Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Does God dwell in darkness or in light?1 Kings 8:12 and 2 Chronicles 6:1 declare that Yahweh said he would dwell in thick darkness, with Psalms 18:11 and 97:2 echoing the imagery.
Who is the Lord of this world?The Hebrew Bible repeatedly affirms YHWH as sovereign over all the kingdoms and the whole earth, but several New Testament passages — most notably the Temptati…
Nahum 1:5(v5)The mountains quake before him, and the hills melt away. The earth trembles at his presence, yes, the world, and all who dwell in it.
Micah 1:3-4(v5)For, behold, Yahweh comes out of his place, and will come down and tread on the high places of the earth. The mountains melt under him, and…
Psalms 89:14(v2)Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne. Loving kindness and truth go before your face.
Psalms 50:3(v3)Our God comes, and does not keep silent. A fire devours before him. It is very stormy around him.
Isaiah 24:19-20(v5)The earth is utterly broken. The earth is torn apart. The earth is shaken violently. The earth will stagger like a drunken man, and will…
Show all 74 cross-references
Isaiah 64:1-2(v5)Oh that you would tear the heavens, that you would come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence. As when fire kindles the…
Exodus 19:9(v2)Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, I come to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you…
Psalms 18:8(v3)Smoke went out of his nostrils. Consuming fire came out of his mouth. Coals were kindled by it.
Habakkuk 3:6(v5)He stood, and shook the earth. He looked, and made the nations tremble. The ancient mountains were crumbled. The age-old hills collapsed.…
Psalms 47:2(v5)For Yahweh Most High is awesome. He is a great King over all the earth.
Psalms 77:18(v4)The voice of your thunder was in the whirlwind. The lightnings lit up the world. The earth trembled and shook.
Malachi 4:1(v3)“For, behold, the day comes, it burns as a furnace; and all the proud, and all who work wickedness, will be stubble; and the day that comes…
2 Thessalonians 1:8(v3)punishing those who don’t know God, and to those who don’t obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus,
Psalms 19:1(v6)The heavens declare the glory of God. The expanse shows his handiwork.
Psalms 46:6(v5)The nations raged. The kingdoms were moved. He lifted his voice and the earth melted.
Psalms 50:6(v6)The heavens shall declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge.
Proverbs 16:12(v2)It is an abomination for kings to do wrong, for the throne is established by righteousness.
Isaiah 66:18(v6)“For I know their works and their thoughts. The time comes that I will gather all nations and languages, and they will come, and will see…
Daniel 7:10(v3)A fiery stream issued and came out from before him. Thousands of thousands ministered to him. Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before…
Hebrews 1:8-9(v2)But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your Kingdom. You have loved…
Revelation 11:19(v4)God’s temple that is in heaven was opened, and the ark of the Lord’s covenant was seen in his temple. Lightnings, sounds, thunders, an…
Genesis 18:25(v2)May it be far from you to do things like that, to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be like the wicked. May…
Exodus 19:16-18(v4)On the third day, when it was morning, there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain, and the sound of an…
2 Samuel 22:47(v6)Yahweh lives! Blessed be my rock! Exalted be God, the rock of my salvation,
Psalms 21:8-9(v3)Your hand will find out all of your enemies. Your right hand will find out those who hate you. You will make them as a fiery furnace in the…
Psalms 99:4(v2)The King’s strength also loves justice. You establish equity. You execute justice and righteousness in Jacob.
Nahum 1:3(v2)Yahweh is slow to anger, and great in power, and will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. Yahweh has his way in the whirlwind and in…
Exodus 24:16-18(v2)Yahweh’s glory settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. The seventh day he called to Moses out of the middle of the…
Deuteronomy 4:11-12(v2)You came near and stood under the mountain. The mountain burned with fire to the heart of the sky, with darkness, cloud, and thick…
Deuteronomy 32:22(v3)For a fire is kindled in my anger, that burns to the lowest Sheol, devours the earth with its increase, and sets the foundations of the…
1 Kings 8:10-12(v2)It came to pass, when the priests had come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled Yahweh’s house, so that the priests could not stand…
Job 9:6(v4)He shakes the earth out of its place. Its pillars tremble.
Psalms 18:11-12(v2)He made darkness his hiding place, his pavilion around him, darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies. At the brightness before him his…
Psalms 45:6-7(v2)Your throne, God, is forever and ever. A scepter of equity is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness, and hated…
Psalms 67:4(v6)Oh let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you will judge the peoples with equity, and govern the nations on earth.
Psalms 104:32(v4)He looks at the earth, and it trembles. He touches the mountains, and they smoke.
Isaiah 6:3(v6)One called to another, and said, “Holy, holy, holy, is Yahweh of Armies! The whole earth is full of his glory!”
Isaiah 40:5(v6)Yahweh’s glory shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken it.”
Isaiah 45:6(v6)that they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is no one besides me. I am Yahweh, and there is no one else.
Jeremiah 10:10(v4)But Yahweh is the true God. He is the living God, and an everlasting King. At his wrath, the earth trembles. The nations aren’t able to…
Nahum 1:5-6(v3)The mountains quake before him, and the hills melt away. The earth trembles at his presence, yes, the world, and all who dwell in it. Who…
Revelation 19:2(v6)for his judgments are true and righteous. For he has judged the great prostitute, who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality, and…
Joshua 3:11(v5)Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passes over before you into the Jordan.
Judges 5:4-5(v5)“Yahweh, when you went out of Seir, when you marched out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, the sky also dropped. Yes, the clouds…
Psalms 83:18(v5)that they may know that you alone, whose name is Yahweh, are the Most High over all the earth.
Psalms 96:9(v4)Worship Yahweh in holy array. Tremble before him, all the earth.
Psalms 114:7(v4)Tremble, you earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob,
Psalms 144:5-6(v4)Part your heavens, Yahweh, and come down. Touch the mountains, and they will smoke. Throw out lightning, and scatter them. Send out your…
Habakkuk 2:14(v6)For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of Yahweh’s glory, as the waters cover the sea.
Matthew 6:9(v6)Pray like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.
Matthew 27:50-51(v4)Jesus cried again with a loud voice, and yielded up his spirit. Behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom.…
2 Peter 3:10-12(v3)But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be…
Revelation 19:11(v4)I saw the heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it is called Faithful and True. In righteousness he judges and makes…
Exodus 20:21(v2)The people stayed at a distance, and Moses came near to the thick darkness where God was.
Numbers 14:21(v6)but in very deed—as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with Yahweh’s glory—
Deuteronomy 4:11(v3)You came near and stood under the mountain. The mountain burned with fire to the heart of the sky, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness.
Deuteronomy 5:4(v3)Yahweh spoke with you face to face on the mountain out of the middle of the fire,
Deuteronomy 5:23-24(v3)When you heard the voice out of the middle of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, even all the…
Psalms 36:5-6(v6)Your loving kindness, Yahweh, is in the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Your righteousness is like the mountains of God.…
Psalms 77:19(v2)Your way was through the sea; your paths through the great waters. Your footsteps were not known.
Psalms 89:2(v6)I indeed declare, “Love stands firm forever. You established the heavens. Your faithfulness is in them.”
Psalms 89:5(v6)The heavens will praise your wonders, Yahweh, your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones.
Psalms 98:3(v6)He has remembered his loving kindness and his faithfulness toward the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of…
Isaiah 1:2(v6)Hear, heavens, and listen, earth; for Yahweh has spoken: “I have nourished and brought up children and they have rebelled against me.
Isaiah 60:2-3(v6)For, behold, darkness will cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but Yahweh will arise on you, and his glory shall be seen on…
Micah 4:13(v5)Arise and thresh, daughter of Zion; for I will make your horn iron, and I will make your hoofs bronze; and you will beat in pieces many…
Romans 11:33(v2)Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out!
1 Corinthians 1:2(v5)to the assembly of God which is at Corinth—those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints, with all who call on the name of our…
Isaiah 54:5(v5)For your Maker is your husband; Yahweh of Armies is his name. The Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer. He will be called the God of the…
Habakkuk 3:5(v3)Plague went before him, and pestilence followed his feet.
Zechariah 4:14(v5)Then he said, “These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.”
Matthew 28:2-3(v4)Behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from the sky, and came and rolled away the stone from the door,…
Revelation 11:5(v3)If anyone desires to harm them, fire proceeds out of their mouth and devours their enemies. If anyone desires to harm them, he must be…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (17 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
John Calvin1540 · Public DomainOn v66 The heavens have declared his righteousness Here he…
6 The heavens have declared his righteousness Here he states that there would be such an illustrious display of the righteousness of God, that the heavens themselves would herald it. The meaning is not the same as in the beginning of the nineteenth psalm, “The heavens declare the glory of God,” etc. In that psalm David means no more than that the wisdom and power of God are as conspicuous in the fabric of the heavens, as if God should assert them with an audible voice. The meaning of the passage before us is, that the spiritual righteousness of God should be so signally manifested under the reign of Christ as to fill both heaven and earth. There is much force in this personification, in which the heavens, as if even they were penetrated with a sense of the righteousness of God, are represented as speaking of it. It is equally probable, however, that the heavens signify here the angels, who are contained in heaven, by the figure of metonomy or synecdoche, while, in the corresponding clause, instead of the earth being mentioned, he speaks of the peoples who dwell upon it. The angels may very properly be said to announce and celebrate the Divine glory.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators1599 · Public DomainOn vv2, 4He is thus described to keep his enemies in…
He is thus described to keep his enemies in fear, which commonly contemn God’s power.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv2–6Psa 97:2 Clouds and darkness [are] round about him:…
Psa 97:2 Clouds and darkness [are] round about him: righteousness and judgment [are] the habitation of his throne.
