Clouds and darkness surround Him; Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.
Parallel translations
- WEB Clouds and darkness are around him. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
- KJV Clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne.
- BSB Clouds and darkness surround Him; righteousness and justice are His throne’s foundation.
- NASB Clouds and thick darkness surround Him; Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.
- NLT Dark clouds surround him. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
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
Clouds and darkness surround Him; righteousness and justice uphold His throne. God's reign is both awesomely hidden and perfectly just.
Overview
Drawing on Sinai imagery, the psalmist pictures God veiled in clouds and darkness, signifying His transcendent majesty and unapproachable holiness. Yet His throne rests on righteousness and justice, so His rule is utterly trustworthy. This holy, just King is fully revealed in Christ, whose throne is founded on righteousness forever (Hebrews 1:8; Exodus 19:16-18).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Ps 89:14Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne. Loving kindness and truth go before your face.
- Exod 19:9Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, I come to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever.” Moses told the words of the people to Yahweh.
- Prov 16:12It is an abomination for kings to do wrong, for the throne is established by righteousness.
- Heb 1:8–9But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your Kingdom.
- Nah 1:3Yahweh is slow to anger, and great in power, and will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. Yahweh has his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
- Gen 18:25Be it far from you to do things like that, to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be like the wicked. May that be far from you. Shouldn’t the Judge of all the earth do right?”
- Ps 99:4The King’s strength also loves justice. You do establish equity. You execute justice and righteousness in Jacob.
- Ps 45:6–7Your throne, God, is forever and ever. A scepter of equity is the scepter of your kingdom.
- Ps 18:11–12He made darkness his hiding place, his pavilion around him, darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.
- 1 Kgs 8:10–12It came to pass, when the priests had come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled Yahweh’s house,
- Exod 24:16–18Yahweh’s glory settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. The seventh day he called to Moses out of the middle of the cloud.
- Deut 4:11–12You came near and stood under the mountain. The mountain burned with fire to the heart of the sky, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness.
- Exod 20:21The people stayed at a distance, and Moses came near to the thick darkness where God was.
- Rom 11:33Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out!
- Ps 77:19Your way was through the sea; your paths through the great waters. Your footsteps were not known.
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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 97:2 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.