Psalm 97 Commentary
Righteousness, justice – foundation of His throne
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KEY THOUGHT: Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne. [Psalm 97:2a NKJV]
Kindly read your Bible before going through the commentary!
Psalm 97 NKJV
A Song of Praise to the Sovereign Lord
97 The Lord reigns;
Let the earth rejoice;
Let the multitude of [a]isles be glad!
2 Clouds and darkness surround Him;
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.
3 A fire goes before Him,
And burns up His enemies round about.
4 His lightnings light the world;
The earth sees and trembles.
5 The mountains melt 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 peoples see His glory.
7 Let all be put to shame who serve carved images,
Who boast of idols.
Worship Him, all you gods.
8 Zion hears and is glad,
And the daughters of Judah rejoice
Because of Your judgments, O Lord.
9 For You, Lord, are most 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.
12 Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous,
And give thanks [b]at the remembrance of [c]His holy name.
Footnotes
a. Psalm 97:1 Or coastlands
b. Psalm 97:12 Or for the memory
c. Psalm 97:12 Or His holiness
New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Psalm 97 Commentary
The LORD’s Power and Dominion
We see nothing but the terror of evil. Ungodliness is on the increase. Satan seems to have a free lane. Yet Psalm 97 declares that the LORD reigns.
Consequently, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice.
Rejoice in the LORD at the fact that the LORD reigns. Of course, hate evil, verse 10, but the thought of God’s continuous rule overrides the fear of wickedness.
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne. So profound!
Given the fact that the LORD reigns in the present, is there any chance that evil can exist under God’s throne? What is more, fire goes before Him, destroying His enemies on every side.
Is this what the saint has seen and experienced?
The scripture unfolds a complex picture of God’s reign. It is in the past, but also in the present. It is in the future, but also happening right now.
We can ask again. Where is the fire? God’s enemies are still very much around!
But we are often wrong about the definition and probably also the description of God’s enemies. Many are simply prodigal sons who must find their way back to the palace.
Many are sons and daughters lost in their sinfulness who must hear their Father’s call. The saint must deliver the LORD’s goodwill message to the lost.
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1 verse 14.
In the LORD Jesus Christ, we find the fulfillment of the visuals presented in this psalm. Remember how He baptizes with fire. Could this be the fire that goes out to destroy God’s enemies?
All these images beautifully converge and are completed at Calvary. But because the Word is from before the beginning, and because the Word is the final act in the Book of Revelation, we find all the tenses in use. Simply put, the LORD reigns.
In the meantime, let the saint hate evil. But let the saint also rejoice because the LORD reigns. There is more. The LORD guards the lives of His faithful ones. He also delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
Dotted everywhere in scripture is the answer to the question of how many times the saint must pray in a day. Interestingly, the world has its own countless answers. Midnight, at 3, at 9, or early in the morning. Some of these time slots are lifted from scripture!
The last verse has a simpler version of time, “at the remembrance of His holy name”.
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