Psalm 97 - Light Shines

Read: Psalm 97 vs 1-12

Zarina and I were married, just before Christmas in 2006, and we went on our honeymoon to South Africa. Flying into Cape Town you have a real sense of arriving at the bottom of the world having flown south through Europe and then down through the length of Africa. I remember when we were there visiting the Cape of Good Hope. The views from this southern most point in Africa really are amazing. This is where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet and you can see these great waters literally collide as you look out from the headland. If you were to travel south from there the next bit of land you would come to would be the coastline of Antarctica, and it’s about 4000 miles away.   

One of things that really fascinated me was sitting on the rocks and looking through binoculars out to the horizon and at that moment you get a glimpse of the bigness of our world. Reading Psalm 97 is like holding a pair of binoculars and looking to the distant horizon: ‘The LORD reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice’ (vs 1).

We have a much a greater understanding of geography and oceanography than the Psalmist ever could have had and yet even in these ancient times the writer of the prayer was able to look up, at the lightning (vs 4), the mountains (vs 5), and see in them expressions of God’s glory (vs 6). The word ‘glory’ literally means ‘the weight of something’, everywhere the Psamist looks He is reminded of how weighty, how glorious God is, and this same Psalmist summons people from all places to acknowledge Him and worship Him.

Light shines out from this Psalm (vs 11). From the ‘villages of Judah’ (the small and the local  vs 8) to the most remote places on earth (vs 9) the message is the same. The LORD is ‘the Most High over all the earth’ (vs 9). Across the road, across continents, He reigns today,a md for that we give Him glory and praise!

Prayer: Father thank You that You reign over all the earth. May Your glory be known where we are and on distant shores. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.