Psalms 97:2

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;'' and it is usual with the Heathens to represent

Clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne.

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, 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 ,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, . All his decrees and administrations are grounded upon and managed with righteousness.

Psalms 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, 2 Corinthians 10:6. It is a savour of death to unbelievers. Christ came to send fire on the earth, Luke 12:49. Righteousness and judgment, &c.] Mercy Christ hath for the penitent, judgment for the rebellious, who seek to dethrone him. Woe to those gospel sinners.

(2) Clouds and darkness.—Comp. Psalms 18:10-12. The imagery in the first instance is borrowed from the Theophany at Sinai. (Exodus 19:9; Exodus 19:16; Exodus 20:21; Deuteronomy 4:11; Deuteronomy 5:22-23.) Are the habitation.—Better, are the foundation, or pillars. (See margin.) This reappears from Psalms 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 “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.” : In Memoriam.

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. 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.

1–3. The proclamation of Jehovah’s kingdom of power and righteousness.

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. Exodus 19:16-19.

2. Clouds and darkness—The imagery is Sinaitic. Psalms 97:2-6. Comp. Exodus 19:16-20; Exodus 20:18. God appears as judge, wrapped in “clouds and darkness” as symbols of severity and as the robe of his judicial office.