Ver. 2. Clouds and darkness are round about him] As once at the delivering of the law, so now in publishing the gospel, he is no less terrible, having vengeance in store for the disobedient, 2Co 10:6. It is a savour of death to unbelievers. Christ came to send fire on the earth, Luk 12:49.
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Righteousness and judgment, &c.] Mercy Christ hath for the penitent, judgment for the rebellious, who seek to dethrone him. Woe to those gospel sinners.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole1685 · Public DomainOn vv2–6Clouds and darkness are round about him; a dark…
Clouds and darkness are round about him; a dark cloud doth encompass him; wherein he seems to allude to that dark cloud in which God did anciently so often manifest his presence for the comfort of his saints, and for the terror and punishment of evil-doers. The design of these words is to describe either,
1. The depth and unsearchableness of God’s judgments. Or,
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2. The obscurity of Christ’s coming, that the Divine Majesty did veil himself with flesh, and came not with that outward splendour which the Jews expected. Or rather,
3. The terror of his presence and coming to his enemies, of which he manifestly speaks in the following verses; and of which the prophets frequently speak when they make mention of his corning, as Joe 2:31,32; Mal 4:1.
Righteousness and judgment, i.e. righteous judgment, or righteousness in judgment. The habitation; or, the foundation, or establishment; for the throne is established (and the Hebrew verb there is the same from whence this word here comes) by righteousness, Pro 16:12. All his decrees and administrations are grounded upon and managed with righteousness.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn vv2–6Clouds and darkness are round about him,.... Either as…
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;''
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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, Exo 40:34 Kg1 8:10 and to other appearances of God, or Christ, in a cloud, Exo 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 the Jews concerning him, who could not perceive him to be the Messiah; notwithstanding all the characters of him; clouds and darkness were about him to them; as they were, in a literal sense, when he hung on the cross; the sun withdrew and hid itself, and darkness was upon the face of the earth for three hours; Christ was enveloped in it; and a greater darkness surrounded his soul when his divine Father hid his face from him: dark providences attended the first setting up of his kingdom, and the ministration of his Gospel in the world; the apostles, the first preachers of it, were persecuted by their own countrymen the Jews; the whole Gentile world was against them; the Roman empire, emperors, and governors of provinces, opposed them; wherever there was an open door, there were many adversaries, so that things looked very unpromising: nevertheless these clouds were dissipated, and the difficulties got over; though this has sometimes been the case since, and will be again, ere the kingdom of Christ is in all its glory; he now sits enthroned in heaven, surrounded with clouds and darkness, and unseen to us; whose being and perfections are inscrutable to us, his providences unsearchable, and his ways past finding out; and when he comes a second time, it will be at midnight, and in the clouds of heaven:
righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne; the seat, basis, and support of it; he sits on a throne doing right, and by it his throne is established; See Gill on Psa 89:14.
(s) "Et Venus aethereos inter dea candida nimbos", Virgil. Aeneid. 8. "Venus circumdata nimbo", ib. Aeneid. 12. "Nube candentes humeros amictus augur Apollo", Horat. Carmin. l. 1. Ode 2. so Homer. Il. 5. v. 186.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley1765 · Public DomainOn vv2, 6Darkness - A dark cloud doth encompass him.
Darkness - A dark cloud doth encompass him.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn vv2–6Verse 2. Clouds and darkness are round about him]…
Verse 2. Clouds and darkness are round about him] It is granted that this is a subject which cannot be comprehended. And why? Because God is infinite; he acts from his own counsels, which are infinite; in reference to ends which are also infinite: therefore, the reasons of his government cannot be comprehended by the feeble, limited powers of man. There must be clouds and darkness - an impenetrable obscurity, round about him; and we can no more comprehend him in what is called aeternitas a parte ante - the eternity that passed before time commenced, than we can in the aeternitas a parte post - the eternity that is to come, when time shall be no more. Yet such a Being cannot but see all things clearly, and do all things well; therefore the psalmist properly asserts, -
Righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne.] Righteousness, צדק tsedek, the principle that acts according to justice and equity; that gives to all their due, and ever holds in all things an even balance. And judgment, משפט mishpat, the principle that discerns, orders, directs, and determines every thing according to truth and justice: these form the habitation of his throne; that is, his government and management of the world are according to these; and though we cannot see the springs, the secret counsels, and the times, which this omniscient and almighty FATHER must ever have in his own power, yet we may rest assured that all his administration is wise, just, holy, good, and kind. For, although his counsels be inscrutable, and the dispensations of his providence be sometimes apparently unequal, yet righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne.
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In this most sublime description, the psalmist, by the figure termed prosopopoeia, or personification, gives vitality and thought to all the subjects he employs; here, the very throne of God is animated; righteousness and judgment are two intellectual beings who support it. The fire, the lightnings, the earth, the heavens themselves, are all intellectual beings, which either accompany, go before him, or proclaim his majesty.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson1811 · Public DomainOn vv2, 3, 6Psa 97:2. Clouds and darkness are round about him…
Psa 97:2. Clouds and darkness are round about him — His dispensations are mysterious and altogether unaccountable; his ways in the sea, and his path in the great waters. We are not aware what his designs are, nor is it fit that we should be made acquainted with the secrets of his government. But, though there is a depth in his counsels which we must not pretend to fathom, still righteousness and judgment — That is, righteous judgment, or righteousness in judgment, are the habitation — Or, as Dr. Hammond renders the word מכון, mechon, the basis, of his throne — That is, the foundation, or establishment of it; for the throne is established by righteousness. Pro 16:12. All his laws, decrees, and administrations, are grounded upon and managed with justice and equity. Therefore his throne is for ever and ever, because his sceptre is a right sceptre, Psa 45:6.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes1834 · Public DomainOn vv2–6Clouds and darkness are round about him - This…
Clouds and darkness are round about him - This is a description of the majesty of God, derived probably from the manner in which he manifested himself at Mount Sinai. Exo 19:16-19. God is often thus represented as encompassed with clouds. Psa 104:3; Dan 7:13; Mat 24:30; Rev 1:7. See the notes at Psa 18:7-15. The word rendered “clouds” is the common word to denote a cloud; the word translated “darkness” means properly “thick clouds, cloudy darkness, gloom.” It would refer to a cloud considered as dark, and as casting a gloom over the world. There is no reference here to the fact that the dealings of God are dark, mysterious, and incomprehensible, as if he were surrounded by clouds and darkness. This is indeed often true; but that is not the truth taught here. The meaning here is, that the character of God is suited to fill the mind with solemn awe, or with emotions of sublimity.
Righteousness and judgment - He is a righteous God; he is a God who will execute just judgment. Though he is encompassed with clouds, yet he is a just God; and this is suited to impress the mind with profound reverence. That he will do right we may be assured, even when he covers himself with clouds; the fact that he will thus do right is suited to calm the minds of those who love and obey him, and at the same time to fill the minds of the wicked with alarm.
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Are the habitation of his throne - Margin, “establishment.” The Hebrew word means “place;” the place where one stands, or where one abides; a habitation, or a dwelling. It then means a foundation or basis, Psa 89:14; Psa 104:5. This would seem to be the idea here. His throne rests upon, or is sustained by, justice and righteousness. Nothing else would uphold the government of the universe; nothing else will sustain any government.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon1874 · Public DomainOn vv2–62. Clouds and darkness—The imagery is Sinaitic. Psa_97:2-6. Comp.…
2. Clouds and darkness—The imagery is Sinaitic. Psa_97:2-6. Comp. Exo_19:16-20; Exo_20:18. God appears as judge, wrapped in “clouds and darkness” as symbols of severity and as the robe of his judicial office.
Righteousness and judgment—The former denoting the principle, and the latter the administration, of justice.
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Habitation of his throne— Foundation, or support, of his throne, according to the radical meaning of the word, and its use in Psa_104:5; Psa_89:14; Ezr_2:68; in which latter it is translated place. In those passages where it is translated dwellingplace, the idea is not always synonymous with “habitation,” but often denotes that whereon the “habitation” rests. See 2Ch_6:2; Psa_33:14. Support is the truest idea of the word here.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges1878 · Public DomainOn vv2, 4, 5, 62, 3. Though Jehovah shrouds himself in mystery, and…
2, 3. Though Jehovah shrouds himself in mystery, and comes with irresistible might, it is the consolation of His people to know that His kingdom is founded upon righteousness. Here, as elsewhere (Psa_18:9; Psa_18:11, &c.), the Theophany of Sinai supplies the symbolism. Cp. Exo_19:16; Exo_20:21; Deu_5:22.
righteousness &c.] Righteousness and judgement are the foundation of his throne (R.V.).
