The Lord of All the Earth Text: Psalm 97:1-6
Introduction: The Non-Negotiable Reign
We live in an age that wants a manageable God. Our generation wants a God who is a divine consultant, a celestial therapist, or perhaps a kindly grandfather who pats us on the head and tells us to run along and be ourselves. We want a God who affirms our choices, blesses our ambitions, and certainly never intrudes with anything so gauche as absolute sovereignty, fiery judgment, or a holiness that makes the mountains melt. In short, we want a God who reigns, but only at our invitation and within the boundaries we set for Him.
But the God of the Bible is not running for office. He is not seeking our approval. He is not a candidate for a position we have opened up. He is the Lord. He reigns. This is the fundamental, non-negotiable reality of the cosmos. And Psalm 97 is a psalm that rubs our noses in this glorious, terrifying, and ultimately joyful reality. It presents us with a vision of God that is utterly untamed, a theophany that shatters our domesticated categories and forces us to reckon with who He actually is, not who we would like Him to be.
This psalm is a frontal assault on all idolatry, both ancient and modern. The ancient world was filled with gods you could manage, gods you could bargain with, gods who were basically super-powered versions of us. The modern world is filled with idols of a different sort, the idols of the self, of autonomy, of human reason, of political power. But the effect is the same: to reduce the Creator to a manageable size, to put Him in a box we can control. This psalm takes that box and incinerates it. It tells us that the Lord reigns, and the only two possible responses are to rejoice in that fact or to be consumed by it.
What we are about to read is not a quiet, contemplative poem. It is a thunderstorm. It is the announcement of the arrival of the King, and His arrival rearranges everything. It causes joy in one place and terror in another. It makes the earth tremble and the heavens speak. And it forces every one of us to answer the question: Is the reign of this God good news to you, or is it the worst news imaginable?
The Text
Yahweh reigns, let the earth rejoice;
Let the many coastlands be glad.
Clouds and thick darkness are all around Him;
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.
Fire goes before Him
And burns up His adversaries all around.
His lightnings light up the world;
The earth sees and trembles.
The mountains melt like wax at the presence of Yahweh,
At the presence of the Lord of all the earth.
The heavens declare His righteousness,
And all the peoples see His glory.
(Psalm 97:1-6 LSB)
The Universal Edict (v. 1)
The psalm begins not with a suggestion, but with a declaration that carries a command within it.
"Yahweh reigns, let the earth rejoice; Let the many coastlands be glad." (Psalm 97:1)
The very first phrase, "Yahweh reigns," is the central truth of all existence. This is not a future hope; it is a present reality. He is not campaigning for the throne; He occupies it. This is the foundational truth upon which everything else is built. If this is not true, then nothing makes sense. If it is true, then everything must be re-evaluated in its light.
And what is the proper response to this reign? Universal joy. "Let the earth rejoice." This is not an invitation limited to Israel. The scope is global. The "many coastlands," or isles, represents the farthest reaches of the Gentile world. From the center to the periphery, the reign of God is intended to be received as good news. This is a profoundly optimistic, postmillennial sentiment. The reign of Yahweh is not a secret for a holy huddle in Jerusalem; it is a public announcement for the entire planet. The gospel is the news that the true King has been enthroned in the person of Jesus Christ, and therefore, the entire world has a moral obligation to be glad about it.
Our secularists believe that the reign of God would be a cosmic tyranny, a universal wet blanket. But the Scriptures declare that His reign is the only possible foundation for true joy. Why? Because He is a good King. His reign means order instead of chaos, justice instead of oppression, and light instead of darkness. To refuse to rejoice at the reign of Yahweh is to declare that you prefer chaos, you love injustice, and you are a friend of the dark.
The King's Terrifying Court (v. 2)
Just as we are commanded to rejoice, the psalmist immediately confronts us with a vision of God that is anything but tame. His holiness is not manageable.
"Clouds and thick darkness are all around Him; Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne." (Psalm 97:2 LSB)
Modern evangelicals often try to make God accessible and relatable, like a friendly neighbor. The Bible does not do this. It presents Him as gloriously inaccessible. The "clouds and thick darkness" are a classic feature of a theophany, a manifestation of God's presence (Ex. 19:16; Deut. 4:11). This is not the darkness of evil, but the darkness of unapproachable light, a glory so intense that it is blinding, a holiness so pure that it is terrifying to sinful men. You cannot simply stroll into His presence. He is not safe. His ways are not our ways; His thoughts are not our thoughts. There is a holy mystery to Him that we cannot penetrate.
