VERSE 2 “Clouds and darkness surround Him; Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.”

“The morning cometh (the blessed day), and also the night (a night of clouds and thick darkness)…” Isa 21:12

“Suddenly the picture changes from joy to gloom! David now characterizes the effects of the beginning of the reign lest anyone err in picturing the Millennium as all sunshine.

“Darkness is round about him.”—Darkness is a symbol. It stands for lack of understanding. David shows the world doesn’t understand the Lord or His purposes. Thus they cannot rejoice, as Verse 1 admonished.

How long will this darkness remain? The Scriptures explicitly declare that this darkness must remain until the miraculous deliverance of Israel. Isaiah 60:1- 3 explains that the light dispelling the darkness will be manifested ONLY through the nation of Israel.

“Arise; shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you (That is the Holy Remnant of Israel those who survive Jacob’s Trouble). For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth and deep darkness the people; But the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.”

Note that when this light first comes upon Israel, the earth (i.e. society, what’s left of it) will still be in darkness and the people in gross darkness (in the midst of the great time of trouble and anarchy). The directive “arise, shine” shows that a definite or fixed time is coming in God’s plan when He will establish His Kingdom in power and great glory.

Many Christians have applied the language in verse 3 to the Church and its leadership role in the next age. But this verse should not be considered alone, for it is part of a continuous context about God’s redemption of Jacob and the introduction or establishment of the Kingdom.

“Kings [shall come] to the brightness of thy rising.” When the Kingdom is inaugurated, the “brightness” of Israel’s rising will be rapidly apparent. The establishment of the Kingdom will not be a gradual process requiring many years but will happen speedily and with great power and glory.

“Many people shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths.” For out of Zion (the spiritual phase of the kingdom) shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem (the earthly phase of the kingdom).” Isa 2:3

Then will “ten men take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.” (Zech 8:23)

Darkness is lack of understanding of the situation. What is the situation in the world today? The situation of mankind is this: TWO SIDES. Mankind has divided himself into two camps. Man knows this; but he doesn’t understand it. He is in darkness regarding its cause and cure.

On one side we have restless men (generally, but not always, young people). On this side are men of vision who are discontented with the world they see; also, there are men of despair. Their common aim is change, hoping that whatever comes will be better.

On the opposite side we have men who want to preserve the present order. Often they are men of means or power. But also on this side are men of fear, and while they have little to protect in the way of belongings, they fear any change lest it result in trouble. The Darkness that overcomes them all is the lack of knowledge that God is using them against each other to remove the old order for the full establishment of His Kingdom.

But we, Brethren, are not in that darkness. The Lord has enlightened our eyes through His Word.

Consider Psalms 93. The opening verse places us at the same historical moment as Psalms 97—”The Lord reigns”. But another element enters the picture: “The world also is established so that it cannot be moved.” This is the setting for a battle! The Lord who reigns versus the world that refuses to let Him reign! The 3rd verse acknowledges that the world is not all of one mind however! There is a “flood” class—the sea of restless humanity. And in the 4th verse we are assured that the Lord is able to control that class to do His bidding. But the Psalm never gives us the result of the battle! It simply closes by stating that the Lord’s testimonies are sure.

What are the Lord’s testimonies concerning how He will use the sea class to conquer the world? We must look elsewhere to find out.

One of the testimonies is found in Mark 11. In verses 13 and 14 and 20 – 22 is related the incident of our Lord’s cursing of the fig tree which pictured the Jewish nation. When Peter questioned the matter, our Lord gave him a strange answer indeed! He said (Verse 22), “Have faith in God.” Then he gives a parable which on the surface seems to have little relationship to the fig tree incident. The Lord states that if we say to a mountain that it should be cast into the sea, we would have that wish fulfilled. What did our Lord mean?

He said “THIS Mountain“—(We can almost picture him with a sweeping motion of his hand pointing out to all of his surroundings.) Mountain is symbolic of Kingdom, and the Lord was pointing to Satan’s kingdom, the present order of things. And, indeed, the Church class has been asking for the removal of Satan’s kingdom for centuries, for when we pray “Thy Mountain (Kingdom) Come” we are indeed praying for the removal of the present mountain. It is because of the great faith of the true Church in making its calling and election sure that this will be possible. It is for this reason that the Lord began with the statement regarding faith.