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2 b is taken from Psa_89:14 a: with Psa_97:3 cp. Psa_50:3; Deu_4:24; Isa_42:25.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers1878 · Public DomainOn vv2–6(2) Clouds and darkness.—Comp. Psa_18:10-12. The imagery in the…
(2) Clouds and darkness.—Comp. Psa_18:10-12. The imagery in the first instance is borrowed from the Theophany at Sinai. (Exo_19:9; Exo_19:16; Exo_20:21; Deu_4:11; Deu_5:22-23.)
Are the habitation.—Better, are the foundation, or pillars. (See margin.) This reappears from Psa_89:14, but the connection with “clouds and darkness” is peculiar to this poet, and is striking. The immediate effect on the Hebrew mind, of the awful manifestation of the Divine power in nature, is not fear, but a sublime sense of safety in the established right and truth of God. They knew that it is one and the same power
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“Which makes the darkness and the light,
And dwells not in the light alone,
But in the darkness and the cloud,
As over Sinai’s peaks of old,
While Israel made them gods of gold,
Although the trumpet blew so loud.”
TENNYSON: In Memoriam.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary1880 · Public DomainOn vv2–6Clouds and darkness are round about him. (comp. Exo_19:16,…
Clouds and darkness are round about him. (comp. Exo_19:16, 18 Deu_4:11 Deu_5:22 1Ki_8:12) The "darkness" does not belong to the nature of God, who "is Light, and in him is no darkness at all", (1Jn_1:5) but to the interrelationship between God and man, in which are involved problems that man cannot solve. Righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne; rather, the foundation of his throne the firm basis on which it is immovably fixed.
HOMILIES BY R. TUCK Ver. 2. What God seems, and what God is.
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The figures of this verse are evidently taken from the scenes connected with the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai. Then "clouds and darkness" were the surroundings, and from these men might get a cursory and an unworthy impression of God; but then "justice and judgment" were declared to be the "pillars of his throne," and if men would but go beyond the appearances, they would apprehend God aright, and even discern the mission and the mystery of the symbols in which he appeared to them.
I WHAT GOD SEEMS TO OUR IMPERFECT VISION. What could Israel see when the people dared to look up to the holy mount? Compare with what Moses saw who was on the holy mount. "And Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke...and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly". (Exo_19:18) For proper apprehension of God we are under two disadvantages:
1. Distance.
2. Sin.
Distance makes it difficult for us to see things clearly; and difficult for us to get them in the right perspective. Sin brings a dimness of the moral and spiritual vision somewhat as drunkenness gives a double vision; and so the clouds round about God prove to be sin clouds in our own eyes. And sin brings a strange fear, because man can never separate sin from consequences, and he cannot help feeling that God will see that the consequences come. So our sin makes a "darkness" about God.
II WHAT GOD IS TO OUR CULTURED VISION. That vision has to be cleansed before it can be cultured. Illustrate cultured vision by the trained eyesight of the sailor or of the scientific man. We at first may see nothing; gradually as we fix our gaze, and think as we gaze, we can see much. Cultured spiritual vision gradually gains right apprehension of what God is, and sees two things as absolutely necessary to the fitting idea of him.
1. He is eternally right in the principles that sway him.
2. He is practically right in the application of those principles. These two things are indicated in the abstract word "righteousness" and the concrete word "judgment." It may be shown how necessarily related these two are. If God is right, we may be confident that his ways are right. If we can see his ways are right, we know that he is right. R.T.
HOMILIES BY C. SHORT Ver. 2. The Divine character and government.
"Clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness and truth are the foundation of his throne.
I WE ARE OFTEN IN DOUBT AND DIFFICULTY ABOUT THE DIVINE CHARACTER AND GOVERNMENT, "Clouds and darkness are round about him." We cannot reconcile all we see with:
1. Divine omnipotence. Abortions. The means do not attain the end.
2. Divine wisdom. Or the wisdom was not perfect.
3. Divine justice.
4. Divine goodness.
II AN OVERPOWERING CONVICTION THAT THE DIVINE CHARACTER AND GOVERNMENT ARE PERFECT.
1. We feel that we are incapable judges of an infinite plan. We only see a part, therefore we cannot understand the whole.
2. What we can see and understand gives us unbounded faith in God in reference to what we cannot understand.
3. We feel assured that God is able to overrule what seems evil for final good. "All things work together for good. S.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon1885 · Public DomainOn vv2–6Ver. 2. Clouds and darkness are round about him.…
Ver. 2. 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 history of his church dark clouds of persecution hover, and an awful gloom at times settles down, still the Lord is there; and though men for a while see not the bright light in the clouds, it bursts forth in due season to the confusion of the adversaries of the gospel. This passage should teach us the impertinence of attempting to pry into the essence of the Godhead, the vanity of all endeavours to understand the mystery of the Trinity in Unity, the arrogance of arraigning the Most High before the bar of human reason, the folly of dictating to the Eternal One the manner in which he should proceed. Wisdom veils her face and adores the mercy which conceals the divine purpose; folly rushes in and perishes, blinded first, and by and by consumed by the blaze of glory.
Righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne. There he abides, he never departs from strict justice and right: his throne is fixed upon the rock of eternal holiness. Righteousness is His immutable attribute, and judgment marks his every act. What though we cannot see or understand what he doeth, yet we are sure that he will do no wrong to us or any of his creatures. Is not this enough to make us rejoice in him and adore him? Divine sovereignty is never tyrannical. Jehovah is an autocrat, but not a despot. Absolute power is safe in the hands of him who cannot err, or act unrighteously. When the roll of the decrees, and the books of the divine providence shall be opened, no eye shall there discern one word that should be blotted out, one syllable of error, one line of injustice, one letter of unholiness. Of none but the Lord of all can this be said.
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Ver. 2. Clouds and darkness are round about him. The figurative language in the poetical parts of the Old Testament is frequently taken from the historical books, and refers to the facts therein recorded: thus the appearances of God to the saints and patriarchs in old times is the origin of the figure in our text. If you look at the history of these appearances, you will find they were all accompanied with clouds and darkness. The cloud of the Lord went before the children of Israel when they departed from the land of bondage. This cloud had a dark and bright side, and was a symbol of the divine presence. Thus it preceded the people in all their marches, as a pillar of fire by night, and of a cloud by day. When Solomon dedicated the temple, the glory of the Lord filled the house, and the priest could not enter into the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord filled the house. When God descended upon Mount Sinai, "there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud. And Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire; and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. And the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, upon the top of the mount" (Ex 19:16, 18, 20). When our Saviour was transfigured before three of his disciples, "a bright cloud overshadowed them", from which proceeded the voice of the Father, saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him." And Peter, who was present there, afterwards referring to the fact, says that the voice proceeded "from the excellent glory." Thus, in all the symbols of the divine presence, there was a mixture of splendour with darkness and obscurity. So it is in the operations of Providence: in a moral and figurative sense, we may say that clouds and darkness surround all the operations of divine power and wisdom.
Clouds are emblems of obscurity; darkness, of distress. The works of God's providence are often obscure and productive of distress to mankind, though righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne. Robert Hall.
Ver. 2. Clouds and darkness are round about him. God doth govern the world mysteriously. As there are mysteries in the word, so in the works of God; dusnohta, "things hard to be understood", (2Pe 3:16), many riddles which nonplus and puzzle men of the largest and most piercing intellectuals: "Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him: on the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him: but he knoweth the way that I take." Job 23:8-10. God knoweth our ways, and counteth our steps; but the wisest of men do not know all God's ways. His way is frequently in the sea, and his chariots in the clouds; so that he is invisible, not only in his essence, but also in the design and tendence of his operations. Those that behold him with an eye of faith, do not yet see him with an eye of understanding, so as to discern his way, and whither he is going. Paul assures us, "His judgments are unsearchable, and his ways past finding out." Ro 11:33. Some of them, indeed, are obvious, plain, and easy; we may upon the first view give a satisfactory account of them; we may read righteousness, equity, mercy, goodness, love, in them, because written in capital letters, and with such beams of light as he that runs may read them. But others of God's ways are dark and obscure, so that they are out of our reach and above our sight. He that goes about in them to trace God, may quickly lose himself. They are like that hand writing upon the wall, which none of Belshazzar's wise men could read or give the interpretation of (Da 5:8). There are arcana imperii, "secrets of state and government", which are not fit to be made common. But this may be our comfort: though God doth not now give any account of his matters, nor is he obliged thereunto, yet he can give a very good and satisfactory account; and one day his people shall be led into the mystery; and, though many things which God doeth they know not now, yet they shall know them afterward; and when they know, they shall approve and admire both the things, and the reason, and the end. They shall then be perfectly reconciled to all providence, and see that all were worthy of God, and that in all he acted yeoprepwv, "as did highly become himself." Samuel Slater (1704) in "The Morning Exercises."
Ver. 2. How despicable soever Christ's kingdom may seem to the world, yet it is full of heavenly majesty: clouds and darkness are round about him. The glory of Christ's kingdom is unsearchable, and hid from the eyes of the world, who cannot take up the things of God, except he reveal himself to them, and do open the eyes of the understanding: "clouds and darkness are round about him." David Dickson.
