10 You who are lovers of the Lord, be haters of evil; he keeps the souls of his saints; he takes them out of the hand of sinners.
In this way, we are certain that we have love for the children of God, when we have love for God and keep his laws. For loving God is keeping his laws: and his laws are not hard.
Be turned from evil, and do good; and your place will be for ever. For the Lord is a lover of righteousness, and takes care of his saints; they will be kept safe for ever; but the seed of the evil-doers will be cut off.
And Thomas said in answer, My Lord and my God! Jesus said to him, Because you have seen me you have belief: a blessing will be on those who have belief though they have not seen me! A number of other signs Jesus did before his disciples which are not recorded in this book:
And we are conscious that all things are working together for good to those who have love for God, and have been marked out by his purpose. Because those of whom he had knowledge before they came into existence, were marked out by him to be made like his Son, so that he might be the first among a band of brothers: And those who were marked out by him were named; and those who were named were given righteousness; and to those to whom he gave righteousness, in the same way he gave glory.
And then will come the revelation of that evil one, whom the Lord Jesus will put to death with the breath of his mouth, and give to destruction by the revelation of his coming; Even the one whose coming is marked by the working of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, And with every deceit of wrongdoing among those whose fate is destruction; because they were quite without that love of the true faith by which they might have salvation. And for this cause, God will give them up to the power of deceit and they will put their faith in what is false: So that they all may be judged, who had no faith in what is true, but took pleasure in evil.
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Commentary on Psalms 97 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
The Breaking Through of the Kingdom of God, the Judge and Saviour
This Psalm, too, has the coming of Jahve, who enters upon His kingdom through judgment, as its theme, and the watchword “Jahve is King” as its key-note. The lxx inscribes it: τῷ Δαυίδ ὅτε ἡ γῆ αὐτοῦ καθίσταται ( καθίστατο ); Jerome: quando terra ejus restituta est . The τῷ Δαυίδ is worthless; the time of restoration, from which it takes its rise, is the post-exilic, for it is composed, as mosaic-work, out of the earlier original passages of Davidic and Asaphic Psalms and of the prophets, more especially of Isaiah, and is entirely an expression of the religious consciousness which resulted from the Exile.
We have here nothing but echoes of the older literature: Psalms 97:1, cf. Isaiah 42:10-12; Isaiah 51:5; Psalms 97:2 , cf. Psalms 18:10, Psalms 18:12; Psalms 97:2 = Psalms 89:15; Psalms 97:3 , cf. Psalms 50:3; Psalms 18:9; Psalms 97:3 , cf. Isaiah 42:25. Beginning with the visible coming of the kingdom of God in the present, with מלך ה the poet takes his stand upon the standpoint of the kingdom which is come. With it also comes rich material for universal joy. תּגל is indicative, as in Psalms 96:11 and frequently. רבּים are all, for all of them are in fact many (cf. Isaiah 52:15). The description of the theophany, for which the way is preparing in Psalms 97:2, also reminds one of Hab. 3. God's enshrouding Himself in darkness bears witness to His judicial earnestness. Because He comes as Judge, the basis of His royal throne and of His judgment-seat is also called to mind. His harbinger is fire, which consumes His adversaries on every side, as that which broke forth out of the pillar of cloud once consumed the Egyptians.
Again we have nothing but echoes of the older literature: Psalms 97:4 = Psalms 77:19; Psalms 97:4 , cf. Psalms 77:17; Psalms 97:5 , cf. Micah 1:4; Psalms 97:5 , cf. Micah 4:13; Psalms 97:6 = Psalms 50:6; Psalms 97:6 , cf. Isaiah 35:2; Isaiah 40:5; Isaiah 52:10; Isaiah 66:18. The poet goes on to describe that which is future with historical certainty. That which Psalms 77:19 says of the manifestation of God in the earlier times he transfers to the revelation of God in the last time. The earth sees it, and begins to tremble in consequence of it. The reading ותּחל , according to Hitzig (cf. Ew. §232, b ) traditional, is, however, only an error of pointing that has been propagated; the correct reading is the reading of Heidenheim and Baer, restored according to MSS, ותּחל (cf. 1 Samuel 31:3), like ותּבן , ותּקם , ותּרם , and ותּשׂם . The figure of the wax is found even in Psalms 68:3; and Jahve is also called “Lord of the whole earth” in Zechariah 4:14; Zechariah 6:5. The proclamation of the heavens is an expression of joy, Psalms 96:11. They proclaim the judicial strictness with which Jahve, in accordance with His promises, carries out His plan of salvation, the realization of which has reached its goal in the fact that all men see the glory of God.
When the glory of Jahve becomes manifest, everything that is opposed to it will be punished and consumed by its light. Those who serve idols will become conscious of their delusion with shame and terror, Isaiah 42:17; Jeremiah 10:14. The superhuman powers (lxx ἄγγελοι ), deified by the heathen, then bow down to Him who alone is Elohim in absolute personality. השׁתּחווּ is not imperative (lxx, Syriac), for as a command this clause would be abrupt and inconsequential, but the perfect of that which actually takes place. The quotation in Hebrews 1:6 is taken from Deuteronomy 32:43, lxx. In Psalms 97:8 (after Psalms 48:12) the survey of the poet again comes back to his own nation. When Zion hears that Jahve has appeared, and all the world and all the powers bow down to Him, she rejoices; for it is in fact her God whose kingship has come to the acknowledge. And all the daughter-churches of the Jewish land exult together with the mother-church over the salvation which dawns through judgments.
This distichic epiphonema ( Psalms 97:9 = Ps 83:19; Psalms 97:9 , cf. Psalms 47:3, 10) might close the Psalm; there follows still, however, a hortatory strophe (which was perhaps not added till later on).
It is true Psalms 97:12 is = Psalms 32:11, Psalms 97:12 = Psalms 30:5, and the promise in Psalms 97:10 is the same as in Psalms 37:28; Psalms 34:21; but as to the rest, particularly Psalms 97:11, this strophe is original. It is an encouraging admonition to fidelity in an age in which an effeminate spirit of looking longingly towards lit. ogling heathenism was rife, and stedfast adherence to Jahve was threatened with loss of life. Those who are faithful in their confession, as in the Maccabaean age ( Ἀσιδαῖοι ), are called חסדיו . The beautiful figure in Psalms 97:11 is misapprehended by the ancient versions, inasmuch as they read זרח (Psalms 112:4) instead of זרע . זרע does not here signify sown = strewn into the earth, but strewn along his life's way, so that he, the righteous one, advances step by step in the light. Hitzig rightly compares ki'dnatai ski'dnatai, used of the dawn and of the sun. Of the former Virgil also says, Et jam prima novo spargebat lumine terras .