I chose the word "recoil" because I think it begins the showing of the might of God. Elements and people are reacting from the exposure to God's abilities and control, and the word "recoil" is a summary of that, as later lines tell of the various monuments that moved, like the ocean, mountains, and streams. When I think of the word recoil, I picture someone or something curling up in a either scared or disgusted way. It's a dramatic reaction in my opinion. The drama of using it in this context alludes to the power Milton is trying to convey. He's showing the extremity of God's power and just how forbidding it was. As a reader, once I arrive to this word, the Psalm turns darker. The beginning lines explicate the story of the Israelites and God's deliverance of them to the promised land; it has a more upbeat and positive feeling. Then you get to the lines where Milton describes how God's glory was unveiled and shown and you feel like an outsider, feeling the darkness of being on the other end of God's promise. In this way, the word "recoil" helps set up a sort of tension, displaying God's two sides, deliverer and wrathful.