14 Heb “when you go out before your people.” The Hebrew idiom “go out before” is used here in a militaristic sense of leading troops into battle (see Judg 4:14; 9:39; 2 Sam 5:24).
15 When you march through the desert. Some interpreters think that v. 7 alludes to Israel’s exodus from Egypt and its subsequent travels in the desert. Another option is that v. 7, like v. 8, echoes Judg 5:4, which describes how the God of Sinai marched across the desert regions to do battle with Sisera and his Canaanite army.
16 Heb “this one of Sinai.” The phrase is a divine title, perhaps indicating that the Lord rules from Sinai.
17 The language of vv. 7–8 is reminiscent of Judg 5:4–5, which tells how the God of Sinai came in the storm and annihilated the Canaanite forces led by Sisera. The presence of allusion does not mean, however, that this is a purely historical reference. The psalmist is describing God’s typical appearance as a warrior in terms of his prior self-revelation as ancient events are reactualized in the psalmist’s experience. (For a similar literary technique, see Hab 3.)

In other versions

O God, when you went out before your people,

when you marched through the wilderness, Selah

the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain,

before God, the One of Sinai,

before God, the God of Israel.

When you, God, went out before your people,

when you marched through the wilderness,

the earth shook, the heavens poured down rain,

before God, the One of Sinai,

before God, the God of Israel.

God, when you went out before your people,

when you marched through the desert,

Selah

the earth trembled and the skies poured rain

before God, the God of Sinai,

before God, the God of Israel.

O God, when you led your people out from Egypt,

when you marched through the dry wasteland,

Interlude

the earth trembled, and the heavens poured down rain

before you, the God of Sinai,

before God, the God of Israel.

O God, when you went out before your people,

when you marched through the desert, Selah

the earth shook; the heavens also dripped rain

at the presence of God who was at Sinai,

at the presence of God, the God of Israel.

O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people,

When thou didst march through the wilderness; Selah:

The earth shook, the heavens also dropped

At the presence of God: even Sinai itself was moved

At the presence of God, the God of Israel.

Public Domain