Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Psalms 93:2

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Psalms 93:2. Thy throne is established of old — There never was a time in which God did not reign, in which he was not a supreme and absolute Monarch; for he is from everlasting. There never was a time in which he was not; there never can be a period in which he shall cease to exist.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Psalms 92-93 God’s rule in an evil world

According to the title, Psalms 92:0 was for use on the Sabbath. God is pleased when people cease their ordinary work for a day in order to engage in worshipping him and proclaiming his love (92:1-4). As they meditate upon the nature of God, their thinking will be changed. They will see from God’s point of view and will understand things that are misunderstood by the ordinary person. They will see, for instance, that they need not puzzle over why the wicked prosper. God is the supreme ruler and judge, and he is always in control. In the end the wicked will be destroyed and their prosperity lost for ever (5-9).

By contrast, those who remain true to God will prosper. As a wild ox grows powerful, so the righteous will be strengthened. As privileged people are anointed with oil, so the righteous will be blessed (10-11). As magnificent trees flourish, so the righteous will be strong and fruitful. As a house built on a rocky hill is safe, so the righteous will be secure (12-15).
God is the sovereign Lord and he reigns in majesty. He existed before the universe and he rules over it (93:1-2). The opposition of the ungodly world is like a raging flood that tries to overturn his throne, but it is powerless to move him (3-4). His glory is displayed not only in his power but also in his holiness. People should therefore obey and worship him (5).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

“Jehovah reigneth; he is clothed with majesty; Jehovah is clothed with strength; he hath girded himself therewith: The world also is established, And it cannot be moved. Thy throne is established of old. Thou art from everlasting.”

These verses present three consecutive affirmations:

(1)    There is the statement that God reigns majestically in the security of unlimited strength (Psalms 93:1 a).

(2)    Then there is the unmovable stability of the planet earth; and although the conclusion is not stated here, it is surely implied that the established world with its security and stability derives such qualities from the Creator-God who rules over everything (Psalms 93:1 b).

(3)    “Thy throne… thou art” These words thunder the message that Israel is acquainted with the Great God and are able to address him in intimate terminology such as “Thy” and “Thou.” God’s people love to meditate upon such great truths of God as are stated here and are thus encouraged in their worship and adoration of their true King.

“Thy throne is established of old… from everlasting” The author of Hebrews listed the credentials of the King of Kings, namely Jesus Christ; and, of course, those credentials are the same as those of the “ruling Jehovah” in this passage. These are: (1) King by right of eternal existence; (2) by right of creation; (3) by right of personal excellence, “majesty and strength;” (4) by divine right; (5) by right of maintenance, “upholding all things by the word of his power”; (6) by right of purchase (This establishes God’s right to rule over humanity in that he purchased, or redeemed us, through the blood of His Son); and (7) by right of his present position on the Eternal Throne (God is not a mere pretender; his rulership is a fait accompli). “Jehovah reigneth” (Psalms 93:1).

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Thy throne is established of old - Whatever might occur, the throne of God was firm. That could not be moved. It had been set up from all eternity. It had stood through all the convulsions and changes which had occurred in the universe; and it would stand firm forever. Whatever might change, that was immovable; and as long as that is unchanged we have a ground of security and hope. Should “that” be moved, all would be gone. The margin here is, as in Hebrew, “from then:” but it means “of old;” from the most ancient times; that is, from the period indicated by the next clause, “from everlasting.”

Thou art from everlasting - From all eternity; thou hast always existed; thou art ever the same Psalms 90:1.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

2Thy throne is stable Some read, is prepared, and this agrees well with the context. provided we take the two clauses as one sentence, meaning — O Lord, as thou art from eternity, even so thy throne is erected or prepared from that time For the sense which some have attached to the words, as if they contained a simple assertion of God’s eternity, is poor; and the Psalmist evidently intends to say that as God is eternal in essence, so he has always been invested with power and majesty. The term throne signifies, by the figure synecdoche, righteousness, and office or power of government; it being customary to transfer such images taken from men to God, in accommodation to our infirmity. ⁽⁴⁾ By this ascription of praise the Psalmist effectually disposes of all the absurd ideas which have been broached, tending to deny or disparage the power of God, and declares, upon the matter, that God may sooner cease to be, than to sit upon his throne in the government of this world.

