a mountain or range of hills (sometimes used figurative… · noun, common masculine plural absolute
melted
נָ֭מַסּוּNa.ma.su
H4549
to liquefy · verb, niphal perfect, 3rd person common plural
wax
כַּדּוֹנַ֗גka.do.Nag
H1749
wax · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
presence
מִלִּפְנֵ֣יmi.lif.Nei
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
LORD
יְהוָ֑הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
presence
מִ֝לִּפְנֵ֗יmi.lif.Nei
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
Lord
אֲד֣וֹן'a.Don
H113
sovereign · noun, common masculine singular construct
earth
הָאָֽרֶץha.'A.retz
H776
the earth (at large · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
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
Nahum 1:5 The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein.
Micah 1:3-4 For, behold, the LORD cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth.
Isaiah 24:19-20 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
Isaiah 64:1-2 Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence,
Habakkuk 3:6 He stood, and measured the earth: he beheld, and drove asunder the nations; and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hill…
Psalms 47:2 For the LORD most high is terrible; he is a great King over all the earth.
Psalms 46:6 The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted.
Joshua 3:11 Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passeth over before you into Jordan.
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…
The hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord,.... Kimchi interprets the "hills" of the kings of the wicked; and it was verified in Herod and his nobles, and the citizens of Jerusalem, who, when they heard of the coming of the Messiah, of the birth of the King of the Jews, were exceedingly moved and troubled; their hearts melted like wax within them, Matthew 2:1, so when he appeared, in the power of his Gospel, in the Gentile world, and went forth in the ministration of it, conquering, and to conquer, all fled before him; every mountain and island were moved out of their places; and the kings of the earth, and great men, ran to the rocks to hide them from his face, which they could n…
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
"The mountains flowed like wax before his face." By "mountains" he means the lofty powers. Those who before were raised up to heaven through pride, at the coming of the Lord were humbled; and those who were hardened by too great a boasting of vanity, afterward were softened by the heat of divine wisdom.
The mountains flowed away like wax. To me these mountains seem to be the powers of the demons. Or certainly the mountains are proud men, whoever they be. This fire does not consume the humble, but whoever are mountainous. And indeed, whenever a lightning-bolt is sent forth, it strikes with difficulty those who are in the valley, but always those who are on the mountain.
"The hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord" [Psalm 97:5]. Who are the hills? The proud. Every high thing raising itself against God, at the deeds of Christ and of the Christians, trembled, yielded, and when I say, what has been already said, "melted," a better word cannot be found. "The hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord." Where is the elevation of powers? Where the hardness of the unbelieving? The Lord was a fire unto them, they melted at His presence like wax; so long hard, until that fire was applied. Every height has been levelled; it dares not now blaspheme Christ: and though the Pagan believes not in Him, he blasphemes Him not; though not as yet become a living stone, yet the hard hill has been subdued. "At the presence of the Lord of the whole earth:" not of the Jews only, but of the Gentiles also, as the Apostle says; for He is not the God of the Jews alone, but of the Gentiles also. [Romans 3:29] He is therefore the Lord of the whole earth, the Lord Jesus Christ born in Judæa, but not born for Judæa alone, because before He was born He created all men; and He who created, also new created, all men.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Wax — Made by melting the combs of bees. Mentioned (Ps. 22:14; 68:2; 97:5; Micah 1:4) in illustration.
Mountain · Melted — Melted
Mountains · God: Causes, to melt — God: Causes, to melt
Volcanoes · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Wax · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
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).
Again we have nothing but echoes of the older literature: Psa 97:4 = Psa 77:19; Psa 97:4, cf. Psa 77:17; Psa 97:5, cf. Mic 1:4; Psa 97:5, cf. Mic 4:13; Psa 97:6 = Psa 50:6; Psa 97:6, cf. Isa 35:2; Isa 40:5; Isa 52:10; Isa 66:18. The poet goes on to describe that which is future with historical certainty. That which Psa 77:19 says of the manifestation of God in the earlier times he transfers to the revelation of God in the last time. The earth sees it, and begins to tremble in consequence of it. The reading ותּחל, according to Hitzig (cf. Ew. ֗232, b) traditional, is, however, only an error of pointing that has been propagated; the correct reading is the reading of Heidenheim and Baer, restor…
The created order stirs at the coming of its King. He alone deserves worship.
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 97:5
The hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.
The hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord. Inanimate nature knows its Creator, and worships him in its own fashion. States and kingdoms which stand out upon the world like mountains are utterly dissolved when he decrees their end. Systems as ancient and firmly rooted as the hills pass away when he does but look upon them. In the Pentecostal era, and its subsequent age, this was seen on all hands, heathenism yielded at the glance of Jehovah Jesus, and the tyrannies based upon it dissolved like melted wax. At the presence of the Lord of the whole earth. His dominion is universal,…
