“The Lord is king! Let the earth rejoice! Let the farthest coastlands be glad. Dark clouds surround him. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. Fire spreads ahead of him and burns up all his foes. His lightning flashes out across the world. The earth sees and trembles. The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth. The heavens proclaim his righteousness; every nation sees his glory. Those who worship idols are disgraced— all who brag about their worthless gods— for every god must bow to him. Jerusalem has heard and rejoiced, and all the towns of Judah are glad because of your justice, O Lord! For you, O Lord, are supreme over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods. You who love the Lord, hate evil! He protects the lives of his godly people and rescues them from the power of the wicked. Light shines on the godly, and joy on those whose hearts are right. May all who are godly rejoice in the Lord and praise his holy name!”
Psalms 97:1-12 NLT
The declaration of God’s glory is a fact of his creation. Whereas humans and angels appear to be able to reject this concept in philosophy, in practice, nothing can reject it. All heaven declare his glory. This is true from the most mundane creatures, to the vast elements which populate creation. Curiously, in this Psalm, the acceptance and rejection of God’s majesty seems to be distinctly connected to the concept of evil. If one accepts the truth of God’s supremacy, then he will also rejoice in the concept that God reigns. But if one rejects this, then he can also be called evil, and must himself be rejected by all of creation. This is true of all creatures capable of rejecting him. In this Psalm, it even notes that God is above other gods. Surely this references an underlying aspect of scripture which is God’s effort to overcome the world’s ruling principalities and install his own higher authority in their place. What will be the purpose of this heavenly kingdom? Simply to glorify God by ushering a kingdom that is built upon love, equity, justice and peace under the common understanding that God is the legitimate sovereign to whom all worship should be given. Anything else is evil. We must agree.
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