Limitless Word
May all who are godly rejoice in the Lord and praise his holy name!
Psalms 97:12 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB Be glad in Yahweh, you righteous people! Give thanks to his holy Name.
  • KJV Rejoice in the LORD, ye righteous; and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.
  • BSB Rejoice in the LORD, you righteous ones, and praise His holy name.
  • NKJV Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name.
  • NASB Be joyful in the Lord, you righteous ones, And praise the mention of His holy name.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

The righteous are called to rejoice in the LORD and give thanks to His holy name. Worship is the fitting response to His reign.

Overview

The psalm closes with a summons to joy and thanksgiving rooted in God's holy character. Rejoicing 'in Yahweh' centers gladness on God Himself rather than mere circumstances. For Christians this joy deepens through Christ, in whom we know the holy God as our Father and Savior.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 8

  • Ps 30:4Sing praise to Yahweh, you saints of his. Give thanks to his holy name.
  • Phil 4:4Rejoice in the Lord always! Again I will say, “Rejoice!”
  • Ps 32:11Be glad in Yahweh, and rejoice, you righteous! Shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart!
  • Heb 12:10For they indeed, for a few days, punished us as seemed good to them; but he for our profit, that we may be partakers of his holiness.
  • Zeph 3:14–17Sing, daughter of Zion! Shout, Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem.
  • Ps 60:6God has spoken from his sanctuary: “I will triumph. I will divide Shechem, and measure out the valley of Succoth.
  • Hab 3:17–18For though the fig tree doesn’t flourish, nor fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive fails, the fields yield no food; the flocks are cut off from the fold, and there is no herd in the stalls:
  • Hab 1:12–13Aren’t you from everlasting, Yahweh my God, my Holy One? We will not die. Yahweh, you have appointed him for judgment. You, Rock, have established him to punish.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 97:12YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.

How Psalms 97:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.