a cloud (as covering the sky) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
darkness
וַעֲרָפֶ֣לva.'a.ra.Fel
H6205
gloom (as of a lowering sky) · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
about
סְבִיבָ֑יוse.vi.Vav
H5439
(as noun) a circle · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
righteousness
צֶ֥דֶקTze.dek
H6664
the right (natural · noun, common masculine singular absolute
judgment
וּ֝מִשְׁפָּ֗טu.mish.Pat
H4941
properly · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
habitation
מְכ֣וֹןme.Khon
H4349
properly · noun, common masculine singular construct
throne
כִּסְאֽוֹkis.'O
H3678
properly · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Psalms 89:14 Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face.
Exodus 19:9 And the LORD said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for e…
Proverbs 16:12 It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness: for the throne is established by righteousness.
Hebrews 1:8-9 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
Genesis 18:25 That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that b…
Psalms 99:4 The king’s strength also loveth judgment; thou dost establish equity, thou executest judgment and righteousness in Jacob.
Nahum 1:3 The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the stor…
Exodus 24:16-18 And the glory of the LORD abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the mid…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 97:1-7
What was to be said among the heathen in the foregoing psalm (Psa 97:10) is here said again (Psa 97:1) and is made the subject of this psalm, and of psalm 99. The Lord reigns; that is the great truth here laid down. The Lord Jehovah reigns, he that made the world governs it; he that gave being gives motion and power, gives law and commission, gives success and event. Every man's judgment proceeds from the Lord, from his counsel and providence, and in all affairs, both public and private, he performs the thing which he himself has appointed. The Lord Jesus reigns; the providential kingdom is twisted in with the mediatorial and the administration of both is in the hand of Christ, who therefore…
Clouds and darkness are round about him,.... Either as a garment; so Apollinarius paraphrases it,
"near is the King clothed with a cloud and tempest;''
and it is usual with the Heathens to represent their deities as surrounded or clothed with a cloud (s): here the allusion is to the tabernacle and temple, when reared up and dedicated, Exodus 40:34 1 Kings 8:10 and to other appearances of God, or Christ, in a cloud, Exodus 19:9, it may denote the obscurity of his divine nature at his first coming; he appearing in the form of a servant, and in the likeness of sinful flesh, so that few discerned his glory as the glory of the only begotten of the Father; as also the darkness and blindness of t…
Psalm 97:1-5
1. Jehovah reigns: let the earth rejoice, let the great islands [95] be glad. 2. Clouds and darkness are round about him; righteousness and judgment are the habitation [96] of his throne. 3. A fire shall go before his face, and shall burn up his enemies round about. 4. His lightnings enlightened the world; the earth shall see, and tremble. 5. The hills flow down like wax at the presence of Jehovah, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.
1 Jehovah reigns His inviting men to rejoice, is a proof that the reign of God is inseparably connected with the salvation and best happiness of mankind. And, the joy he speaks of being common to the whole world and to the regions beyo…
The Church Fathers
"Justice and judgment are the correction of his throne." When it says "correction," it is shown that before it was crooked. "Justice and judgment are the correction of his throne." Before the Lord came in the flesh, there was inequality, because God was known only in Judea. He came, and all the earth acknowledged the one and the same Creator whom Judea had known: and the correction of his throne was made.
Justice and judgment are the setting-right of his throne. What does he mean, the setting-right of his throne? He ought to have said, the stability of his throne. When therefore it is said, the setting-right of his throne, it is shown that whatever is set right was crooked before it was set right. The judgment of God, therefore, before it comes to judge, seems as it were crooked: now the judgment seems to be unjust and crooked. For when wicked men are made rich and the holy are poor, does not the judgment of God seem to be crooked? But when he shall come to judge, so as to render to each one according to his works, at that time his throne shall be as it were set right. And indeed, do you wish to know that it is spoken of the judge?
"Clouds and darkness are round about Him: righteousness and judgment are the direction of His seat" [Psalm 97:2]....The Lord Himself saith: "For judgment I am come into this world; that they which see not might see, and that they which see might be made blind." [John 9:39] They who seem unto themselves to see, who think themselves wise, who think healing not needful for them, that they may be made blind, may not understand. And that "they which see not may see;" that they who confess their blindness may obtain to be enlightened. Let there be therefore "clouds and darkness round about Him," for those who have not understood Him: for those who confess and humble themselves, "righteousness and judgment are the direction of His seat." He called those who believe in Him His seat: for from them hath He made Himself a seat, since in them Wisdom sitteth; for the Son of God is the Wisdom of God. But we have heard from another passage of Scripture a strong confirmation of this interpretation. "The soul of the righteous is the seat of Wisdom." Because then they who have believed in Him have been made righteous: justified by faith, they have become His own seat: He sitteth in them, judging from them, and guiding them. ...
Dictionary and topics
Darkness — The plague (the ninth) of darkness in Egypt (Ex. 10:21) is described as darkness “which may be felt.” It covered “all the land of Egypt,” so that “they saw not one another.” It did not extend to the…
Clouds · Illustrative: Of unsearchableness of God — Illustrative: Of unsearchableness of God
Darkness · .See al — .See al
Righteousness Of God, The · Described as: The habitation of his throne — Described as: The habitation of his throne
Symbols And Similitudes · Darkness, of God’ s inscrutability — Darkness, of God’ s inscrutability
Throne · .Of God — .Of God
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
We have here nothing but echoes of the older literature: Psa 97:1, cf. Isa 42:10-12; Isa 51:5; Psa 97:2, cf. Psa 18:10, Psa 18:12; Psa 97:2 = Psa 89:15; Psa 97:3, cf. Psa 50:3; Psa 18:9; Psa 97:3, cf. Isa 42:25. Beginning with the visible coming of the kingdom of God in the present, with מלך ה the poet takes his stand upon the standpoint of the kingdom which is come. With it also comes rich material for universal joy. תּגל is indicative, as in Psa 96:11 and frequently. רבּים are all, for all of them are in fact many (cf. Isa 52:15). The description of the theophany, for which the way is preparing in Psa 97:2, also reminds one of Hab. 3. God's enshrouding Himself in darkness bears witness to…
Dark clouds . . . Fire . . . lightning: This language shows that the Lord is coming in judgment.
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 97:2
Clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne.
Clouds and darkness are round about him. So the Lord revealed himself at Sinai, so must he ever surround his essential Deity when he shows himself to the sons of men, or his excessive glory would destroy them. Every revelation of God must also be an obvelation; there must be a veiling of his infinite splendour if anything is to be seen by finite beings. It is often thus with the Lord in providence; when working out designs of unmingled love he conceals the purpose of his grace that it may be the more clearly discovered at the end. "It is the glory of God to conceal a thing." Around the hist…
