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Psalm 97:4

His lightning lights up the world. The earth sees, and trembles.

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 lightning lights up the world. The earth sees, and trembles.
5The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the LORD, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.
6The heavens declare his righteousness. All the peoples have seen his glory.
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← Psalm 97:3Psalm 97:5 →
Notice

Lightning lights the whole world, and the earth’s trembling gives this scene a weight that can unsettle a casual view of God.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

What does the earth’s trembling suggest about the God whose lightning lights up the world?

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How does the surrounding description of God’s righteous throne shape your response to this frightening scene?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

11 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.

This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Psalm 77:18The voice of your thunder was in the whirlwind. The lightnings lit up the world. The earth trembled and shook.Both passages describe God’s lightning lighting up the world and the earth trembling.
Revelation 11:19God’s temple that is in heaven was opened, and the ark of the Lord’s covenant was seen in his temple. Lightnings, sounds, thunders, an earthquake, and great …Both scenes include lightning and movement of the earth in a display associated with God’s presence.
2 Samuel 22:8Then the earth shook and trembled. The foundations of heaven quaked and were shaken, because he was angry.Both passages describe the earth trembling before God, with Samuel naming his anger as the cause.
Psalm 99:1The LORD reigns! Let the peoples tremble. He sits enthroned among the cherubim. Let the earth be moved.Both psalms portray the earth responding to the Lord with trembling or movement.
Exodus 19:16–18On the third day, when it was morning, there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain, and the sound of an exceedingly loud trumpet; and …Lightning accompanies trembling in both scenes: the earth trembles in the psalm, and the people tremble at Sinai.
Jeremiah 10:10But the LORD is the true God. He is the living God, and an everlasting King. At his wrath, the earth trembles. The nations aren’t able to withstand his …Both passages describe the earth trembling before the Lord, while Jeremiah names his wrath.
Job 9:6He shakes the earth out of its place. Its pillars tremble.Both passages portray the earth as subject to God’s power, shaking or trembling before him.
Psalm 104:32He looks at the earth, and it trembles. He touches the mountains, and they smoke.Both psalms depict the earth trembling in response to God, whether at his lightning or his look.
Job 37:3He sends it out under the whole sky, and his lightning to the ends of the earth.Both passages describe God’s lightning reaching across the earth, beyond any single place.
Psalm 114:7Tremble, you earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob,Psalm 97 describes the earth trembling, while Psalm 114 commands it to tremble at the Lord’s presence.
Matthew 27:50–51Jesus cried again with a loud voice, and yielded up his spirit.The supplied Matthew verse describes Jesus’ death; it contains no explicit parallel to the lightning or trembling in Psalm 97:4.
Where this verse fits

Praise and worship. sermon or Bible study notes.

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One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Read Psalm 97:2–6 aloud, pausing at the earth’s trembling

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Encouragement

The earth trembles before the Lord of the whole earth. In the surrounding lines, this same Lord’s throne rests on righteousness and justice.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 97:4. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.

Keep goingPsalm 97 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).