Light is sown for the righteous and gladness for the upright in heart

PSALM 97
Psalm 97 is the third of the cluster of psalms that depict the progressive unfolding of God’s purposes for the ages. Psalm 97 reveals the time of the Second Coming when the Lord will come in judgment as a consuming fire to burn up all His enemies.

After all the works of the Antichrist and his hordes of demons have ceased, there will come the glad tidings, “The Lord reigneth!” In the
last days, the whole earth will suffer under Satan’s rule (Isa. 14:16-17), but when Christ comes, the world will rejoice with great gladness. All the isles, speaking of the Gentile nations who have known the Lord during the Church Age, will rejoice as well.

In Scripture, clouds are very often associated with the Lord’s appearing (Dan. 7:13; Mt. 24:30). Righteousness and justice are always associated with His coming, as well as the fire that will engulf His enemies.

Lightning and brightness are also associated with the Second Coming, as seen in Habakkuk 3:4-5: “And his brightness was as the light; he had horns coming out of his hand: and there was the hiding of his power. Before him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth at his feet.”

The land will be consumed by the fire that will emanate from Christ when He returns. This is
developed in Isaiah 34:8-10: “For it is the day of the Lord’s vengeance, and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion. And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever.”

Everyone around the world will see the Lord when He comes again, even as He Himself declared in Matthew 24:30: “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” His coming will not be a “secret appearance.” Every eye shall see Him when
He returns.

At that time, all those who have served dumb idols will be ashamed. Paul declared in 1
Corinthians 10:19-20: “What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing? But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.” Therefore, all of these socalled “gods” (1 Cor. 8:4-6), which are actually devils, are commanded to worship the Lord at His
appearance.

Zion and Jerusalem, which will hold out until the end against the enemy forces that will surround the holy city in the last days, will rejoice as they see the coming of their Messiah. They will see the judgments of God come on their besiegers. The Lord is higher than any of these devils, whose thrones are in the air above the nations, cities, and towns which they reign over. These evil beings receive homage from those who worship their idols. Those of us who are called by the Lord’s name must hate wickedness in whatever form it manifests itself. The Lord preserves us and delivers us from the hand of our enemies. Praise the Lord! For the righteous, there is light and joy. Let us continually rejoice in our God and give thanks for His holiness.

Created about 1 year ago