Ver. 2. Darkness. This and the four following verses have a striking resemblance to the awful pomp of the march of God, as described Ps 18:8-9 Ps 68:8. All the dread phenomena and meteoric array of nature are in attendance; thunder and lightning, and earthquakes and volcanoes, with streams of melting lava, like streams of melting wax. Yet all is justice and equity, joy, exultation, and glory; and the wicked alonethe adversaries of Jehovahfeel his judgmentsthe host of idols and their brutish worshippers. John Mason Good.
Ver. 2. Righteousness and judgment. Righteousness is the essential perfection of the Divine Being. It is his nature: if there had been no creatures for him to govern, he would have had an unchangeable and invincible love
of rectitude. Judgment is the application of the principle of righteousness in his government of his creatures and their actions; it is a development of his rectitude in the management of the affairs of his great empire; it is that super intendance over all, whereby the operations of all things are directed, to some vast and important end. Judgment implies measure and equity, in opposition to what is done without rule and consideration. All the divine conduct is equitable, regulated by rectitude, and everything is directed by a judgment that cannot err. Robert Hall.
Ver. 2. Righteousness and judgment, etc. When the mercy and grace of our heavenly King are to be described, he is likened to the sun shining in a clear firmament, and gladdening universal nature with his beneficent ray. But when we are to conceive an idea of him, as going forth, in justice and judgment, to discomfit and punish his adversaries, the imagery is then borrowed from a troubled sky; he is pictured as surrounded by clouds and darkness; from whence issue lightnings and thunders, storms and tempests, fear and confounding the wicked and the impenitent. Samuel Burder.
Ver. 2. The Lord manages his kingdom and government with perfect equity. Righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne. Righteousness, whereby he preserves, saves, and rewards the good; judgment, whereby he punishes, confounds, and destroys the wicked: these are the habitation of his throne, his tribunal, his seat of judicature. These are the basis or foundation, which give unto his throne rectitudinem et stabilitatem, "rectitude and establishment." His throne is established in righteousness, and "the sceptre of his kingdom is a right sceptre:" though there be clouds, yet no blemishes; though darkness, yet no deformities: Ps 92:15. Ever since the creation, all things have been done with that unreproveable exactness, that if the world were to begin again, and the affairs of it to be acted over again, there should not be an alteration in a tittle. All hath been so well, that nothing can be mended. Those dark and obscure passages of Providence, at which good men are startled, and by which all men are posed, are most excellent and curious strokes, and as so many well placed shades, which commend the work and admirably set off the beauty of Providence. Samuel Slater.
Ver. 2.
Jove's firm decree, tho' wrapped in night,
Beams midst the gloom a constant light;
Man's fate obscure in darkness lies,
Not to be pierced by mortal eyes:
The just resolves of his high mind
A glorious consummation find;
Though in majestic state enthroned
Thick clouds and dark enclose him round,
As from the tower of heaven his eye
Surveys man's bold impiety;
Till his ripe wrath on vengeance bent,
He arms each god for punishment,
And from his high and holy throne
Sends all his awful judgments down. Aeschylus (R. Potter's translation, 1808.)
Psalms 97:3*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator1887 · Public DomainOn v2Clouds and darkness are round about Him; righteousness and…
Psa_97:2
Clouds and darkness are round about Him; righteousness and judgment are the habitation of His throne.
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The providence of God
I. Its mystery. Infinite plans require an infinite mind to comprehend them. Before you can justifiably impugn the ways of God, you must be able to understand the majestic march of all events from everlasting to everlasting. You must see the past, the present, and the future in a moment. But canst thou comprehend all that has been, and is, and is to come? No. How, then, canst thou explore the mysteries of the providence of God?
II. Its perfection.
1. In nature. From the beginning the earth has proclaimed the glory of God. The four seasons are four witnesses for Him. Seedtime and harvest, summer and winter, cold and heat, come in grand procession, each the messenger of plenty; all of them the gifts of God.
2. In the rise and fall of nations. There is no natural decay in nations as there is in a tree. Righteousness exalteth a nation, and so long as nations act on righteous principles they prosper; but God hath ordained that warlike, oppressive, cruel, profligate nations shall perish. Let history bear witness to this fact.
3. In the rewards of the good. Read the histories of Abraham, Joseph, Daniel, and Job--study them well, and you will learn how perfect is the providence of God. You will see how He led them, comforted them, vindicated them, raised them to honour, did them good, and not evil, even when He permitted their afflictions, and how He made their peace to flow like a river, and their righteousness to shine like the morning stars.
III. Its glory.
1. In the fertility and beauty of the earth. The earth is the Lords, and the fulness thereof. And how great is that fulness! Think of the mountains; the pastures covered with flocks; the valleys filled with corn; the cattle on a thousand hills! Oh! see in all these the goodness of God. Behold the glory of Gods providence in His care of all living creatures. He made them by His power; He protects them in His love.
2. In the redemption of men. The Cross of Christ is the most eloquent exponent--the truest interpreter--of the providence of God. Speak ye of God, of His justice and mercy? Speak ye of man, of his guilt, death, and future? Turn to the Cross. There in your Saviour you have a vindication of Gods law and a manifestation of Gods love.
3. In the judgment to come. He will then appear as He is--almighty, merciful, and holy--and He will show forth before men and angels and fallen spirits the glory of His name. None will then reply against Him. (G. W. MCree.)
The majesty of God obscured by the sinfulness of man
View this subject with respect try--
1. Our own conceptions of the Divine Being.
2. the providential government of God.
3. The dispensation of sovereign grace.
4. The final judgment. (Essex Remembrancer.)
The mysteries of Providence
1. The limited spread and small success of the Gospel.
2. The success that has attended the propagation of error.
3. The gifts bestowed upon bad men, who abuse them, while many men of piety have smaller talents.
4. The afflictions of good men, while the wicked are so extensively prosperous.
5. The poverty of the liberal, while the churl is opulent.
6. The small degrees of sanctification in Gods people. (D. A. Clark.)
Gods ways, though inscrutable, are righteous and just
I. Clouds and darkness are round about God. The appearances of God to the saints in old times are the origin of the figure in the text (Exo_14:19-20; Exo_19:16; Exo_19:18; Exo_19:20; 1Ki_8:10-11; Mat_17:5; 2Pe_1:17). Clouds are emblems of obscurity; darkness of distress. The works of Gods providence are often obscure and productive of distress to mankind. In the affairs of nations we see the interference of Divine providence; yet it is surrounded with clouds and darkness. So it is also in instances of smaller kind; it is thus in the removal of the most eminent, holy, and useful characters, that while we acknowledge the hand of God, we say clouds and darkness are round about Him. Again, look at Christianity. How little has been done by it compared with what might have been anticipated from its Divine principles, the character of its Author, and from the interest it possesses in the heart of God! Paganism yet strikes deep its roots in various lands. Even in Christendom, how little have the known and blessed effects of the Gospel been manifested!
II. Righteousness and judgment are the habitation of His throne.
1. The dispensations of God towards man are regulated by the consideration of his being a fallen and disordered creature.
2. The Divine Being was not bound in justice, either to prevent the disordered state of man, or to correct it when it had taken place.
3. The whole of those evils that form clouds and darkness round about God are either the penal or natural effect of moral evil.
4. Those that receive the grace of Jesus Christ are still in such a situation as renders a great part of their trials and miseries necessary.
5. The moral evils of man, and the depravity of human nature, age often, in a great measure, corrected and subdued by the natural evils of life, which thus are made the means of conducting to repentance, reformation, and happiness (2Co_4:17-18).
6. The light of prophecy dispels many of those clouds which would otherwise obscure, for the present, the government and the throne of the Deity. (R. Hall, M.A.)
The unknowable and knowable in God
I. The psalmist confesses his ignorance. Clouds and darkness are round about Him: through clouds a little may be seen; through darkness nothing can be seen. So this may mean that slight glimpses of God may here and there be caught; but that, taken altogether, He is a mystery to men. Is there to be wondered at? Consider how short a time we are here to explore the mystery. Threescore years and ten, or at the most four or four and a half score years. For how small a portion of even this are our powers at their best! What are thirty or forty years of life--even life at its best--to sound the depths of the Infinite? Then consider how small are our powers for this great work. We have but five gateways of knowledge. John Bunyan says, The famous town of Mansoul had five gates, in at which to come, out of which to go. And the greater part of these are of no use for reaching the knowledge of God: only perhaps the two--Ear-gate and Eye-gate; and how small these gates are! The ear can hear only that which is within easy reach. The eye can see only that which is within the horizons bound. We need to realize the limitations of our present condition, and then perhaps we should not be surprised--as often we are--that we cannot see through the clouds and darkness that now are around the Eternal One.
II. The psalmist expresses his confidence. Do you believe in God? Then you must believe that justice and truth are the foundation of His throne. There is a common Latin saying, Fiat justitia, rust coelum. If justice were not at the core of the universe the firmament would fall. Why, in the little affairs of nations the reign of injustice and falsehood sooner or later brings overthrow. It has been long coming to the Turkish Empire, but it is on its way. And if a nation cannot get on save as justice and truth prevail, be very sure that the universe cannot get on without these. We are not far-sighted enough to see how the ways of God are just and true. Some of them, because we see only a part, appear neither just nor true. But then we see only a fragment, and you cannot judge by a fragment, any more than you can judge of a house from a single brick. But we see enough of order, of law, of regularity, to be assured that, when the whole is revealed, we shall cry, Just and true are Thy ways, O thou King of saints. (W. G. Horder.)
