PSALMS LESSON 96

     We will begin by giving the 97th Psalm in metre.

                   THE PSALMS OF DAVID IN METRE

                             Chapter 97

Verse 1  "JEHOVAH reigns; let earth be glad, And all her islands clap
         their hands; With clouds and darkness be is clad, His throne
         in right and judgment stands."
Verse 2  "A fiery stream before him goes, And burns around him all his
         foes; His lightning shafts, in vengeance hurled, Blaze lurid
         o'er the trembling world."
Verse 3  "Like wax the mountains melt away, Before his majesty divine;
         The heavens his righteousness display, All nations see his
         glory shine."
Verse 4  "Be shamed who idols serve and boast, Fear him, ye gods with
         all your host; When Zion glad, thy judgments heard, Then
         Judah's daughters praised the Lord."
Verse 5  "Exalted is thy throne, O Lord, Above all gods, above all
         lands; Hate evil, ye who love his word, His saints he frees
         from wicked hands."
Verse 6  "For all the righteous sown is light, And joy for men in
         heart upright, Ye saints rejoice in God; him bless, When
         musing on his holiness. "

     We will now begin the verse by verse study of Psalms chapter 97.
Psalms 97:1 "The LORD reigneth; let the earth rejoice; let the
multitude of isles be glad [thereof]."

     Jesus has come and set up His kingdom, and all the earth should
rejoice and be glad. Jesus brings perfect peace to the nations of the
earth. All power has been given to Him in heaven and earth.  That at
the name of Jesus, every knee will bow and every tongue confess. The
Christians will rejoice with great joy.  The only ones who will not be
happy with this, will be the ones who have totally rejected Him.  This
is when there will be peace throughout all the land. Isles be glad,
just means all the nations everywhere, even though they are across the
sea.

     Psalms 97:2 "Clouds and darkness [are] round about him:
righteousness and judgment [are] the habitation of his throne."

     Jesus is the Light of the world. Whether this means that He is a
Light in a darkened world, or whether it means that a cloud must
surround Him, I am not sure. We do know that in this wicked world,
there is great darkness surrounding the church on every side. The
church has the Light of Jesus. It has always interested me that even
Moses, coming from the presence of God, had his head so bright that he
must have his head veiled to keep from blinding the people. We know
that the Light of Jesus is so much brighter than that. Perhaps, the
Light of Jesus must be seen from the cloud to keep us from being
totally blinded by His brightness. We, also, know that in heaven there
is no need for the sun and the moon, because Jesus is the Light.
Whatever be the case, the brightness of His glory displays His
righteousness and His judgement. God dwelleth in thick darkness to
conceal Himself from mankind, lest man be consumed.

     Psalms 97:3 "A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies
round about."

     We know that our God is a consuming fire. We, also, know that the
gospel of Jesus Christ is a fire that burns out the evil and leaves
the good. Whether we are to take this literally, or not, I can not
say. We, also, know that the baptism of John was water, and that the
baptism of Jesus was of fire of the Holy Ghost. In the spiritual
realm, it would not be too far wrong to say, that the words of the
Lord Jesus going before Him could burn up all the evil before Him, and
leave just the good. Jesus fights with the two-edged sword that
proceeds out of His mouth. The Word set on fire of the Holy Ghost
could be what is spoken of here. In the individual life, God will
purge the floor with fire.

     Psalms 97:4 "His lightnings enlightened the world: the earth saw,
and trembled."

     This, again, is probably speaking from the spiritual standpoint.
We do know that lightnings and thunderings proceed from the throne of
God. Revelation 4:5 "And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and
thunderings and voices: and [there were] seven lamps of fire burning
before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God."  Matthew 28:3
"His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow:"
It is from the light of Jesus, that the gospel has grown around the
world. We know that the source of all Light is Jesus. You can not even
look at the sun directly, so you know the sun pales in comparison to
the Light of the Son. You can easily see how a look at the source of
all Light, would frighten you.

     Psalms 97:5 "The hills melted like wax at the presence of the
LORD, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth."

     Again, I would say, I do not know whether this is speaking of
literal mountains that will melt like wax at the presence of the
source of all Light, or whether this is speaking of mountains of
problems that will disappear at His presence. We do know, that this
light is so great that nothing can withstand it. I would tend to
believe that this is speaking of problems, that will disappear when
the knowledge of God fills the earth.

     Psalms 97:6 "The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the
people see his glory."

     Man's sin has brought near destruction to the whole earth, and
this is, possibly, speaking of the truth of Almighty God restoring the
earth and its people. Even now, before all of this has been revealed,
we have nothing to do but look into a clear night sky, and see His
glory all around us. The order of the entire universe speaks of His
great righteousness and wisdom.

