Psalm 97 Feb. 24  1Yahweh reigns! Let the earth rejoice! Let the multitude of islands be glad! 2Clouds and darkness are around Him, righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne. 3A fire goes before Him and burns up His adversaries on every side. 4His lightnings light up the world; the earth sees, and trembles. 5The mountains melt like wax at the presence of Yahweh, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth. 6The heavens declare His righteousness; all the peoples have seen His glory. 7Let all them be shamed who serve engraved images, who boast in their idols. Worship Him, all you gods! 8Zion heard and was glad. The daughters of Judah rejoiced, because of Your judgments, Yahweh. 9For You, Yahweh, are most high above all the earth. You are exalted far above all gods. 10You who love Yahweh, hate evil. He preserves the souls of His saints. He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked. 11Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart. 12Be glad in Yahweh, you righteous people! Give thanks to His holy Name.   

Commentary

97:7 Worship Him, all you gods- Here as often in the Psalms, the language presupposes that the gods / idols of the nations are real and living, but Yahweh’s greatness is such that effectively they have no power or significance. Yet the Bible clearly teaches that these gods / idols had no real existence. The same principle is used in the way the New Testament speaks about demons, who were also associated with idols (1 Cor. 10:20,21). They are spoken of as if they have some real existence, but the evident power of God in Christ’s miracles was such that they were effectively declared as having no real existence or at best being powerless and insignificant.