The hidings of the Deity
I. As to himself. Turn, e.g. to the doctrine of the Trinity. We are not perhaps competent to judge whether the union of three persons in one essence could have been made intelligible unto man; it may be that we have not the faculties by which so wonderful a fact could in any case be grappled with; so that whatever the amount of information, we must still have continued unacquainted with the mode how three can ever be one. At all events, it is certain that God hath concealed this mode from us; He hides Himself even when He would reveal Himself. Clouds are about Him, even when He would give light; and what we want you to feel in regard to all this concealment of God is that it should summon forth our thankfulness. We ask you what limit there would be to human pride if reason availed to find out God. What then? If I have been brought to the confession, Clouds and darkness are round about Him, must I shut myself up in my ignorance, as though I could make out nothing on points which most concern me as an accountable being? Nay, quite the reverse. The obscurity which there is about God does but strengthen my conviction that He is God, my persuasion that He will show forth all the attributes which pertain to God; so that after confessing, Clouds are round about Him, I shall exclaim with assurance, and even with exultation, Righteousness and judgment are the habitation of His throne.
II. In His dealings with His creatures.
1. This is true in providential dispensations. God does not lay open the reasons of His appointments; He does not explain why prosperity should be allotted to one man, and adversity to another. The wicked, moreover, often flourish like a green bay tree, whilst the righteous are cast down, and given over to the extremes of misery and destitution. Evil, too, is permitted to stalk unblushingly abroad, whilst wisdom crieth in vain in our streets. Indeed there is much of cloud in all this, and much of obscurity, which may well overtask any earthly philosophy. But we contend, that what is thus hidden furnishes matter of confidence and thankfulness; for man is hereby thrown upon his faith, and faith gives most honour to God, and is the best discipline for ourselves.
2. Or again: who knoweth the day of his death? Here, again, are the clouds and the darkness. One dieth, saith Job, in his full strength, etc. (Job_21:23-26). Nature has been ransacked for imagery; the shortness of our days is on every mans tongue; and everything that is fleeting and everything that is fragile, and everything that is uncertain, has been laid under contribution to furnish similitudes for a human life-time. It is a most trite, but melancholy saying, that no man is able to reckon on to-morrow. Then is it not an evidence of Gods faithfulness, of His regard for the creatures of His hand, that we cannot reckon on to-morrow? Such is the constitution of our nature, that if a fixed period were allotted to our days, the thought even of the distant hour would in most cases prove an insupportable burden.
3. There is much hidden from us respecting the nature of a future state. Here, again, are clouds and darkness which God Himself throws around it. There is enough disclosed to stimulate zeal, and enough to scare from transgression; but still, whilst the heirs of immortality are clothed with corruption, they see only through a glass darkly, and neither the harpings of glorified spirits nor the wailings of the ruined convey more than a feeble metaphor of futurity. But if the veil had been more drawn back, what, then, we ask, would become of a state of probation? Where would be the province of faith, when everything was thus made the object of sense? Where would be the trial of hope, when every joy was thus already told? Where the exercise of self-denial, when the better portion forced itself on the notice of the most unobservant, compelling by its burning manifestations the universal recognition of its superiority? And where would have been the excellency of an economy under which a race of sinful beings could have found no place for faith, no sphere for hope, no occasion for self-denial? (H. Melvill, B.D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv3, 6Fire goes before him
Fire goes before him
The psalmist speaks as if fire were a person walking before King Yahweh and telling people that the king was coming. (See: Personification)
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consumes his adversaries
"burns up his enemies"
the earth sees and trembles
The writer speaks of the earth as if it were a person who sees what Yahweh does and trembles in fear. AT: "like a person, the earth sees and trembles" (See: Personification)
trembles
shakes with fear
The mountains melt like wax before Yahweh
The writer speaks of the mountains crumbling before Yahweh as if they were wax that was exposed to a fire. AT: "The mountains are unable to stand as Yahweh comes near" or "The mountains crumble in Yahweh's presence" (See: Simile)
GEBible — Godless Engineer's Bible App
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On v6 6 The heavens have declared his righteousness Here he…
6 The heavens have declared his righteousness Here he states that there would be such an illustrious display of the righteousness of God, that the heavens themselves would herald it. The meaning is not the same as in the beginning of the nineteenth psalm, “The heavens declare the glory of God,” etc. In that psalm David means no more than that the wisdom and power of God are as conspicuous in the fabric of the heavens, as if God should assert them with an audible voice. The meaning of the passage before us is, that the spiritual righteousness of God should be so signally manifested under the reign of Christ as to fill both heaven and earth. There is much force in this personification, in which the heavens, as if even they were penetrated with a sense of the righteousness of God, are represented as speaking of it. It is equally probable, however, that the heavens signify here the angels, who are contained in heaven, by the figure of metonomy or synecdoche, while, in the corresponding clause, instead of the earth being mentioned, he speaks of the peoples who dwell upon it. The angels may very properly be said to announce and celebrate the Divine glory.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv2, 4 He is thus described to keep his enemies in…
He is thus described to keep his enemies in fear, which commonly contemn God’s power.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv2–6 Psa 97:2 Clouds and darkness [are] round about him:…
Psa 97:2 Clouds and darkness [are] round about him: righteousness and judgment [are] the habitation of his throne.
Ver. 2. Clouds and darkness are round about him] As once at the delivering of the law, so now in publishing the gospel, he is no less terrible, having vengeance in store for the disobedient, 2Co 10:6. It is a savour of death to unbelievers. Christ came to send fire on the earth, Luk 12:49.
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Righteousness and judgment, &c.] Mercy Christ hath for the penitent, judgment for the rebellious, who seek to dethrone him. Woe to those gospel sinners.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv2–6 Clouds and darkness are round about him; a dark…
Clouds and darkness are round about him; a dark cloud doth encompass him; wherein he seems to allude to that dark cloud in which God did anciently so often manifest his presence for the comfort of his saints, and for the terror and punishment of evil-doers. The design of these words is to describe either,
1. The depth and unsearchableness of God’s judgments. Or,
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2. The obscurity of Christ’s coming, that the Divine Majesty did veil himself with flesh, and came not with that outward splendour which the Jews expected. Or rather,
3. The terror of his presence and coming to his enemies, of which he manifestly speaks in the following verses; and of which the prophets frequently speak when they make mention of his corning, as Joe 2:31,32; Mal 4:1.
Righteousness and judgment, i.e. righteous judgment, or righteousness in judgment. The habitation; or, the foundation, or establishment; for the throne is established (and the Hebrew verb there is the same from whence this word here comes) by righteousness, Pro 16:12. All his decrees and administrations are grounded upon and managed with righteousness.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv2–6 Clouds and darkness are round about him,.... Either as…
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;''
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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, Exo 40:34 Kg1 8:10 and to other appearances of God, or Christ, in a cloud, Exo 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 the Jews concerning him, who could not perceive him to be the Messiah; notwithstanding all the characters of him; clouds and darkness were about him to them; as they were, in a literal sense, when he hung on the cross; the sun withdrew and hid itself, and darkness was upon the face of the earth for three hours; Christ was enveloped in it; and a greater darkness surrounded his soul when his divine Father hid his face from him: dark providences attended the first setting up of his kingdom, and the ministration of his Gospel in the world; the apostles, the first preachers of it, were persecuted by their own countrymen the Jews; the whole Gentile world was against them; the Roman empire, emperors, and governors of provinces, opposed them; wherever there was an open door, there were many adversaries, so that things looked very unpromising: nevertheless these clouds were dissipated, and the difficulties got over; though this has sometimes been the case since, and will be again, ere the kingdom of Christ is in all its glory; he now sits enthroned in heaven, surrounded with clouds and darkness, and unseen to us; whose being and perfections are inscrutable to us, his providences unsearchable, and his ways past finding out; and when he comes a second time, it will be at midnight, and in the clouds of heaven:
righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne; the seat, basis, and support of it; he sits on a throne doing right, and by it his throne is established; See Gill on Psa 89:14.
(s) "Et Venus aethereos inter dea candida nimbos", Virgil. Aeneid. 8. "Venus circumdata nimbo", ib. Aeneid. 12. "Nube candentes humeros amictus augur Apollo", Horat. Carmin. l. 1. Ode 2. so Homer. Il. 5. v. 186.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv2, 6 Darkness - A dark cloud doth encompass him.
