Psalm 97:1-6

1 The LORD rules as king. Let the earth rejoice. Let all the islands be joyful.

2 Clouds and darkness surround him. Righteousness and justice are the foundations of his throne.

3 Fire spreads ahead of him. It burns his enemies who surround him.

4 His flashes of lightning light up the world. The earth sees them and trembles.

5 The mountains melt like wax in the presence of the LORD, in the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.

6 The heavens tell about his righteousness, and all the people of the world see his glory.

Psalm 97:1-6 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 97

This psalm is ascribed to David by the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions. It is of the same argument, and upon the same subject, as the preceding, the coming and kingdom of Christ; and that it respects his first coming into the world, when angels were called upon to worship him, appears from Ps 97:7 compared with Heb 1:6 though it is expressed in such language as seems to agree with his second coming; and, perhaps, both are included, with various things between the one and the other; or it respects the kingdom of Christ, from his first to his second coming; to which agrees the inscription of the Syriac version, which is

``a Psalm of David, in which he prophesies concerning the coming of the Messiah, and again he intimates in it his last appearance.''