And yet, this terrifying darkness is not arbitrary. It is not chaos. At the very center of this inscrutable presence is a throne, and the foundation of that throne is "righteousness and justice." This is immensely comforting. Though we cannot understand all that God does, we can know that what He does is always right. His power is not raw, capricious force; it is always governed by His perfect character. The universe is not run by a tyrant who makes up the rules as He goes along. It is governed by a King whose every action is rooted in perfect righteousness and perfect justice. The clouds and darkness mean we won't always understand the "how," but the foundation of righteousness and justice means we can always trust the "who."
The Vanguard of Judgment (v. 3)
The arrival of this King is not a peaceful diplomatic mission. It is an invasion. He comes with a vanguard that purifies His path.
"Fire goes before Him And burns up His adversaries all around." (Psalm 97:3 LSB)
This is the active, consuming holiness of God. God's presence is not neutral. To His people, it is warmth and light. To His enemies, it is a consuming fire (Heb. 12:29). When the King comes, the first order of business is to deal with the rebellion. His adversaries are not tolerated; they are not negotiated with; they are burned up.
This is a hard truth for our sentimental age, but it is an essential one. The love of God does not cancel out the wrath of God; it is the foundation of it. Because God loves righteousness, He must hate unrighteousness. Because He loves His people, He must destroy those who would harm them. A god who is "nice" to everyone, including unrepentant rebels and adversaries, is not a good god. He is an unjust god, an accomplice to evil. The fire of God's judgment is a necessary consequence of His goodness. When the Lord Jesus returns, He will come in flaming fire, taking vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel (2 Thess. 1:8). This is not a contradiction of His love; it is the expression of it.
The Trembling World (v. 4-5)
The manifestation of God's presence is not a private, internal experience. It is a public, cosmic event that shakes the very foundations of the created order.
"His lightnings light up the world; The earth sees and trembles. The mountains melt like wax at the presence of Yahweh, At the presence of the Lord of all the earth." (Psalm 97:4-5 LSB)
The lightning flashes are not random bolts of energy; they are "His" lightnings. They are instruments of His revelation. They illuminate the entire world, leaving no one with the excuse of ignorance. When God reveals Himself, it is an inescapable event. "The earth sees and trembles." The proper response of the created order to the presence of the Creator is awe and fear. This is not the cowering fear of a slave before a tyrant, but the trembling of a creature before the raw, untamed power and majesty of its maker.
The imagery intensifies. The mountains, those ancient symbols of stability, permanence, and strength, simply "melt like wax." Before the presence of Yahweh, the most solid things in our world are revealed to be utterly transient. Our institutions, our empires, our personal achievements, our pride, all the things that seem so solid and permanent to us, are nothing. They are wax before a furnace. Notice the repetition: "at the presence of Yahweh, at the presence of the Lord of all the earth." The psalmist wants to make it clear. This is not a local deity. This is not the god of the hills. This is the Adonai, the sovereign Master, of the entire planet. His presence destabilizes every rival claim to power.
The Cosmic Sermon (v. 6)
The psalm concludes this section with the response of the highest part of creation, which serves as a preacher to the lowest.
"The heavens declare His righteousness, And all the peoples see His glory." (Psalm 97:6 LSB)
This is natural revelation on a grand scale. The heavens themselves become a pulpit. They are not declaring a vague spirituality; they are preaching a specific attribute: "His righteousness." The order, the majesty, and the power displayed in the cosmos are a constant sermon about the character of the God who made it all. As Paul says in Romans, His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse (Rom. 1:20).
And what is the result of this celestial preaching? "All the peoples see His glory." This is the goal of all history. The knowledge of the glory of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea (Hab. 2:14). This psalm is a prophetic picture of that reality. God's glory is not a secret. It is the most public fact in the universe. Men can suppress this truth in unrighteousness, they can build idols to distract themselves from it, they can invent philosophies to explain it away, but they cannot escape it. The heavens preach, the lightning flashes, the mountains melt, and the fire burns. The King is on His throne, and His glory will be seen by all.
For those who have bowed the knee to His Son, this is the best news in the world. It means our King wins. It means righteousness and justice will prevail. It means the world will not be consumed by the chaos of human sin but will be filled with the glory of God. And so we, with the earth and the many coastlands, have every reason to rejoice.