Darkness - A dark cloud doth encompass him.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv2–6 Verse 2. Clouds and darkness are round about him]…
Verse 2. Clouds and darkness are round about him] It is granted that this is a subject which cannot be comprehended. And why? Because God is infinite; he acts from his own counsels, which are infinite; in reference to ends which are also infinite: therefore, the reasons of his government cannot be comprehended by the feeble, limited powers of man. There must be clouds and darkness - an impenetrable obscurity, round about him; and we can no more comprehend him in what is called aeternitas a parte ante - the eternity that passed before time commenced, than we can in the aeternitas a parte post - the eternity that is to come, when time shall be no more. Yet such a Being cannot but see all things clearly, and do all things well; therefore the psalmist properly asserts, -
Righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne.] Righteousness, צדק tsedek, the principle that acts according to justice and equity; that gives to all their due, and ever holds in all things an even balance. And judgment, משפט mishpat, the principle that discerns, orders, directs, and determines every thing according to truth and justice: these form the habitation of his throne; that is, his government and management of the world are according to these; and though we cannot see the springs, the secret counsels, and the times, which this omniscient and almighty FATHER must ever have in his own power, yet we may rest assured that all his administration is wise, just, holy, good, and kind. For, although his counsels be inscrutable, and the dispensations of his providence be sometimes apparently unequal, yet righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne.
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In this most sublime description, the psalmist, by the figure termed prosopopoeia, or personification, gives vitality and thought to all the subjects he employs; here, the very throne of God is animated; righteousness and judgment are two intellectual beings who support it. The fire, the lightnings, the earth, the heavens themselves, are all intellectual beings, which either accompany, go before him, or proclaim his majesty.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 6 Psa 97:2. Clouds and darkness are round about him…
Psa 97:2. Clouds and darkness are round about him — His dispensations are mysterious and altogether unaccountable; his ways in the sea, and his path in the great waters. We are not aware what his designs are, nor is it fit that we should be made acquainted with the secrets of his government. But, though there is a depth in his counsels which we must not pretend to fathom, still righteousness and judgment — That is, righteous judgment, or righteousness in judgment, are the habitation — Or, as Dr. Hammond renders the word מכון, mechon, the basis, of his throne — That is, the foundation, or establishment of it; for the throne is established by righteousness. Pro 16:12. All his laws, decrees, and administrations, are grounded upon and managed with justice and equity. Therefore his throne is for ever and ever, because his sceptre is a right sceptre, Psa 45:6.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv2–6 Clouds and darkness are round about him - This…
Clouds and darkness are round about him - This is a description of the majesty of God, derived probably from the manner in which he manifested himself at Mount Sinai. Exo 19:16-19. God is often thus represented as encompassed with clouds. Psa 104:3; Dan 7:13; Mat 24:30; Rev 1:7. See the notes at Psa 18:7-15. The word rendered “clouds” is the common word to denote a cloud; the word translated “darkness” means properly “thick clouds, cloudy darkness, gloom.” It would refer to a cloud considered as dark, and as casting a gloom over the world. There is no reference here to the fact that the dealings of God are dark, mysterious, and incomprehensible, as if he were surrounded by clouds and darkness. This is indeed often true; but that is not the truth taught here. The meaning here is, that the character of God is suited to fill the mind with solemn awe, or with emotions of sublimity.
Righteousness and judgment - He is a righteous God; he is a God who will execute just judgment. Though he is encompassed with clouds, yet he is a just God; and this is suited to impress the mind with profound reverence. That he will do right we may be assured, even when he covers himself with clouds; the fact that he will thus do right is suited to calm the minds of those who love and obey him, and at the same time to fill the minds of the wicked with alarm.
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Are the habitation of his throne - Margin, “establishment.” The Hebrew word means “place;” the place where one stands, or where one abides; a habitation, or a dwelling. It then means a foundation or basis, Psa 89:14; Psa 104:5. This would seem to be the idea here. His throne rests upon, or is sustained by, justice and righteousness. Nothing else would uphold the government of the universe; nothing else will sustain any government.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv2–6 2. Clouds and darkness—The imagery is Sinaitic. Psa_97:2-6. Comp.…
2. Clouds and darkness—The imagery is Sinaitic. Psa_97:2-6. Comp. Exo_19:16-20; Exo_20:18. God appears as judge, wrapped in “clouds and darkness” as symbols of severity and as the robe of his judicial office.
Righteousness and judgment—The former denoting the principle, and the latter the administration, of justice.
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Habitation of his throne— Foundation, or support, of his throne, according to the radical meaning of the word, and its use in Psa_104:5; Psa_89:14; Ezr_2:68; in which latter it is translated place. In those passages where it is translated dwellingplace, the idea is not always synonymous with “habitation,” but often denotes that whereon the “habitation” rests. See 2Ch_6:2; Psa_33:14. Support is the truest idea of the word here.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv2, 4, 5, 6 2, 3. Though Jehovah shrouds himself in mystery, and…
2, 3. Though Jehovah shrouds himself in mystery, and comes with irresistible might, it is the consolation of His people to know that His kingdom is founded upon righteousness. Here, as elsewhere (Psa_18:9; Psa_18:11, &c.), the Theophany of Sinai supplies the symbolism. Cp. Exo_19:16; Exo_20:21; Deu_5:22.
righteousness &c.] Righteousness and judgement are the foundation of his throne (R.V.).
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2 b is taken from Psa_89:14 a: with Psa_97:3 cp. Psa_50:3; Deu_4:24; Isa_42:25.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv2–6 (2) Clouds and darkness.—Comp. Psa_18:10-12. The imagery in the…
(2) Clouds and darkness.—Comp. Psa_18:10-12. The imagery in the first instance is borrowed from the Theophany at Sinai. (Exo_19:9; Exo_19:16; Exo_20:21; Deu_4:11; Deu_5:22-23.)
Are the habitation.—Better, are the foundation, or pillars. (See margin.) This reappears from Psa_89:14, but the connection with “clouds and darkness” is peculiar to this poet, and is striking. The immediate effect on the Hebrew mind, of the awful manifestation of the Divine power in nature, is not fear, but a sublime sense of safety in the established right and truth of God. They knew that it is one and the same power
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“Which makes the darkness and the light,
And dwells not in the light alone,
But in the darkness and the cloud,
As over Sinai’s peaks of old,
While Israel made them gods of gold,
Although the trumpet blew so loud.”
TENNYSON: In Memoriam.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv2–6 Clouds and darkness are round about him. (comp. Exo_19:16,…
Clouds and darkness are round about him. (comp. Exo_19:16, 18 Deu_4:11 Deu_5:22 1Ki_8:12) The "darkness" does not belong to the nature of God, who "is Light, and in him is no darkness at all", (1Jn_1:5) but to the interrelationship between God and man, in which are involved problems that man cannot solve. Righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne; rather, the foundation of his throne the firm basis on which it is immovably fixed.
HOMILIES BY R. TUCK Ver. 2. What God seems, and what God is.
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The figures of this verse are evidently taken from the scenes connected with the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai. Then "clouds and darkness" were the surroundings, and from these men might get a cursory and an unworthy impression of God; but then "justice and judgment" were declared to be the "pillars of his throne," and if men would but go beyond the appearances, they would apprehend God aright, and even discern the mission and the mystery of the symbols in which he appeared to them.
I WHAT GOD SEEMS TO OUR IMPERFECT VISION. What could Israel see when the people dared to look up to the holy mount? Compare with what Moses saw who was on the holy mount. "And Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke...and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly". (Exo_19:18) For proper apprehension of God we are under two disadvantages:
1. Distance.
2. Sin.
Distance makes it difficult for us to see things clearly; and difficult for us to get them in the right perspective. Sin brings a dimness of the moral and spiritual vision somewhat as drunkenness gives a double vision; and so the clouds round about God prove to be sin clouds in our own eyes. And sin brings a strange fear, because man can never separate sin from consequences, and he cannot help feeling that God will see that the consequences come. So our sin makes a "darkness" about God.
II WHAT GOD IS TO OUR CULTURED VISION. That vision has to be cleansed before it can be cultured. Illustrate cultured vision by the trained eyesight of the sailor or of the scientific man. We at first may see nothing; gradually as we fix our gaze, and think as we gaze, we can see much. Cultured spiritual vision gradually gains right apprehension of what God is, and sees two things as absolutely necessary to the fitting idea of him.
1. He is eternally right in the principles that sway him.
2. He is practically right in the application of those principles. These two things are indicated in the abstract word "righteousness" and the concrete word "judgment." It may be shown how necessarily related these two are. If God is right, we may be confident that his ways are right. If we can see his ways are right, we know that he is right. R.T.
HOMILIES BY C. SHORT Ver. 2. The Divine character and government.
"Clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness and truth are the foundation of his throne.
I WE ARE OFTEN IN DOUBT AND DIFFICULTY ABOUT THE DIVINE CHARACTER AND GOVERNMENT, "Clouds and darkness are round about him." We cannot reconcile all we see with:
1. Divine omnipotence. Abortions. The means do not attain the end.
2. Divine wisdom. Or the wisdom was not perfect.
3. Divine justice.
4. Divine goodness.
II AN OVERPOWERING CONVICTION THAT THE DIVINE CHARACTER AND GOVERNMENT ARE PERFECT.
1. We feel that we are incapable judges of an infinite plan. We only see a part, therefore we cannot understand the whole.
