Psalm XCVII
1 The Lord reigneth; let the earth rejoice;
Let the multitude of isles be glad thereof.
2 Clouds and darkness are round about him: Righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne.
3 A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about.
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 Confounded be all they that serve graven images, that boast themselves
of idols.
Worship him, all ye gods!
8 Zion heard, and was glad;
And the daughters of Judah rejoiced because of thy judgments, O Lord.
9 For thou. Lord, art high above all the earth:
Thou art exalted far above all gods.
10 Ye that love the Lord, hate evil:
He preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth 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, ye righteous; and give thanks at the remembrance
of his holiness.
We advance a step further. In this Psalm, Messiah has come in glory — he is not merely expected and anticipated. And here the effects of his Coming, in the ruin of his foes and their idols, are sung of In Heb. i. 6 there is a quotation of verse 7, — “Worship Him all ye D’^nVi/’ gods, or angels, as in Psalm viii, 5. In making that quotation, the sacred writer prefaces it with a definite mark of time — “When he bringeth his first-begotten again into the world” — the time of his Second Advent — “Jelwvah reigneth.’ Let the eartJi* dance for joy I (Horsley, 7^D) Let the multitude of its regions rejoice.” The “basis of his throne” (comp. Psa. lxxxix. 15) is formed by “Righteousness and judgment,” while “clouds” are its curtains. And then is described the judgment upon idols, in language borrowed from the Sinai-appearing of the Lord, (ver. 3, 4). When in verse 6 it is said,
“The heavens declare his righteousness,” the sense corresponds to Romans i. 18; it is equivalent to saying that now the Lord from heaven, from his opened heavens, rises up in favour of righteousness. From age to age the heavens seemed silently to hear, as if almost indifferent to the cry of sin; but not so any longer. At verse 7 Angels are called upon, “Ye gods,’’(Heb. i. 6); and called upon to worship “Him” who now appears, viz., Christ who now comes into the world again, (Heb. i. 6). Angels who were present, and who adored him at Bethlehem, at his first Coming, are again adoring. Israel and earth at large rejoice, witnessing his “judgments,” i.e., his providential dealings. But specially his saints, who have long prayed and waited, now find that they waited not in vain; and hence the exhortation inverse 10, and the promise in verse 1 1, a verse illustrated by Esther viii. 16 in one view of it —
“Light is sown for the righteous. Into the furrows made by the plough of afiliction and temptation, God casts the seeds of after-joy. Christ, “the Righteous One,” is first partaker of this harvest of joy, as abundant as were his tears, his woes, his sorrows — and joy is synonymous with “light,” because of light’s cheerfulness, and because the rich flood of rays from the sun may be emblematic of the gifts and blessings to be poured on the Righteous One and his members. It is interesting to notice that an apparent reference to the Head and members is contained in the change of numbers in the clauses of verse 11 — “Light is sown for the Righteous One, p**”!^ And gladness for those tvho are upright in heart,’” (who keep to his rule).
* Dathe makes yiSH) “the land,” Palestine.
Christ and hii
members.
All this blessedness, at the very hour judgment comes on idols and idolaters, may well call forth the rejoicing with which our Psalm begins and ends. And the “holiness” of verse 12 may remind us that all this joy is the result of Jehovah having at length introduced his own holiness into a fallen world. It is a blessed song concerning
The Advent of Messiah, and its results to earth.