97:1 The Lord reigns!
Let the earth be happy!
Let the many coastlands rejoice!
97:2 Dark clouds surround him;
equity and justice are the foundation of his throne. 2
97:3 Fire goes before him;
on every side 3 it burns up his enemies.
97:4 His lightning bolts light up the world;
the earth sees and trembles.
97:5 The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,
before the Lord of the whole earth.
97:6 The sky declares his justice,
and all the nations see his splendor.
97:7 All who worship idols are ashamed,
those who boast about worthless idols.
All the gods bow down before him. 4
97:8 Zion hears and rejoices,
the towns 5 of Judah are happy,
because of your judgments, O Lord.
97:9 For you, O Lord, are the sovereign king 6 over the whole earth;
you are elevated high above all gods.
1 sn Psalm 97. The psalmist depicts the Lord as the sovereign, just king of the world who comes in power to vindicate his people.
2 sn The Lord’s throne symbolizes his kingship.
3 tn Heb “all around.”
4 tn The translation assumes that the prefixed verbal form in the first line is an imperfect (“are ashamed”) and that the ambiguous form in the third line is a perfect (“bow down”) because the psalmist appears to be describing the effect of the
5 tn Heb “daughters.” The term “daughters” refers to the cities of Judah surrounding Zion (see Ps 48:11 and H. Haag, TDOT 2:336).
6 tn Traditionally “Most High.”