Rabbi Roodyn

Therefore the heavens will rejoice, the earth will exult, the fields will be joyful when Hashem will intervene on earth. For He will intervene in order to judge the earth, to arrange the world of man on the basis of justice and to train human societies for their salvation in His faithfulness which will never forsake them.

In the midst of this portrayal of the state of joyous tumult that prevail in nature we read יראם הים ומלואו, but the sea roars and the fullness thereof. Ordinarily the word רעם is not used to denote joyous agitation, for it actually generally refers to thunder and is only used in other instances in a serious context such as war (Iyov 39:25) or consternation, the state of being thunderstruck (Shmuel 1 1:6).

Some study is necessary to ascertain in what manner the term refers to here when it says ירעם הים. Perhaps it means that the sea roars forward with the thunderous surging of its waves, expecting that its services will be required in the forthcoming judgement as an instrument for meting out the punishment and ruin which mankind deserves.

Little does the sea know, however, that Divine judgement never spells destruction but instead marks the beginning of the blissful subordination of all living things to G-d’s leadership, which will guide them on to salvation, and that it is with joyous anticipation rather than with dread that the earth looks forward to the eventual advent of Hashem’s kingdom on earth.