Sunday, November 1, 2015

Psalm 93: Twice and Thrice Is Nice

Psalm 93 is brief (only 5 verses) but employs the device of repetition to drive its points home.

For instance, the first verse repeats the word "robed": "The Lord is king, he is robed in majesty; the Lord is robed, he is girded with strength."  This emphasis on robing makes us focus on how the Lord is surrounded with kingly majesty and power.

The rest of verse 1 and verse 2 contain two occurrences of the word "established": "He has established the world...your throne is established from of old..."  This image is one of permanent fixation and prompts us to ponder the eternal nature of God's kingdom.  

Verse 3 holds three mention of "the floods" being "lifted up."  Floods are often a biblical throwback to the symbolic chaos that existed at the beginning of creation.  Here even the floods are lifting up in submission to God.

Verse 4 includes three uses of the word "majestic" in reference to the Lord.  He is more majestic than the waters and waves - His majesty is on high!

Throughout this short psalm, the author makes his intentions clear through the repeated uses of these powerful images.

No comments:

Post a Comment