Ps. 97.6 (the joy of his Glory)

The heavens / proclaimed his righteousness
and all the peoples / his glory. 

What we have seen thus far is the response of earth to Yhwh’s appearing and coming. First, his ‘foes’ are burned up, then the earth writhes and the mountains melt. Heaven is, in Yhwh’s presence, being established on earth; or, we might say, earth is being cleansed and brought into alignment with heaven. In this verse, that ‘alignment’ or arrival is nearing completion. The verse turns from the heavenly beings to the earthly “all the peoples” and they are united. Importantly, it is what happens on earth that inspires the praise of ‘righteousness’ in heaven. In other words, heaven looks forward to the redemption of the earth and Yhwh’s arrival and establishment of his reign. Heaven is not jealous over Yhwh’s presence and his glory. Rather, it wants to look upon the earth and say, “It is good”. Importantly, “righteousness” which was previously described as the “foundation of his throne” is, now, sung from heaven as Yhwh establishes it on earth. Heaven delights in earth’s participating in the reign of Yhwh. The ‘gaze of heaven’ and the gods is a gaze that enacts Yhwh’s own love and desire for earth. Heaven benefits from earth’s redemption. On earth, “all the peoples” “proclaim his glory”. In Psalm 96 “Glory” was in Yhwh’s sanctuary, along with “Might”. There, upon Yhwh’s establishing of his reign, “all the families of the peoples” “ascribe to Yhwh glory and might” and the “glory of his name.” Yhwh’s glory was to be “declared among the nations”. Crucially, in Psalm 96 this now-earthly-proclamation-of-heavenly-glory immediately precedes a “bowing down” in his presence (and, likewise, a ‘writing of all the earth’, as in psalm 97). The exact same dynamic works here—the proclamation of glory leads to the gods bowing down before Yhwh. 

What we see is that this “Glory” is something of the external manifestation of Yhwh’s kingly sovereignty. It is tremendous and overpowering. Its very expression subjugates everyone, and thing, to him. When it is ‘proclaimed’ then, this is man’s “liturgy of the King”, or “glory enacted in man”. It is earth’s way of entering into, so to speak, the heavenly liturgy and proclamation of Yhwh’s overwhelming authority. It is not, in this way, merely a ‘response’. Rather, the proclamation is an aspect of Yhwh’s Glory. In this way it is, truly, a participation in Yhwh’s glory. Man’s response to Yhwh is an aspect of Yhwh’s revelation to man; it is part of the whole dynamic of his Presence. We might say, then, that Yhwh is ‘the joy of his Glory’.