(4) “Selon que ces similitudes-ci prinses des hommes ont de coustume d’estre appropriees a Dieu, pour le regard et la portee de nostre infirmite.” — Fr.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Psalms 93:1-5

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. Thy throne is established of old: thou art from everlasting ( Psalms 93:1-2 ).

From everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God. Here, "Thou art from everlasting." The prophecy of Micah concerning the birth of Jesus, and Bethlehem the birthplace, "And thou, Bethlehem, though thou be little among the provinces of Judea, yet out of thee shall come he who is to rule my people Israel; whose going forth is from everlasting" ( Micah 5:2 ). Lord, Thou art from the vanishing point.

The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves. The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea. Thy testimonies are very sure: holiness becometh thine house, O LORD, for ever ( Psalms 93:3-5 ). "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

1. The authority of Yahweh 93:1-2

The psalmist declared the sovereignty of Yahweh over the world. He described the Sovereign as clothed with strength rather than with ornate robes. Clothing says something about the person wearing it. That was true of this king too. The immovable condition of the world shows how absolutely God controlled it. However, this refers to life on the earth more than it does to the planet in the solar system. God will control all life on earth. God’s universal authority has existed forever. Therefore there is no doubt it will continue.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Psalms 93

The psalmist rejoiced in the Lord’s reign in this psalm. This is one of the "enthronement" or "theocratic" psalms that depict the righteous rule of God on earth (cf. Psalms 47, 95-99). They focus on God’s sovereignty over His people Israel, but they also point prophetically to the future reign of David’s greatest Son during the Millennium. Psalms 47, 93-100 all affirm Yahweh’s rule over the earth.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Thy throne is established of old,.... Or "prepared from eternity" b; Christ was set up and anointed as King from everlasting; he had a kingdom appointed and prepared for him so early; and his throne, which is prepared in the heavens, is an established one; it is for ever and ever; his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom; of his government, and the increase of it, there is no end:

thou art from everlasting; as a divine Person, as God, and the Son of God; or he could not have been anointed unto or invested with the kingly office so early; nor have had a glory with his Father before the world began: his eternal existence, as God, accounts for the establishment of his throne of old, without which it could not be.

b מאו נכון "paratum", Pagninus, Montanus; "a principio", Targum; "ab antiquo", Syr. "ab aeterno", Gejerus; so Ainsworth.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      1 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.   2 Thy throne is established of old: thou art from everlasting.   3 The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves.   4 The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea.   5 Thy testimonies are very sure: holiness becometh thine house, O LORD, for ever.

      Next to the being of God there is nothing that we are more concerned to believe and consider than God's dominion, that Jehovah is God, and that this God reigns (Psalms 93:1; Psalms 93:1), not only that he is King of right, and is the owner and proprietor of all persons and things, but that he is King in fact, and does direct and dispose of all the creatures and all their actions according to the counsel of his own will. This is celebrated here, and in many other psalms: The Lord reigns. It is the song of the gospel church, of the glorified church (Revelation 19:6), Hallelujah; the Lord God omnipotent reigns. Here we are told how he reigns.

      I. The Lord reigns gloriously: He is clothed with majesty. The majesty of earthly princes, compared with God's terrible majesty, is but like the glimmerings of a glow-worm compared with the brightness of the sun when he goes forth in his strength. Are the enemies of God's kingdom great and formidable? Yet let us not fear them, for God's majesty will eclipse theirs.

      II. He reigns powerfully. He is not only clothed with majesty, as a prince in his court, but he is clothed with strength, as a general in the camp. He has wherewithal to support his greatness and to make it truly formidable. See him not only clad in robes, but clad in armour. Both strength and honour are his clothing. He can do every thing, and with him nothing is impossible. 1. With this power he has girded himself; it is not derived from any other, nor does the executing of it depend upon any other, but he has it of himself and with it does whatsoever he pleases. Let us not fear the power of man, which is borrowed and bounded, but fear him who has power to kill and cast into hell. 2. To this power it is owing that the world stands to this day. The world also is established; it was so at first, by the creating power of God, when he founded it upon the seas; it is so still, by that providence which upholds all things and is a continued creation; it is so established that though he has hanged the earth upon nothing (Job 26:7) yet it cannot be moved; all things continue to this day, according to his ordinance. Note, The preserving of the powers of nature and the course of nature is what the God of nature must have the glory of; and we who have the benefit thereof daily are very careless and ungrateful if we give him not the glory of it. Though God clothes himself with majesty, yet he condescends to take care of this lower world and to settle its affairs; and, if he established the world, much more will he establish his church, that it cannot be moved.

