Ps. 97.7 (into the Absolute)

All / who served images / were put to shame
the ones / who boasted / in mere idols
even all the gods / bowed down to him. 

One thing we have hinted at but not addressed directly is the fact that the change that is wrought upon the earth and Yhwh’s foes is effortless. This is captured best in the image of the mountains that “melt like wax”. Yhwh’s presence is like a flame that, in a sense, does not need to ‘do’ anything affect everything around it. A flame simply makes things warm, burns things up, and melts, by its very nature. Describing Yhwh in this fashion is key because the less Yhwh does—the more his Presence simply effects a change in the world—the more his utter mastery (his sovereignty) comes into view as an absolute, astonishing power. Further, the broader the scope of the change, the further is his complete sovereignty established. In other words, if all of ‘heaven and earth’ are changed, simply by his Presence, then his Presence is not simply ‘strong’, but absolutely powerful. This ‘change’ is, importantly, the jubilant shout of his acclamation. There is no ‘boundary’, because his presence has always-already consumed it within the power of his Presence. In this sense, nothing stands in front of his face, because nothing can be the boundary to his power; his power, rather, is the boundary of all; it is always ‘one-step-ahead’ and always-already present. The reason I emphasize this is because in these verses, as in the others, the change from ‘idolatry-to-worship’ simply ‘happens’; Yhwh’s Presence simply effects it. There is no description of a battle. There is, in fact, no description of any confrontation. This is Presence-As-Absolute-Power. 

We need to deepen this insight though. Because, this Power has content; it is not mere brute force, the ability to ‘move’ anything. Rather, this Power is displayed in two ways: judgment and worship. These are, in fact, in a type of order. Judgment is penultimate to Worship; or, judgment is in service of worship. ‘Idolatry’—here, the serving and boasting in images—is an act of worship. That is the central concern here. The transfer from idolatry to Yhwh-worship is the act of judgment. Again, however, that word—judgment—might throw us off. Here, Yhwh’s presence seems to simply create shame. His presence, as a type of powerful truth-making, unveils what these people are actually doing. They are not, in fact, engaging in valid worship but serving ‘images’ and ‘mere idols’. That description (images and mere idols) is clearly derogatory, a shameful description of their activities. Yhwh, then, as a type of overwhelming light, reveals what has been in the darkness—the error of their worship. And, that moment of revealing is shame. The weakness of their idols creates their worshippers’ weakness, their shame. And so what we see here is that Yhwh’s Power is also an overwhelming act of Truth, of revealing. That is the first step. The second step is that this Power-and-Truth is an act of Beauty. The same act that strips the idols of their power reorients worship to Yhwh; it ‘turns their desire’ to him. His presence is, of itself, absolutely compelling. Again, the extant of this Beauty is his Power and Truth. It is not Power, then Truth, then Beauty, in some type of lessening order. His Presence, in a single, unified way, is these things. He is not powerful—he is Power; he is not truthful—he is Truth; he is not beautiful—he is Beauty (or, Glory).  Because, again, he is the boundary of all; nothing stands ‘on the other side’ of him. This is how this psalm ‘holds together’; how it portrays Yhwh as supremely (absolutely) active, and yet not ‘doing’ anything; how the ‘worship of the world’ is utterly unmasked and transferred to him, absolutely.