Psalms 89:9

“Thou rulest the raging of the sea, etc.] The power, pride, and elation of it, when it swells, and foams, and rages, and becomes boisterous, and threatens vessels upon it with utter ruin and destruction; but the Lord, who has it under his dominion and government, restrains it; he has made and can manage it, and he only: his power over it is seen in assigning it its place, and ordering the waters of it to it when first made; in placing the sand for its boundary by a perpetual decree, which it cannot pass; by commanding the stormy wind to lift up its waves, and by making the storm a calm, and the waves thereof still; (see <19A725>Psalm 107:25,29), instances of this were at the universal deluge,…”

“Thou rulest the raging of the sea - The pride; the anger; the lifting up of the sea. That is, when the sea is raging and boisterous; when it seems as if everything would be swept away before it, thou hast absolute control over it. There is, perhaps, no more impressive exhibition of divine power than the control which God has over the raging waves of the ocean: and yet this was the power which Jesus exercised over the raging sea of Galilee - showing that he had the power of God. Mark 4:39-41. When the waves thereof arise - In the lifting up of the waves; when they seem to raise themselves up in defiance. Thou stillest them - At thy pleasure. They rise no higher than thou dost permit; at thy…”

“89:9-13 In this hymn, the psalmist celebrates God’s comprehensive and powerful sovereignty over nature. 89:9-10 The Lord rules over all parts of the created order, including evil. • You scattered your enemies: The Lord will crush (Luke 1:51) evil powers that oppose him (Ps 2:1-3). • with your mighty arm: This phrase represents God’s strength (89:13).”

“Psa 29:10, Psa 65:7, Psa 66:5, Psa 66:6, Psa 93:3, Psa 93:4, Psa 107:25-29; Job 38:8-11; Nah 1:4; Mat 8:24-27, Mat 14:32; Mar 4:39, Mar 4:41 Psalms 89:10”

“At the time of the poet the nation of the house of David was threatened with assault from violent foes; and this fact gives occasion for this picture of God's power in the kingdom of nature. He who rules the raging of the sea, also rules the raging of the sea of the peoples, Psa 65:8. גּאוּת, a proud rising, here of the sea, like גּאוה in Psa 46:4. Instead of בּשׂוע, Hitzig pleasantly enough reads בּשׁוא = בּשׁאו from שׁאה; but שׂוא is also possible so far as language is concerned, either as an infinitive = נשׂוא, Psa 28:2; Isa 1:14 (instead of שׂאת), or as an infinitival noun, like שׂיא, loftiness, Job 20:6, with a likewise rejected Nun. The formation of the clause favours our taking it as…”