      III. He reigns eternally (Psalms 93:2; Psalms 93:2): Thy throne is established of old. 1. God's right to rule the world is founded in his making it; he that gave being to it, no doubt, may give law to it, and so his title to the government is incontestable: Thy throne is established; it is a title without a flaw in it. And it is ancient: it is established of old, from the beginning of time, before any other rule, principality, or power was erected, as it will continue when all other rule, principality, and power shall be put down, 1 Corinthians 15:24. 2. The whole administration of his government was settled in his eternal counsels before all worlds; for he does all according to the purpose which he purposed in himself; The chariots of Providence came down from between the mountains of brass, from those decrees which are fixed as the everlasting mountains (Zechariah 6:1): Thou art from everlasting, and therefore thy throne is established of old; because God himself was from everlasting, his throne and all the determinations of it were so too; for in an eternal mind there could not but be eternal thoughts.

      IV. He reigns triumphantly, Psalms 93:3; Psalms 93:4. We have here, 1. A threatening storm supposed: The floods have lifted up, O Lord! (to God himself the remonstrance is made) the floods have lifted up their voice, which speaks terror; nay, they have lifted up their waves, which speaks real danger. It alludes to a tempestuous sea, such as the wicked are compared to, Isaiah 57:20. The heathen rage (Psalms 2:1) and think to ruin the church, to overwhelm it like a deluge, to sink it like a ship at sea. The church is said to be tossed with tempests (Isaiah 54:11), and the floods of ungodly men make the saints afraid,Psalms 18:4. We may apply it to the tumults that are sometimes in our own bosoms, through prevailing passions and frights, which put the soul into disorder, and are ready to overthrow its graces and comforts; but, if the Lord reign there, even the winds and seas shall obey him. 2. An immovable anchor cast in this storm (Psalms 93:4; Psalms 93:4): The Lord himself is mightier. Let this keep our minds fixed, (1.) That God is on high, above them, which denotes his safety (they cannot reach him, Psalms 29:10) and his sovereignty; they are ruled by him, they are overruled, and, wherein they rebel, overcome, Exodus 18:11. (2.) That he is mightier, does more wondrous things than the noise of many waters; they cannot disturb his rest or rule; they cannot defeat his designs and purposes. Observe, The power of the church's enemies is but as the noise of many waters; there is more of sound than substance in it. Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a noise,Jeremiah 46:17. The church's friends are commonly more frightened than hurt. God is mightier than this noise; he is mighty to preserve his people's interests from being ruined by these many waters and his people's spirits from being terrified by the noise of them. He can, when he pleases, command peace to the church (Psalms 65:7), peace in the soul, Isaiah 26:3. Note, The unlimited sovereignty and irresistible power of the great Jehovah are very encouraging to the people of God, in reference to all the noises and hurries they meet with in this world, Psalms 46:1; Psalms 46:2.

      V. He reigns in truth and holiness, Psalms 93:5; Psalms 93:5. 1. All his promises are inviolably faithful: Thy testimonies are very sure. As God is able to protect his church, so he is true to the promises he has made of its safety and victory. His word is passed, and all the saints may rely upon it. Whatever was foretold concerning the kingdom of the Messiah would certainly have its accomplishment in due time. Those testimonies upon which the faith and hope of the Old-Testament saints were built were very sure, and would not fail them. 2. All his people ought to be conscientiously pure: Holiness becomes thy house, O Lord! for ever. God's church is his house; it is a holy house, cleansed from sin, consecrated by God, and employed in his service. The holiness of it is its beauty (nothing better becomes the saints than conformity to God's image and an entire devotedness to his honour), and it is its strength and safety; it is the holiness of God's house that secures it against the many waters and their noise. Where there is purity there shall be peace. Fashions change, and that which is becoming at one time is not so at another; but holiness always becomes God's house and family, and those who belong to it; it is perpetually decent; and nothing so ill becomes the worshippers of the holy God as unholiness.