Psalm 97 - The Greatness of God

Psalm 97 seems to follow logically from Psalm 96, where David states that the Lord reigns (v. 10) and then declares how the creation will rejoice at the coming of the Lord as the judge.

The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice;

Let the many islands be glad. (Psalm 97:1, NASB)

There is no superscription to Psalm 97, and there is no connection historically. But it hardly seems coincidental that Psalm 97 follows so closely the theme expressed in Psalm 96. The compiler of the book of Psalms noticed the similarity and placed it immediately following Psalm 96.

Many of the phrases of Psalm 97 appear in other places in the psalms. However, there is not copying of large sections, as has been seen in other psalms.

This psalm was the basis for a worship song in the 1980s, which was the title of an album of worship let by Bob Fitts.

Song: “The Lord Reigns," Bob Fitts, Integrity’s Hosanna! Music

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RxXXRPPrVo

The chorus uses verse 1,

The Lord reigns (3x’s)

Let the earth rejoice (3x’s)

Let the people be glad. 

(Interesting that Bob changed the text from “islands” to “people," seeing as how he ministered in Hawaii for many years.)

The first verse of the song uses the text from verses 3 and 5,

A fire goes before Him 

and burns up all His enemies.

The hills melt like wax 

at the presence of the Lord.

The second verse uses verses 6 an 9

The heavens declare His righteousness

the people see His glory

For You, O Lord, are exalted 

over all the earth.

As discussed in other places, some songs we sing to the Lord, and some songs we direct to the people of God. This practice is consistent with the New Testament teaching in Colossians 3:16 and Ephesians 5:18-19, to “sing to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs." So it is appropriate for us to remind one another of God's greatness in our songs, for in so doing, we proclaim that greatness of God.

Here in Psalm 97, the writer seeks to remind worshipers of God's greatness by laying out a framework for praising the reign of the Lord in three strophes. A strophe is a unit of thought in the Hebrew text, equivalent to a paragraph or group of verses in English Bibles.

The first strophe establishes the premise that the Lord reigns over His creation. 

The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice;

Let the many islands be glad.

Clouds and thick darkness surround Him;

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.

Fire goes before Him

And burns up His adversaries round about.

His lightnings lit up the world;

The earth saw and trembled.

The mountains melted like wax at the presence of the Lord,

At the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.

The heavens declare His righteousness,

And all the peoples have seen His glory. (Psalm 97: 1-6, NASB)

The writer describes that reign in many ways. Note the seven nouns and modifiers listed: 

1) Clouds and thick darkness surround Him

2) Righteousness and justice are the foundations of His throne

3) Fire       goes before Him

and burns His adversaries

4) Lightning lit up the world the earth saw and trembled

5) Mountains melted like wax

at the presence of the Lord

at the presence of the whole earth

6) Heavens declare His righteousness

7) All Peoples have seen His glory

These are declarations about the reign of the Lord on the earth. Those things great on the earth are all under the dominion of the King who reigns over His Kingdom.

These images call to mind many of the works and appearances of God to His people. God led His people out of Egypt and to Mount Sinai, where God revealed Himself, His law, and His glory to His people.

Most people probably think of the Ten Commandments as the words written by God on the stone tablets. But it appears that God first spoke the Ten Commandments to the people of Israel at the beginning of Exodus 20. The people feared God

They heard the thunder, saw the lightning flashes, heard the sound of the trumpet, and saw the mountain smoking. They trembled and stood at a distance. Then they said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, or we will die.” (Exodus 20: 18, 19, NASB)

So God brought Moses and Aaron up onto the mountain. The people of God saw all of the wonders of God descending onto the mountain. The majesty of God was so great before them that they cowered in fear.

What would we have done had we been there? Would we have been different than the people of Israel? Only three months after the Exodus out of Egypt, the people continued to keep Egypt's religious culture. True, they believed God enough to leave Egypt with Moses, but that may have been more about escaping the brutality of slavery under the Egyptians than a yearning to follow God wherever He might take them.

But God demonstrated His glory to the people in the most direct ways. Even with this declaration of His glory in majestic signs of nature, after forty days when Moses still had not come down from the mountain, the people resorted to the familiar and built the golden calf.

People living today do the same thing. Even with astronomy advances allowing us to see more of the visible universe, they choose to reject God and substitute other things in His place. Perhaps not a golden calf, but maybe something such as “science." 

Pure science is not in opposition to God, for science seeks Truth, with a capital “T." Science aims to understand the way things really are. Science and theology, therefore, have the same goal, although they use different methodologies. Truth is the accurate description of reality. If God exists, and He does, then a true understanding of reality must take His existence into account.

