Bible Strands
Psalms 93:3
The floodwaters have risen, O LORD; the rivers have raised their voice; the seas lift up their pounding waves.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses Yahweh directly, declaring His sovereign rule immediately after affirming that His throne was established from eternity. The declaration occurs in a liturgical context contrasting God's eternal kingship with the chaotic forces of nature.
The words — נָשְׂא֤וּ (na.se.'U) = they have lifted up [H5375] and נְהָר֨וֹת (ne.ha.Rot) = rivers [H5104] appear repeatedly in the verse to describe the waters' upward movement and vocalization.
The thread — The motif of overwhelming waters appears in Psalms 69:1 as a personal distress signal and in Isaiah 17:12 as a metaphor for the raging tumult of nations.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that God's established throne governs chaotic forces, requiring the reader to anchor trust in His eternal reign rather than in observable circumstances.
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
The floods have lifted up, O Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves.
Cross-references
- Psalms 96:11 Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice; let the sea resound, and all that fills it.
- Psalms 69:1 For the choirmaster. To the tune of “Lilies.” Of David. Save me, O God, for the waters are up to my neck.
- Isaiah 17:12 Alas, the tumult of many peoples; they rage like the roaring seas and clamoring nations; they rumble like the crashing of mighty waters.
- Psalms 18:4 The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of chaos overwhelmed me.
- Psalms 98:7 Let the sea resound, and all that fills it, the world, and all who dwell in it.
- Psalms 124:3 when their anger flared against us, then they would have swallowed us alive,
- Isaiah 55:12 You will indeed go out with joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
- Jeremiah 46:7 Who is this, rising like the Nile, like rivers whose waters churn?
- Revelation 17:15 Then the angel said to me, “The waters you saw, where the prostitute was seated, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.
- Psalms 2:1 Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?