Behind | Workbook: Psalms and an Egyptian Funerary Stele, Part 2

While there are commonalities between these two hymns, it’s their differences that have the most to teach us. Both writers connect power with mountaintops, but they have different conceptions to that power and how it relates to the mountains.

The mountaintop referenced in the funerary stele was worshiped as a goddess and identified with multiple Egyptian deities. We’re told by the stele: “Beware of the Mountaintop.” It’s described as a lion that prowls and strikes with apparently unchecked authority. 

However intimidating mountains may have been in the ancient world, it’s clear that YHWH towers over them in the psalmist’s view. Like all of creation, they were made by God and are entirely subordinate to His authority. The earth “trembles” before YHWH. Far from being a threatening presence, the mountains “melt like wax” in His presence; they “smoke” at His touch. The psalmist has proclaimed the overwhelming superiority of YHWH over contemporary conceptions of deity.