Psalm 97: The Lord Reigns

1 The LORD reigns! Let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles be

glad in it. 2 Clouds and darkness are around him; righteousness and

judgment are the habitation of his throne. 3 A fire goes before him, and

burns up his enemies around him.

4 His lightnings enlightened the world: the earth saw, and trembled.

5 The hills melted like wax at the presence of the LORD, at the presence of

the Lord of the whole earth. 6 The heavens declare his righteousness, and

all the people see his glory. 7 All those who serve graven images are

ashamed, who boast themselves in idols: worship him, all you gods.

8 Zion heard, and was glad; and the daughters of Judah rejoiced

because of your judgments, O LORD. 9 For you, LORD, are high above all

the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.

10 You who love the LORD, hate evil; he preserves the souls of his

saints; he delivers them out of the hand of the wicked. 11 Light is sown for

the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart. Rejoice in the LORD,

you righteous, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.

This Psalm is anonymous but in the Septuagint Version was attributed to David, with

the notation that it was written when his land was restored or when the land had peace.

(The Septuagint was a translation of the Old Testament from Hebrew into Greek around

200 B. C.)
The Psalm, like some others we have seen recently, is a picture of God’s victory in

history, not only over the nations which assail Israel but against their idols.

1 The LORD reigns! Let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles be glad

in it. 2 Clouds and darkness are around him; righteousness and judgment

are the habitation of his throne. 3 A fire goes before him, and burns up his

enemies around him.

• This Psalm starts with a bang – a cry of joy as the people realize that God has

triumphed in history. Not only should the land rejoice, but the Gentile nations of

the sea as well. We can presume from this that there will be Gentile nations who

will rejoice in the victory of God.

• Clouds and darkness surround his throne: very often we see this picture – God

approaches and his drawing near is like a storm front. At times God shrouds

himself in darkness in order to prevent his glory from destroying. The prophet

Habakkuk saw the fiery consuming glory of God in his vision of the coming of the

Messiah: God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah.

His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise. And his

brightness was as the light; he had rays coming out of his hand, and there was

the hiding place of his power. Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals

went forth at his feet. (Hab. 3:3-5)

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 • Clouds can also be a reference to the tens of thousands of angels who accompany

the Lord Jesus at his return: … and they shall see the Son of man coming in the

clouds of heaven with power and great glory. (Matt. 24:30)

• The reference to fire consuming God’s enemies certainly goes against our modern

sensibilities but the Bible is not reluctant to say that there will be literal

destruction of the wicked. This will mean not only the end of their belief systems,

but the end of their lives! So in 2 Thessalonians we read of Christ’s return this

way: “…when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty

angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that

obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with

everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his

power when he shall come to be glorified in his saints…” (2 Thess. 1:7b-10a)

4 His lightnings enlightened the world: the earth saw, and trembled. 5 The

hills melted like wax at the presence of the LORD, at the presence of the

Lord of the whole earth. 6 The heavens declare his righteousness, and all

the people see his glory. 7 All those who serve graven images are ashamed,

who boast themselves in idols: worship him, all you gods.

• The flashes of lightening and cosmic display when the Lord comes are so

awesome that the entire world is lit up by them. Jesus spoke of His approach to

the Earth in this way, “For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth

even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be…. Immediately

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 after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall

not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the

heavens shall be shaken; and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in

heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the

Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” (Matt.

24:27, 29-30)

• Having God’s immediate presence on the earth, while a comfort to believers,

terrifies the wicked. The hills melting can be a literal reference but in the

Scripture mountains are also a reference to kingdoms, and so this also speaks of

the kingdoms of the Earth laid prostrate before God.

• The heavens declare His righteousness – there will be no doubt that God is just

when He judges. In this present age God is often slandered as being unfair.

However, the full manifestation of His Power and His acts will convince all that

He is righteous. As much as people do not like to be punished or rebuked, people

also long to see real justice established in the world.

• All the “gods” or judges of the earth are commanded to worship Him!

8 Zion heard, and was glad; and the daughters of Judah rejoiced because of

your judgments, O LORD. 9 For you, LORD, are high above all the earth;

you are exalted far above all gods.

• Here we see some contrast as the people of God rejoice in the appearing of the

Lord in their midst. Specifically, they rejoice in His judgments. Again, the idea

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 of God’s judgments is perceived very negatively, but we should imagine instead

what this will mean for the world. There was great joy at the downfall of Hitler

and the Nazis; how much greater joy there shall be when Christ puts down all evil

and establishes a world kingdom in which there is no war, crime, or lack of any

kind! So it is very appropriate to rejoice at His judgments. The “end of the

world” is not the end of the planet, only the end of Man’s management in favor of

something better and more benevolent: Behold, the days come, saith the LORD,

that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and

prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah

shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he

shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. (Jer. 23:5-6)

• There is a brief note of praise in verse 9 as God is acclaimed as the highest of all.

10 You who love the LORD, hate evil; he preserves the souls of his saints;

he delivers them out of the hand of the wicked. 11 Light is sown for the

righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart. Rejoice in the LORD, you

righteous, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.

• The Psalm closes with moral instruction – that the believers should hate evil.

This is the very definition of the fear of the Lord.

• They are also encouraged that He preserves their souls. This is an important

truth and comfort for us. We accept that none of us can save himself, but we

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 focus less on the equal truth that none of us can “keep himself saved.” Thank

God for His sustaining grace as well as His saving grace.

• God sows light and gladness for us. This is strange symbolism. Barnes says, “It

will spring up around the righteous, and he shall reap that which light tends to

produce - happiness, intelligence, and peace. The figure of sowing light is an

unusual one, but the meaning is plain. It is, that the righteous will not always be

in darkness; that there is in preparation for him a harvest of joy; that it will as

certainly be produced as a harvest will from grain that is sown; that though there

may be present calamities, there will be ultimate peace and triumph.”

• Finally, we should rejoice and give thanks when we remember His holiness. This

is another expression which strikes us odd, until we remember that God had

given them a code of laws and a way of living which displayed His holiness. So

then we should be thankful that God has shown us how to live and given us a way

of life that produces joy and peace. Romans 14:17 says, “For the kingdom of God

is… righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.”