Rejoice for God the King is coming

Psalm 97

1 The Lord is king! Let the earth rejoice;
    let the many coastlands be glad!
2 Clouds and thick darkness are all around him;
    righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
3 Fire goes before him,
    and consumes his adversaries on every side.
4 His lightnings light up the world;
    the earth sees and trembles.
5 The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,
    before the Lord of all the earth.

6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness;
    and all the peoples behold his glory.
7 All worshippers of images are put to shame,
    those who make their boast in worthless idols;
    all gods bow down before him.
8 Zion hears and is glad,
    and the towns of Judah rejoice,
    because of your judgements, O God.
9 For you, O Lord, are most high over all the earth;
    you are exalted far above all gods.

10 The Lord loves those who hate evil;
    he guards the lives of his faithful;
    he rescues them from the hand of the wicked.
11 Light dawns for the righteous,
    and joy for the upright in heart.
12 Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous,
    and give thanks to his holy name!

This psalm picks up themes we saw in Psalm 96. The Lord is king and judge and he is coming to bring his reign of justice to the earth. The psalm is full of images.

There are images of power – the holy fire of God consumes the enemies of God (false gods, doers of evil) (vs. 3); the earth trembles at the sheer power of God (vs. 4); even the mountains (signs of power themselves) melt before God’s presence. But buried in that opening stanza (vs. 2) – God’s throne – a metaphor for God’s reign – is built on the foundation of righteousness and justice. God’s power has a purpose, a goal, that justice and righteousness would be the lived values “of all the earth.”

The middle stanza describes the response to God’s righteousness and glory – the people of God are glad; the communities of God’s people rejoice (vs. 8). Those who follow false God will realize that those gods will in the end worship Yahweh, the God proclaimed in the words of the Bible. 

In contrast to the power of the first stanza, the third stanza (vs. 10-12) uses much quieter images – God loves, God guards. “Light dawns” – this is a very quiet picture of hope. For dawn is silent – no sound marks dawn. Dawn is also gradual – the light grows often unnoticed at the start – and then finally the sun comes up. Yes, God is a God of power and might – but also a God of quiet arrival, of gradual brightening.

In whichever way God arrives – with power and might – or in quietness – the result is the same – the people of God rejoice, giving thanks to God, bringing praise and worship to God.

PRAYER:

O Lord, we rejoice in your coming – at times that is with majestic deed of power, at other times it is with quiet arrival. But we rejoice for your reign is under way, your kingdom is starting to be seen. In this season of Easter we rejoice in your power over death. You alone are worthy of our praise and worship. In Jesus’ name. Amen.