PSALM 97 [1]

Even angels long to look into these things

 

The glory of Yahweh before the nations (vv.1-6)

 

1 Yahweh reigns, [2] let the earth rejoice;

Let the many islands be glad.

2 Clouds and thick darkness surround Him;

Righteousness and justice [3] are the foundation of His throne.

3 Fire goes before Him

And burns up His adversaries round about.

4 His lightnings lit up the world;

The earth saw and trembled.

5 The mountains melted like wax at the presence/face of Yahweh,

At the presence/face of Yahweh of the whole earth. [4]

6 The heavens declare His righteousness,

And all the peoples have seen His glory.

 

Command to worship Yahweh (v.7)       

 

7 Let all those be ashamed who serve graven images,

Who boast themselves of idols;

Worship Him, all you gods. [5]

 

The gladness of Yahweh’s people (vv.8-12)

 

8 Zion heard this and was glad,

And the daughters of Judah have rejoiced [6]

Because of Your judgments, O Yahweh.

9 For You are Yahweh Most High over (’elyown  `al ) all the earth;

You are exalted (`alah) far above all gods.

10 Hate evil, you who love Yahweh,

Who preserves the souls of His godly ones;

He delivers them from the hand of the wicked.

11 Light is sown like seed for the righteous

And gladness for the upright in heart.

12 Be glad in Yahweh, you righteous ones,

And give thanks to His holy name.

 

 

 

 


[1] Psalm 95 was an exhortation for God’s people to worship before Yahweh; Psalm 96 was an exhortation to the whole world to worship Yahweh and here in Psalm 97 the command is given to all “gods/angels” to worship Yahweh (v.7).

 

Robert Haldane, the 19th century Scottish preacher, concluded his commentary on Romans with a quotation and short commentary on Psalm 97,

 

These emphatic words of the Psalmist, though recorded more than a thousand years before the age of the Apostle, most graphically delineate the leading features of Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, and portray in vivid colors those emotions in the minds of believers which the consideration of them is so well fitted to produce. And those who have never perused this astonishing portion of the Divine word with a holy relish, and have not entered into its meaning, have never experienced the fullness of that joy and peace which it is calculated to produce in the heart of every true worshipper of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Robert Haldane, An Exposition of Romans, 667).

 

[2]  “Yahweh reigns” occurs 4x in Book IV of the Psalter; all of which are in the “kingship Psalms” (93:1; 96:10; 97:1; 99:1).

 

[3] Righteousness and justice are one of the central aspects of the covenants: Abrahamic (Gen.18:19), Mosaic (Ex.23:6-9; Deut.4:8-9; 16:18-20; 24:10-22) Davidic (2 Sam.8:15 = 1 Chron.18:14; 1 Kings 10:9=2 Chron.9:8; cf. 2 Samuel 23:3-5) and New Covenant (Isaiah 9:7; Jeremiah 23:5; 33:15).  Righteousness and justice are often paired in Scripture with reference to social justice: helping the alien, the poor, the widow, not taking the pledge of your neighbor to whom you have given a loan, paying workers fair wages, not perverting justice, leaving crops in the field for the alien, orphan, and widow (Ex.23:6-9 with Isaiah 53; Deut.16:18-20; 24:10-22; Job 29:12-17; Psalm 72:1-4; Ezek.18:5-9; Amos 5).

 

[4] Verse 5 is an example of what Adele Berlin calls morphologic parallelism; parallelism which involves words from different parts of speech.  The noun and preposition “Most High over” parallels the verb “exalted” and is striking in the Hebrew because the same root appears in both halves of the parallel (The Dynamics of Biblical Parallelism, pp.34,55).

 

[5] The LXX, translates verse 7, “Worship Him, all you angels.”  This verse may be a quotation/allusion to the LXX (not found in the Hebrew) of Deuteronomy 32:43, “Let all God’s angels worship Him.”

 

Verse 7 reminds us that the source of false religions and idolatry is the demonic (fallen angels; 1 Cor.10:20).  This goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden and Adam and Eve’s listening to the lie of the serpent.  The work of redemption has implications for all angels (cf. Luke 10:18; Rev.12:7-8) which is why they are commanded to worship Jesus (Hebrews 1:6).

 

 

[6] The two main divisions of Psalm 97 are chiastic:

 

(A) glad (v.1)

(B) rejoice (v.1)

(B) rejoice (v.8)

(A) glad (v.8)

 

 

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