Psalm 114 remembers and celebrates God's deliverance. Through the psalm, Israel looks back on the Exodus. That was a moment when the slaves of Egypt became God's people.
Notice how creation is caught up in the storytelling. The sea runs away. The Jordan turns back. Mountains skip like animals. And in the middle of it all comes an almost playful, taunting question: “Why is it, O sea, that you flee?”
I wonder if the psalmist wants us to laugh as we're asking it. What made the sea move like that?
Now, the answer is there, but barely. In Hebrew, verse 2 doesn’t name God directly. It uses the pronoun He. It's almost as if God’s presence and power are so obvious it doesn’t need explanation. The sea didn’t flee because of wind patterns or some weather event. It fled because He was there.
But that raises a question for us. When we look back on our own lives, how do we know what was Him?
Because not every moment is a Red Sea display. Most of the time, God's movements are quieter. Think of a door that opens just when you’re ready to give up. Or when strength shows up when you thought you had none left. There was a conversation, a coincidence, or a nudge that you can’t quite explain.
Discernment doesn’t always happen in the moment. It often happens in our remembering. That’s why it’s important to look back on your day, noticing your experiences and feelings.
Look at the details of Psalm 114 and you notice it is less about explaining the miracle and more about recognizing it. It teaches us to look back and ask, “What made that move?” And sometimes, with a smile, we realize the answer has been there all along.
He was there.
So maybe the practice of faith is not just asking God to act, but learning to name where God already has.
Stay blessed...john
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