Read
Psalm 97:7
Let all them be shamed who serve engraved images, who boast in their idols. Worship him, all you gods!
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.
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, LORD.
9For you, LORD, are most high above all the earth. You are exalted far above all gods.
Notice
Boasting in idols meets a call for shame here, as YHWH’s revealed glory exposes the engraved images people serve.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What changes in your reading when the command to worship follows the call for shame?
Write on thisHow does YHWH’s glory in the surrounding verses shape your response to this warning?
Write on thisConnect
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
Jeremiah 10:14Every man has become brutish and without knowledge. Every goldsmith is disappointed by his engraved image; for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no …Both connect engraved images with disgrace: the psalm calls for worshipers’ shame, while Jeremiah describes the maker’s disappointment.
Exodus 20:4“You shall not make for yourselves an idol, nor any image of anything that is in the heavens above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water …Exodus forbids making idols, while the psalm calls for shame upon those who serve and boast in them.
Hebrews 1:6When he again brings in the firstborn into the world he says, “Let all the angels of God worship him.”Both contain commands to worship: the psalm addresses all gods, while Hebrews commands God’s angels to worship the firstborn.
Psalm 16:4Their sorrows shall be multiplied who give gifts to another god. Their drink offerings of blood I will not offer, nor take their names on my lips.Both describe bitter consequences of devotion to other gods: shame in Psalm 97 and multiplied sorrows in Psalm 16.
Isaiah 42:17“Those who trust in engraved images, who tell molten images, ‘You are our gods,’ will be turned back. They will be utterly disappointed.Both connect devotion to engraved images with disgrace, exposing the failure of what their worshipers honor.
Isaiah 44:9Everyone who makes a carved image is vain. The things that they delight in will not profit. Their own witnesses don’t see, nor know, that they may be …Both associate carved images with disappointment or shame for the people who make or serve them.
Leviticus 26:1“‘You shall make for yourselves no idols, and you shall not raise up a carved image or a pillar, and you shall not place any figured stone in your land, to bow …Leviticus forbids making images to bow before, while the psalm condemns serving images and commands worship of the LORD.
Revelation 5:11–14I looked, and I heard something like a voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders. The number of them was ten thousands of …The connection is limited in the supplied excerpt: the psalm commands worship, while Revelation describes countless angels around the throne.
Isaiah 41:29Behold, all of their deeds are vanity and nothing. Their molten images are wind and confusion.Isaiah describes molten images as wind and confusion; the psalm calls for shame upon those who boast in idols.
Psalm 135:18Those who make them will be like them, yes, everyone who trusts in them.Both link worshipers’ fate to what they trust: shame for idol servants and likeness to idols for their makers.
Jeremiah 17:13LORD, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you will be disappointed. Those who depart from me will be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, …Both connect turning from the LORD with disgrace: the psalm names idol service, while Jeremiah names forsaking Israel’s hope.
Where this verse fits
Praise and worship. sermon or Bible study notes.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
The command “Worship him, all you gods!” leaves no rival exempt from honoring YHWH. The surrounding verses make his supremacy clear: he is exalted above all gods.
Now put it in your words.
Start an entry on Psalm 97:7. 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).