     Psalms 97:7 "Confounded be all they that serve graven images,
that boast themselves of idols: worship him, all [ye] gods."

     The gods of this earth are nothings. They, too, must bow down and
worship the Creator of this whole universe. When the Lord reveals
Himself to all the people, there will be many who will be terribly
embarrassed that they worshiped the false gods of this earth.

     Psalms 97:8 "Zion heard, and was glad; and the daughters of Judah
rejoiced because of thy judgments, O LORD."

     The literal Zion will greatly rejoice, because He will dwell in
Jerusalem. The spiritual Zion, the church will rejoice, because we
will reign with Him as His subordinates. Daughters of Judah, probably
mean each individual believer.

     Psalms 97:9 "For thou, LORD, [art] high above all the earth: thou
art exalted far above all gods."

     This will be so evident when the reign of Jesus begins upon the
earth. Just the fact of Jesus appearing in the eastern sky, will be
evidence enough of who He is. This is not just a local thing. He is
not just ruler in Israel, but in all the earth. We have discussed
before that idols and false gods are nothings. The Creator of
everything, and everyone, will rule over His creation.

     Psalms 97:10 "Ye that love the LORD, hate evil: he preserveth the
souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the
wicked."

     As you have previously noted, we have named these Bible studies
{Love The Lord}. This is not associated with any particular
denomination, but is for all who truly love the Lord. The Scripture
above is saying the same thing. Whatever denomination you are, you are
acceptable to God, if you love the Lord. The believer {saints} belong
to Him. We have been purchased by His precious blood. He protects His
own. He delivered us from the curse of sin, and He will deliver us
from our enemies. We believers hate evil, because we know evil
separates a man from God. God will totally destroy evil. We hate evil,
because our Leader hates evil.

     Psalms 97:11 "Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for
the upright in heart."

     The righteous love the light, because they have nothing to hide.
My prayer is that the Light of Jesus will light my path that He has
chosen for me to walk. I can stay in the path easier, if I can easily
see where the path is. Gladness fills our very being, when we are
satisfied that we are doing the will of God. This is not just for one
believer, but for all who love His appearing. There will be joy
unspeakable, when we are in the presence of our blessed Lord.

     Psalms 97:12 "Rejoice in the LORD, ye righteous; and give thanks
at the remembrance of his holiness."

     Be ye holy for I am holy, is a very interesting statement of God
to man. We are not holy, and really never will be. Those of us who are
saved, are righteous. We have taken on the righteousness of Christ.
Notice in the last part of the verse above, it is His holiness. He set
the perfect standard which imperfect man cannot do. Praise God! there
is a standard of excellence. We know we can trust Him completely,
because He is holy and can not lie. There would be no good news of the
gospel, if we could not depend on every word to be true. He is holy
and will set up His reign of holiness on this earth, bringing perfect
peace with it. Won't it be wonderful to have no fear at all, because
the holiness of God will reign? The word holy means separate and
apart. He is not part of the universe, He is the Creator. God is not
part of the creation. It is His property. He can restore it, or
destroy it whichever He chooses.





































                             Questions 96

1.  What has happened in verse 1 that would cause rejoicing?
2.  Who will be the only ones who will not rejoice?
3.  What does, isles be glad, mean?
4.  Who is the Light of the world?
5.  What surrounds the church today?
6.  Who is the Light in the church?
7.  Who had his head so bright {after a close encounter with God} that
    it had to be covered with a veil?
8.  Why is there no need for the sun and moon in heaven?
9.  Where does God dwell?
10. Why is this important to man?
11. Our God is a consuming _____.
12. What was the difference in the baptism of John the Baptist and the
    baptism of Jesus?
13. In the individual life, God will ________ the floor with fire.
14. What effect did His lightnings have on the earth?
15. Quote Revelation chapter 4 verse 5.
16. His countenance was like lightning, and His raiment ______ as
    ____.
17. Who is the source of all light?
18. What 2 things could verse 5 mean?
19. The _________ declare His righteousness.
20. What has brought near destruction to the whole earth?
21. The order of the universe speaks of what?
22. The gods of this earth are _________.
23. Why will literal Zion rejoice in verse 8?
24. Why will spiritual Zion rejoice?
25. The Creator of all the earth and everyone will rule over His
    _____.
26. What do those, that love the Lord, hate?
27. Why do the righteous love the light?
28. When will there be joy unspeakable for the believer?
29. Is man holy?
30. Will he ever be holy?
31. If not holy, what are the believers in Christ, that make them
    acceptable?
32. What does the word holy mean?
33. God is not part of the universe, He is the _________.