King James Version
Psalms 93
5 verses with commentary
The Lord Reigns
The LORD reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the LORD is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved.
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KJV Study Commentary
This enthronement psalm declares Yahweh's kingship (malak) with royal imagery of robes and strength. The affirmation that 'the world is established' (kun—firmly fixed) refutes both chaos theology and evolutionary randomness, asserting divine order in creation. God's clothing Himself with majesty and strength personifies His attributes, making abstract qualities tangible. The immovability of the wo...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(1) **The Lord reigneth.**—Comp. Psalm 97:1; Psalm 99:1. Better, *Jehovah has become king*: the usual term for ascending the throne (2Samuel 15:10; 1Kings 1:11; 1Kings 1:13; 2Kings 9:13); used in Isaiah of the re-establishment of the State after the Captivity (Isaiah 24:23; Isaiah 52:7); and by the latest of Israel’s poets, in that prophetic strain which looks beyond time and this world (Revelatio...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**3. God's mercy alone delivers us from the burden of iniquities, by purging or expiating by an atonement the transgressions with which we are charged, and which are denoted by--**
**Iniquities--**or, literally, "Words of iniquities."
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 93
The majesty, power, and holiness of Christ's kingdom.
--The Lord might have displayed only his justice, holiness, and awful power, in his dealings with fallen men; but he has been pleased to display the riches of his mercy, and the power of his renewing grace. In this great work, the Father has given all power to his Son, the Lord from heaven, who has made atonement for our sins. ...
Read full commentary →Thy throne is established of old: thou art from everlasting. of old: Heb. from then
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KJV Study Commentary
God's throne being established 'from of old' (me'az) and God being 'from everlasting' (me'olam) emphasizes divine eternality and pre-existence. Unlike human kings who establish thrones through conquest, God's reign precedes creation itself. This verse presents God's sovereignty as both temporal (eternal) and spatial (cosmic), affirming that His authority isn't derived but inherent. The doctrine of...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**4. dwell in thy courts; ... [and] satisfied with the goodness ... temple--**denote communion with God (Psa 15:1; 23:6; compare Psa 5:7). This is a blessing for all God's people, as denoted by the change of number.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 93
The majesty, power, and holiness of Christ's kingdom.
--The Lord might have displayed only his justice, holiness, and awful power, in his dealings with fallen men; but he has been pleased to display the riches of his mercy, and the power of his renewing grace. In this great work, the Father has given all power to his Son, the Lord from heaven, who has made atonement for our sins. ...
Read full commentary →The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves.
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KJV Study Commentary
The repetition of 'floods have lifted up' creates urgency and intensity, depicting chaotic waters (nahar—rivers/floods) as threatening forces. In Hebrew cosmology, uncontrolled waters symbolize chaos, evil, and opposition to God's order. The threefold repetition ('lifted up... lifted up... lifted up their waves') emphasizes both the magnitude of chaos and the psalmist's rhetorical intensity. Yet e...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **Waves.**—Better, for the parallelism, *roaring: *but literally, *breaking of the waves on the shore.*
**Floods**, here poetically for the sea, as in Psalm 24:2.
**Lift up.**—The repetition of the verb the third time in a different tense adds to the force. In LXX. and Vulgate this clause is “from the voices of many waters.”
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**5. terrible things--**that is, by the manifestation of justice and wrath to enemies, accompanying that of mercy to His people (Psa 63:9-11; 64:7-9).
**the confidence--**object of it.
**of all ... earth--**the whole world; that is, deservedly such, whether men think so or not.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 93
The majesty, power, and holiness of Christ's kingdom.
--The Lord might have displayed only his justice, holiness, and awful power, in his dealings with fallen men; but he has been pleased to display the riches of his mercy, and the power of his renewing grace. In this great work, the Father has given all power to his Son, the Lord from heaven, who has made atonement for our sins. ...
Read full commentary →The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea.
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KJV Study Commentary
The comparative 'mightier than' (adir—magnificent, powerful) establishes God's absolute supremacy over all natural and spiritual forces. The parallelism between 'noise of many waters' and 'mighty waves of the sea' encompasses both auditory and visual representations of overwhelming power—yet God is greater still. 'The LORD on high' emphasizes both His transcendent position and His authority. This ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **Sea.**—Whether this description of a raging sea is to be taken literally, or as emblematic of war and its horrors, is doubtful.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
6-13. God's great power and goodness are the grounds of this confidence. These are illustrated in His control of the mightiest agencies of nature and nations affecting men with awe and dread (Psa 26:7; 98:1, &c.), and in His fertilizing showers, causing the earth to produce abundantly for man and beast.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 93
The majesty, power, and holiness of Christ's kingdom.
--The Lord might have displayed only his justice, holiness, and awful power, in his dealings with fallen men; but he has been pleased to display the riches of his mercy, and the power of his renewing grace. In this great work, the Father has given all power to his Son, the Lord from heaven, who has made atonement for our sins. ...
Read full commentary →Thy testimonies are very sure: holiness becometh thine house, O LORD, for ever . for ever: Heb. to length of days
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KJV Study Commentary
God's testimonies being 'very sure' (ne'emanu—faithful, reliable, established) connects His word to His character. 'Holiness becometh thine house' (na'avah—is fitting, beautiful) indicates that God's dwelling must reflect His character. The phrase 'for ever' (le'orek yamim—literally 'length of days') emphasizes permanence. This verse establishes the ethical implications of God's reign: His trustwo...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **Thy testimonies.**—This statement must be taken in close connection with that of the preceding verse. The permanence of the covenant, and of the outward signs that attest it, is to the Israelite proof of the superiority of the Divine power over the forces of nature. We may extend the thought, and say that the moral law is a truer evidence of the existence of God than the uniformity of natura...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
6-13. God's great power and goodness are the grounds of this confidence. These are illustrated in His control of the mightiest agencies of nature and nations affecting men with awe and dread (Psa 26:7; 98:1, &c.), and in His fertilizing showers, causing the earth to produce abundantly for man and beast.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 93
The majesty, power, and holiness of Christ's kingdom.
--The Lord might have displayed only his justice, holiness, and awful power, in his dealings with fallen men; but he has been pleased to display the riches of his mercy, and the power of his renewing grace. In this great work, the Father has given all power to his Son, the Lord from heaven, who has made atonement for our sins. ...
Read full commentary →