Tehillim 114 | “When Israel Came Out of Egypt”

This psalm recounts the Exodus from Egypt and the trembling response of the nature. The poet turns to nature and asks why it behaves in such a way, and receives the answer “Tremble, O earth, in the Lord's presence, in the presence of the God of Yaakov” (v. 7). In a (recommended) shiur given at Yeshivat Orot Shaul, Dr. Yoshi Fargeon emphasizes that the structure of the psalm is that of a riddle. The beginning of the psalm describes the extraordinary reactions of nature, without mentioning the miracles, the spiritual context of the Exodus from Egypt, or the revelation of God. With God seemingly absent from the picture, the Exodus from Egypt and nature’s response to it truly do appear mysterious. The question arises naturally: “What happened, sea, that you fled?” (v. 5). The answer in the final verse of the psalm lays the cards on the table – it is the revelation of God within reality that explains nature’s behavior, and in fact, the entire event of Israel’s departure from Egypt. he psalm comes to teach us a similar lesson about other phenomena as well — without the presence of God, we cannot understand, but when He is brought into the picture, the world becomes more clear.

You can listen to the full shiur, including a close reading of the text here.

Or a summary of the shiur here.