2. What we can see and understand gives us unbounded faith in God in reference to what we cannot understand.
3. We feel assured that God is able to overrule what seems evil for final good. "All things work together for good. S.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain On vv2–6 Ver. 2. Clouds and darkness are round about him.…
Ver. 2. 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 history of his church dark clouds of persecution hover, and an awful gloom at times settles down, still the Lord is there; and though men for a while see not the bright light in the clouds, it bursts forth in due season to the confusion of the adversaries of the gospel. This passage should teach us the impertinence of attempting to pry into the essence of the Godhead, the vanity of all endeavours to understand the mystery of the Trinity in Unity, the arrogance of arraigning the Most High before the bar of human reason, the folly of dictating to the Eternal One the manner in which he should proceed. Wisdom veils her face and adores the mercy which conceals the divine purpose; folly rushes in and perishes, blinded first, and by and by consumed by the blaze of glory.
Righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne. There he abides, he never departs from strict justice and right: his throne is fixed upon the rock of eternal holiness. Righteousness is His immutable attribute, and judgment marks his every act. What though we cannot see or understand what he doeth, yet we are sure that he will do no wrong to us or any of his creatures. Is not this enough to make us rejoice in him and adore him? Divine sovereignty is never tyrannical. Jehovah is an autocrat, but not a despot. Absolute power is safe in the hands of him who cannot err, or act unrighteously. When the roll of the decrees, and the books of the divine providence shall be opened, no eye shall there discern one word that should be blotted out, one syllable of error, one line of injustice, one letter of unholiness. Of none but the Lord of all can this be said.
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Ver. 2. Clouds and darkness are round about him. The figurative language in the poetical parts of the Old Testament is frequently taken from the historical books, and refers to the facts therein recorded: thus the appearances of God to the saints and patriarchs in old times is the origin of the figure in our text. If you look at the history of these appearances, you will find they were all accompanied with clouds and darkness. The cloud of the Lord went before the children of Israel when they departed from the land of bondage. This cloud had a dark and bright side, and was a symbol of the divine presence. Thus it preceded the people in all their marches, as a pillar of fire by night, and of a cloud by day. When Solomon dedicated the temple, the glory of the Lord filled the house, and the priest could not enter into the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord filled the house. When God descended upon Mount Sinai, "there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud. And Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire; and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. And the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, upon the top of the mount" (Ex 19:16, 18, 20). When our Saviour was transfigured before three of his disciples, "a bright cloud overshadowed them", from which proceeded the voice of the Father, saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him." And Peter, who was present there, afterwards referring to the fact, says that the voice proceeded "from the excellent glory." Thus, in all the symbols of the divine presence, there was a mixture of splendour with darkness and obscurity. So it is in the operations of Providence: in a moral and figurative sense, we may say that clouds and darkness surround all the operations of divine power and wisdom.
Clouds are emblems of obscurity; darkness, of distress. The works of God's providence are often obscure and productive of distress to mankind, though righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne. Robert Hall.
Ver. 2. Clouds and darkness are round about him. God doth govern the world mysteriously. As there are mysteries in the word, so in the works of God; dusnohta, "things hard to be understood", (2Pe 3:16), many riddles which nonplus and puzzle men of the largest and most piercing intellectuals: "Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him: on the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him: but he knoweth the way that I take." Job 23:8-10. God knoweth our ways, and counteth our steps; but the wisest of men do not know all God's ways. His way is frequently in the sea, and his chariots in the clouds; so that he is invisible, not only in his essence, but also in the design and tendence of his operations. Those that behold him with an eye of faith, do not yet see him with an eye of understanding, so as to discern his way, and whither he is going. Paul assures us, "His judgments are unsearchable, and his ways past finding out." Ro 11:33. Some of them, indeed, are obvious, plain, and easy; we may upon the first view give a satisfactory account of them; we may read righteousness, equity, mercy, goodness, love, in them, because written in capital letters, and with such beams of light as he that runs may read them. But others of God's ways are dark and obscure, so that they are out of our reach and above our sight. He that goes about in them to trace God, may quickly lose himself. They are like that hand writing upon the wall, which none of Belshazzar's wise men could read or give the interpretation of (Da 5:8). There are arcana imperii, "secrets of state and government", which are not fit to be made common. But this may be our comfort: though God doth not now give any account of his matters, nor is he obliged thereunto, yet he can give a very good and satisfactory account; and one day his people shall be led into the mystery; and, though many things which God doeth they know not now, yet they shall know them afterward; and when they know, they shall approve and admire both the things, and the reason, and the end. They shall then be perfectly reconciled to all providence, and see that all were worthy of God, and that in all he acted yeoprepwv, "as did highly become himself." Samuel Slater (1704) in "The Morning Exercises."
Ver. 2. How despicable soever Christ's kingdom may seem to the world, yet it is full of heavenly majesty: clouds and darkness are round about him. The glory of Christ's kingdom is unsearchable, and hid from the eyes of the world, who cannot take up the things of God, except he reveal himself to them, and do open the eyes of the understanding: "clouds and darkness are round about him." David Dickson.
Ver. 2. Darkness. This and the four following verses have a striking resemblance to the awful pomp of the march of God, as described Ps 18:8-9 Ps 68:8. All the dread phenomena and meteoric array of nature are in attendance; thunder and lightning, and earthquakes and volcanoes, with streams of melting lava, like streams of melting wax. Yet all is justice and equity, joy, exultation, and glory; and the wicked alonethe adversaries of Jehovahfeel his judgmentsthe host of idols and their brutish worshippers. John Mason Good.
Ver. 2. Righteousness and judgment. Righteousness is the essential perfection of the Divine Being. It is his nature: if there had been no creatures for him to govern, he would have had an unchangeable and invincible love
of rectitude. Judgment is the application of the principle of righteousness in his government of his creatures and their actions; it is a development of his rectitude in the management of the affairs of his great empire; it is that super intendance over all, whereby the operations of all things are directed, to some vast and important end. Judgment implies measure and equity, in opposition to what is done without rule and consideration. All the divine conduct is equitable, regulated by rectitude, and everything is directed by a judgment that cannot err. Robert Hall.
Ver. 2. Righteousness and judgment, etc. When the mercy and grace of our heavenly King are to be described, he is likened to the sun shining in a clear firmament, and gladdening universal nature with his beneficent ray. But when we are to conceive an idea of him, as going forth, in justice and judgment, to discomfit and punish his adversaries, the imagery is then borrowed from a troubled sky; he is pictured as surrounded by clouds and darkness; from whence issue lightnings and thunders, storms and tempests, fear and confounding the wicked and the impenitent. Samuel Burder.
Ver. 2. The Lord manages his kingdom and government with perfect equity. Righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne. Righteousness, whereby he preserves, saves, and rewards the good; judgment, whereby he punishes, confounds, and destroys the wicked: these are the habitation of his throne, his tribunal, his seat of judicature. These are the basis or foundation, which give unto his throne rectitudinem et stabilitatem, "rectitude and establishment." His throne is established in righteousness, and "the sceptre of his kingdom is a right sceptre:" though there be clouds, yet no blemishes; though darkness, yet no deformities: Ps 92:15. Ever since the creation, all things have been done with that unreproveable exactness, that if the world were to begin again, and the affairs of it to be acted over again, there should not be an alteration in a tittle. All hath been so well, that nothing can be mended. Those dark and obscure passages of Providence, at which good men are startled, and by which all men are posed, are most excellent and curious strokes, and as so many well placed shades, which commend the work and admirably set off the beauty of Providence. Samuel Slater.
Ver. 2.
Jove's firm decree, tho' wrapped in night,
Beams midst the gloom a constant light;
Man's fate obscure in darkness lies,
Not to be pierced by mortal eyes:
The just resolves of his high mind
A glorious consummation find;
Though in majestic state enthroned
Thick clouds and dark enclose him round,
As from the tower of heaven his eye
Surveys man's bold impiety;
Till his ripe wrath on vengeance bent,
He arms each god for punishment,
And from his high and holy throne
Sends all his awful judgments down. Aeschylus (R. Potter's translation, 1808.)
Psalms 97:3*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v2 Clouds and darkness are round about Him; righteousness and…
Psa_97:2
Clouds and darkness are round about Him; righteousness and judgment are the habitation of His throne.
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The providence of God
I. Its mystery. Infinite plans require an infinite mind to comprehend them. Before you can justifiably impugn the ways of God, you must be able to understand the majestic march of all events from everlasting to everlasting. You must see the past, the present, and the future in a moment. But canst thou comprehend all that has been, and is, and is to come? No. How, then, canst thou explore the mysteries of the providence of God?
II. Its perfection.
1. In nature. From the beginning the earth has proclaimed the glory of God. The four seasons are four witnesses for Him. Seedtime and harvest, summer and winter, cold and heat, come in grand procession, each the messenger of plenty; all of them the gifts of God.
2. In the rise and fall of nations. There is no natural decay in nations as there is in a tree. Righteousness exalteth a nation, and so long as nations act on righteous principles they prosper; but God hath ordained that warlike, oppressive, cruel, profligate nations shall perish. Let history bear witness to this fact.
3. In the rewards of the good. Read the histories of Abraham, Joseph, Daniel, and Job--study them well, and you will learn how perfect is the providence of God. You will see how He led them, comforted them, vindicated them, raised them to honour, did them good, and not evil, even when He permitted their afflictions, and how He made their peace to flow like a river, and their righteousness to shine like the morning stars.
