was sleeping.
- Mark 4:39 Then Jesus got up and rebuked the wind and the sea. “Silence!” He commanded. “Be still!” And the wind died down, and it was perfectly calm.
- Psalms 93:3 The floodwaters have risen, O LORD; the rivers have raised their voice; the seas lift up their pounding waves.
- Job 38:8 Who enclosed the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb,
- Psalms 29:10 The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD is enthroned as King forever.
- Nahum 1:4 He rebukes the sea and dries it up; He makes all the rivers run dry. Bashan and Carmel wither, and the flower of Lebanon wilts.
- Matthew 14:32 And when they had climbed back into the boat, the wind died down.