"The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice;
let the many coastlands be glad!
2 Clouds and thick darkness are all round him;
righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
3 Fire goes before him
and burns up his adversaries all round.
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 see his glory.
7 All worshippers of images are put to shame,
who make their boast in worthless idols;
worship him, all you gods!
8 Zion hears and is glad,
and the daughters of Judah rejoice,
because of your judgements, O Lord.
9 For you, O Lord, are most high over all the earth;
you are exalted far above all gods.
10 O you who love the Lord, hate evil!
He preserves the lives of his saints;
he delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
11 Light is sown 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!"
Psalm 97
The unfolding of the theophany in 3ff is something to be savoured and exulted in, as 8 makes clear; and it is this that provides the encouragement to hold on till daylight and victory come. This is the note struck in the epilogue of the Psalm (10-12). The idea is 'In view of the foregoing, this is what you must do!' And what we must do is resolutely to take a stand: 'Ye that love the Lord, hate evil' (10) - stand up and be counted! Such a stand will be costly, hence the words that follow in 10, 'He preserveth...He delivereth'. In a firm adherence to the Lord, many difficulties arise, and foes are made; but those who obey the summons to stand for Him will not lack protection. In 11, the phrase 'light is sown' has the force of 'light dawns' - it is a word used regularly of the sun's appearing - but 'sown' has its own force: the idea is that, even if the righteous are at present in darkness, God has already sown light for them, and in His time it will spring up in beauty for them, to bless their souls. If this is so, we can surely rejoice in hope (12) and be thankful to Him. One last word: we may be tempted to think that such manifestations of God's presence and power rarely, if ever, touch our experience. Perhaps if our stand for God were more resolute and wholehearted things might be different!