III. Its glory.
1. In the fertility and beauty of the earth. The earth is the Lords, and the fulness thereof. And how great is that fulness! Think of the mountains; the pastures covered with flocks; the valleys filled with corn; the cattle on a thousand hills! Oh! see in all these the goodness of God. Behold the glory of Gods providence in His care of all living creatures. He made them by His power; He protects them in His love.
2. In the redemption of men. The Cross of Christ is the most eloquent exponent--the truest interpreter--of the providence of God. Speak ye of God, of His justice and mercy? Speak ye of man, of his guilt, death, and future? Turn to the Cross. There in your Saviour you have a vindication of Gods law and a manifestation of Gods love.
3. In the judgment to come. He will then appear as He is--almighty, merciful, and holy--and He will show forth before men and angels and fallen spirits the glory of His name. None will then reply against Him. (G. W. MCree.)
The majesty of God obscured by the sinfulness of man
View this subject with respect try--
1. Our own conceptions of the Divine Being.
2. the providential government of God.
3. The dispensation of sovereign grace.
4. The final judgment. (Essex Remembrancer.)
The mysteries of Providence
1. The limited spread and small success of the Gospel.
2. The success that has attended the propagation of error.
3. The gifts bestowed upon bad men, who abuse them, while many men of piety have smaller talents.
4. The afflictions of good men, while the wicked are so extensively prosperous.
5. The poverty of the liberal, while the churl is opulent.
6. The small degrees of sanctification in Gods people. (D. A. Clark.)
Gods ways, though inscrutable, are righteous and just
I. Clouds and darkness are round about God. The appearances of God to the saints in old times are the origin of the figure in the text (Exo_14:19-20; Exo_19:16; Exo_19:18; Exo_19:20; 1Ki_8:10-11; Mat_17:5; 2Pe_1:17). Clouds are emblems of obscurity; darkness of distress. The works of Gods providence are often obscure and productive of distress to mankind. In the affairs of nations we see the interference of Divine providence; yet it is surrounded with clouds and darkness. So it is also in instances of smaller kind; it is thus in the removal of the most eminent, holy, and useful characters, that while we acknowledge the hand of God, we say clouds and darkness are round about Him. Again, look at Christianity. How little has been done by it compared with what might have been anticipated from its Divine principles, the character of its Author, and from the interest it possesses in the heart of God! Paganism yet strikes deep its roots in various lands. Even in Christendom, how little have the known and blessed effects of the Gospel been manifested!
II. Righteousness and judgment are the habitation of His throne.
1. The dispensations of God towards man are regulated by the consideration of his being a fallen and disordered creature.
2. The Divine Being was not bound in justice, either to prevent the disordered state of man, or to correct it when it had taken place.
3. The whole of those evils that form clouds and darkness round about God are either the penal or natural effect of moral evil.
4. Those that receive the grace of Jesus Christ are still in such a situation as renders a great part of their trials and miseries necessary.
5. The moral evils of man, and the depravity of human nature, age often, in a great measure, corrected and subdued by the natural evils of life, which thus are made the means of conducting to repentance, reformation, and happiness (2Co_4:17-18).
6. The light of prophecy dispels many of those clouds which would otherwise obscure, for the present, the government and the throne of the Deity. (R. Hall, M.A.)
The unknowable and knowable in God
I. The psalmist confesses his ignorance. Clouds and darkness are round about Him: through clouds a little may be seen; through darkness nothing can be seen. So this may mean that slight glimpses of God may here and there be caught; but that, taken altogether, He is a mystery to men. Is there to be wondered at? Consider how short a time we are here to explore the mystery. Threescore years and ten, or at the most four or four and a half score years. For how small a portion of even this are our powers at their best! What are thirty or forty years of life--even life at its best--to sound the depths of the Infinite? Then consider how small are our powers for this great work. We have but five gateways of knowledge. John Bunyan says, The famous town of Mansoul had five gates, in at which to come, out of which to go. And the greater part of these are of no use for reaching the knowledge of God: only perhaps the two--Ear-gate and Eye-gate; and how small these gates are! The ear can hear only that which is within easy reach. The eye can see only that which is within the horizons bound. We need to realize the limitations of our present condition, and then perhaps we should not be surprised--as often we are--that we cannot see through the clouds and darkness that now are around the Eternal One.
II. The psalmist expresses his confidence. Do you believe in God? Then you must believe that justice and truth are the foundation of His throne. There is a common Latin saying, Fiat justitia, rust coelum. If justice were not at the core of the universe the firmament would fall. Why, in the little affairs of nations the reign of injustice and falsehood sooner or later brings overthrow. It has been long coming to the Turkish Empire, but it is on its way. And if a nation cannot get on save as justice and truth prevail, be very sure that the universe cannot get on without these. We are not far-sighted enough to see how the ways of God are just and true. Some of them, because we see only a part, appear neither just nor true. But then we see only a fragment, and you cannot judge by a fragment, any more than you can judge of a house from a single brick. But we see enough of order, of law, of regularity, to be assured that, when the whole is revealed, we shall cry, Just and true are Thy ways, O thou King of saints. (W. G. Horder.)
The hidings of the Deity
I. As to himself. Turn, e.g. to the doctrine of the Trinity. We are not perhaps competent to judge whether the union of three persons in one essence could have been made intelligible unto man; it may be that we have not the faculties by which so wonderful a fact could in any case be grappled with; so that whatever the amount of information, we must still have continued unacquainted with the mode how three can ever be one. At all events, it is certain that God hath concealed this mode from us; He hides Himself even when He would reveal Himself. Clouds are about Him, even when He would give light; and what we want you to feel in regard to all this concealment of God is that it should summon forth our thankfulness. We ask you what limit there would be to human pride if reason availed to find out God. What then? If I have been brought to the confession, Clouds and darkness are round about Him, must I shut myself up in my ignorance, as though I could make out nothing on points which most concern me as an accountable being? Nay, quite the reverse. The obscurity which there is about God does but strengthen my conviction that He is God, my persuasion that He will show forth all the attributes which pertain to God; so that after confessing, Clouds are round about Him, I shall exclaim with assurance, and even with exultation, Righteousness and judgment are the habitation of His throne.
II. In His dealings with His creatures.
1. This is true in providential dispensations. God does not lay open the reasons of His appointments; He does not explain why prosperity should be allotted to one man, and adversity to another. The wicked, moreover, often flourish like a green bay tree, whilst the righteous are cast down, and given over to the extremes of misery and destitution. Evil, too, is permitted to stalk unblushingly abroad, whilst wisdom crieth in vain in our streets. Indeed there is much of cloud in all this, and much of obscurity, which may well overtask any earthly philosophy. But we contend, that what is thus hidden furnishes matter of confidence and thankfulness; for man is hereby thrown upon his faith, and faith gives most honour to God, and is the best discipline for ourselves.
2. Or again: who knoweth the day of his death? Here, again, are the clouds and the darkness. One dieth, saith Job, in his full strength, etc. (Job_21:23-26). Nature has been ransacked for imagery; the shortness of our days is on every mans tongue; and everything that is fleeting and everything that is fragile, and everything that is uncertain, has been laid under contribution to furnish similitudes for a human life-time. It is a most trite, but melancholy saying, that no man is able to reckon on to-morrow. Then is it not an evidence of Gods faithfulness, of His regard for the creatures of His hand, that we cannot reckon on to-morrow? Such is the constitution of our nature, that if a fixed period were allotted to our days, the thought even of the distant hour would in most cases prove an insupportable burden.
3. There is much hidden from us respecting the nature of a future state. Here, again, are clouds and darkness which God Himself throws around it. There is enough disclosed to stimulate zeal, and enough to scare from transgression; but still, whilst the heirs of immortality are clothed with corruption, they see only through a glass darkly, and neither the harpings of glorified spirits nor the wailings of the ruined convey more than a feeble metaphor of futurity. But if the veil had been more drawn back, what, then, we ask, would become of a state of probation? Where would be the province of faith, when everything was thus made the object of sense? Where would be the trial of hope, when every joy was thus already told? Where the exercise of self-denial, when the better portion forced itself on the notice of the most unobservant, compelling by its burning manifestations the universal recognition of its superiority? And where would have been the excellency of an economy under which a race of sinful beings could have found no place for faith, no sphere for hope, no occasion for self-denial? (H. Melvill, B.D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv3, 6 Fire goes before him
Fire goes before him
The psalmist speaks as if fire were a person walking before King Yahweh and telling people that the king was coming. (See: Personification)
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consumes his adversaries
"burns up his enemies"
the earth sees and trembles
The writer speaks of the earth as if it were a person who sees what Yahweh does and trembles in fear. AT: "like a person, the earth sees and trembles" (See: Personification)
trembles
shakes with fear
The mountains melt like wax before Yahweh
The writer speaks of the mountains crumbling before Yahweh as if they were wax that was exposed to a fire. AT: "The mountains are unable to stand as Yahweh comes near" or "The mountains crumble in Yahweh's presence" (See: Simile)
translationWords
fire
consume
adversary
world
Yahweh
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv2, 5, 6 97:2-4 Dark clouds . . . Fire . .…
97:2-4 Dark clouds . . . Fire . . . lightning: This language shows that the Lord is coming in judgment.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.