Centuries ago, when scientists were not able to figure something out, they might introduce a “deus ex machina” explanation. Today they must describe what they observe with answers derived from the scientific method. This methodology is appropriate for determining truth in science.

Theologians have also been tempted in the past to ignore reason and logic in asserting truth claims. They must conform to a methodology such that evidence supports such statements, often the evidence of the Scriptures.

But for many, science has become the golden calf in the sense of becoming a substitute for God, whereby people find an excuse to reject God.

The argument of the Apostle Paul in Romans 1 is that people have substituted other things for the worship of their Creator:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.

Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. (Romans 1: 18-25, NASB)

We need science. Scientists do essential work. Their work uses the scientific method, which is characterized by stating a hypothesis, doing experiments based upon that hypothesis, accumulating the data from the experiments, and arriving at conclusions based upon the data and other known truths from science. All fields of science must utilize this methodology. Although the scientific method purposely excludes any divine or supernatural interactions to explain observed phenomena, and rightly so, it does not necessarily follow that those divine or supernatural things do not exist. One can, and should, do science according to the scientific method and still allow for the truth of God's existence. One does not have to reject God as a good scientist, nor does one have to deny science to be a good disciple of Jesus. We need both - science and theology - to rightly explain reality, the way things really are.

The second strophe describes how people respond to the reign of the King. Some do not recognize that reign and that authority, and some do.

Let all those be ashamed who serve graven images,

Who boast themselves of idols;

Worship Him, all you gods.

Zion heard this and was glad,

And the daughters of Judah have rejoiced

Because of Your judgments, O Lord.

For You are the Lord Most High over all the earth;

You are exalted far above all gods. (Psalm 97: 7-9, NASB)

Those who do not:

are ashamed serve grave images

boast in idols

worship Him all you gods

Note: The writer of the book of Hebrews quotes this verse when applying the superiority of Jesus over angels so that “gods” here are understood as “angels”. [Hebrew “elohim” is translated “aggeloi” in the LXX.]

However, others respond correctly to the reign of God:

Zion heard this and was glad

daughters of Judah rejoiced

because of Your judgments

The conclusion of the writer is to address God directly:

You are the Lord Most High over all the earth

You are exalted far above all gods.

Another song from the same worship and praise collection “The Lord Reigns," cited above, is the song “Above all Else”, led by Bob Fitts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wZQpaWe7GI

You are exalted Lord, above all else.

We place you in the highest place, above all else.

Right now where we stand and everywhere we go.

We place You in the highest place, so the world will know

You are a mighty warrior, dressed in armor of light.

Crushing the deed of darkness, lead us on in the fight.

Through the blood of Jesus, victorious we stand.

We place You in the highest place, above all else in this land.

When people of faith have a right concept of the Greatness of God, then all else flows from that. Their perspective on life becomes a Kingdom perspective. All in the Kingdom acknowledge the rule of the King. They work to meet the King's desires for His Kingdom, which produces blessings to those who live in the Kingdom. 

The third strophe has three exhortations.

Hate evil, you who love the Lord,

Who preserves the souls of His godly ones;

He delivers them from the hand of the wicked.

Light is sown like seed for the righteous

And gladness for the upright in heart.

Be glad in the Lord, you righteous ones,

And give thanks to His holy name. (Psalm 97: 10-12, NASB)

1) Hate evil you who love the Lord

The Lord is the One:

who preserves the souls of His godly ones

He delivers them from the hand of the wicked

Sows light for the righteous

[Sows] Gladness for the upright in heart.

2) Be glad in the Lord you righteous ones,

3) Give thanks to His Holy name.

So as those who live in the Kingdom of God, we are to hate evil. While this sounds simple and easy, it is frustratingly difficult to do. So much of our world and much of our entertainment glorifies evil. Seriously, think about the products we consume for entertainment. How much murder do we view? How much cursing do we hear? How much ungodly sexual behavior do we see? Yet we choose this. How is it that we don’t hate the evil that we view? It is difficult, isn't it?

Perhaps the answer is found in remembering these descriptions of what the Lord does:

He preserves the souls of His godly ones. How many times has the Lord rescued us and delivered us? We cannot forget this, nor take it for granted.

He delivers from the hand of the wicked. We may well have no idea of how often God does this in protecting us.

He sows light for His godly ones. Darkness is the absence of light, so light dispels darkness. When we enter a room and turn the lights on, the dark becomes light. Jesus is the light of the world. When Jesus comes in, He dispels the darkness. 

He sows gladness in the heart of the upright.  Our confidence in God gives us hope for the future because God is the God of hope. He gives us joy and peace in believing that we may abound in hope by the Holy Spirit's power.

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13, NASB)

So let us enjoy the greatness of God!

Let us proclaim the greatness of God!

Let us worship God, who is great!