The Lord’s faith made possible the dissolution of the Jewish order (pictured by the fig tree); The Church’s faith (“the bride hath made herself ready“) makes possible the dissolution of the larger order—Satan’s mountain. But the Lord went further. He added a prophecy of how Satan’s kingdom would be destroyed. He said it would be destroyed by the restless masses of humanity—”cast into the sea.”

No doubt the Lord had in mind the marvelous description of David given in Psalms 46. This Psalm tells us why (in Psalms 97 verse 8, that) “Zion hears and is glad!”

Psalms 46:1 assures us of our protection in this day while the mountains are being cast into the sea. Verse 4 of this psalm shows what makes Zion glad. It is the streams of a river. This is a marvelous statement! It demonstrates the overlapping of destruction and restitution. The river is the river of the waters of life of Rev 22:1. A stream is a small tributary of a river. Therefore, the Psalmist is stating that the small beginnings of restitution are making Zion glad. These small beginnings are strengthening our faith while the present order crumbles!

So we see the importance of darkness to the beginnings of God’s reign. It is a tool in the destruction of Satan’s empire; it is a witness to the Church in that we are not plagued by the darkness for we dwell in the light.

Psalms 97:2 also mentions “clouds”. Clouds, of course, cause darkness and are therefore a good symbol of obscurity and confusion resulting from lack of light (understanding). Confusion is trouble and causes trouble. Hence clouds are always associated with trouble.

We are on the verge of the New Covenant arrangement. Our understanding of it can be enhanced by considering the old (Law) covenant as it was on the verge of ratification. We will see that clouds existed at that event also. It is recorded in Exodus 19 and is full of beautiful typical and symbolical significance.

Psalms 97:10- 11 set the stage. Antitypically we can see that our Lord has been sanctifying a people (His Church) for two days of a thousand years each. (His first advent was in man’s fifth Millennium; and the Gospel Age continued through the sixth Millennium.) It is promised that on the 3rd day (hence man’s 7th Millennium) the Lord would make the covenant. In Exod 19:16-18 we find the fulfillment of that promise. And the events describe our day (the making of a new covenant) perfectly. Note the appropriate symbols as they correspond to Psalm:

“On the third day, in the morning” = “The Lord Reigns”, (beginning of reign)

“Thick cloud” = “Clouds and darkness”, (the great time of trouble)

“The sound of the trumpet” = the Last Trump, the Jubilee Trump

“The people who were in the camp trembled” =  “The earth sees and trembles”

The scriptures tell other things about clouds too! Clouds bring blessings! (This is why Zion is glad!) Prov 16:15 states that God’s favor “is as a cloud of the latter rain.” Rotherham’s reads, “harvest rain.” So it is abundantly clear that the same clouds which the world sees as only trouble bring blessings to Zion! We have received abundantly of the refreshing of harvest rains of truth (That is those who are awake and in the right condition of heart to receive the harvest message).

Back to Psalms 97:2.

RIGHTEOUSNESS and JUDGMENT are mentioned next. The words are strong reminders of Isa 28:17, “Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet.”

It is imperative, Brethren, to remember that this text is being fulfilled before our eyes this day. While it is not yet applicable to individuals, it is being applied to governments and institutions (both religious and civil). The nations could not be destroyed unless they have been judged! To think otherwise would make a mockery of God’s justice. In the words of Daniel 5:27, “Thou art weighed in the balances (judged) and art found wanting.” The important lesson in Psalm 97:2 is that righteousness and judgment are the means by which the Lord establishes His throne. “Righteousness and judgement are the establishment (margin) of His throne.” In other words, peace is not a sign of the establishment of the Kingdom! No one would recognize a throne set up in peace. Instead, the throne is established by judgments. “In righteousness he doth judge and make war.” (Rev 19:11) Thus we see the scriptural link between the judgment day and the establishing of the kingdom reign by trouble.

We will continue with Psalms 97 verse 3 in our next post.