Consider the last 3 verses:
10 Let those who love the LORD hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked. 11 Light is shed upon the righteous and joy on the upright in heart. 12 Rejoice in the LORD, you who are righteous, and praise his holy name.
We should hate evil:
Not play with it
Not tolerate it
Not make excuses for it
We must hate it and desire to see it abolished! We must hate evil and long for the day when every sin is punished, when all wrongs are righted!
Now: Why do people NOT hate evil? Why instead do some people pursue evil? Two reason:
Reason 1: Fear that others will take advantage of us: As the saying goes, “Do unto others before they do unto you.” We are tempted to think, “If I act that way, everyone else will just mow me down. I’ve got to play the game!”
In verse 10 God says, “NO, that is not the case. It might look that way from your perspective. But remember who I am! I am the one before whom the mountains melt! I am righteous! And I will guard the lives of my faithful ones! I will deliver them from the hand of the wicked!”
God uses the history of the people of Israel to make this point. Time and again, Israelite kings make alliances with heathen powers for protection. What is the outcome? Time and again, they are defeated. The supposedly powerful alliance ends up harming them, in the long run if not in the immediate future. But, on the other hand, when the kings approach the Lord in weakness and humility, when they fall on their faces before the Sovereign Lord, then God rescues them from even the most powerful foes.
Just so with us. If we try to protect ourselves through evil we will be put to shame. If we use wrong business practices, if we rob others, if we lie on our tax returns, we will be put to shame. But if we do what may not seem logical, we may seem to lose initially, but God promises to guard our lives and protect us. We can be confident that He will not forsake us, but will bring us safely to His heavenly kingdom.
Reason 2: Fear of missing out on life: We think, “If I act the way God wants, I’ll miss out on all the fun stuff in life! Christians can’t do this, can’t do that. I may live but I won’t have any fun!”
Verse 11 answers this fear:
“Light is shed upon the righteous, and joy on the upright in heart.”
The word “light” is frequently used in the Old Testament for joy or happiness; indeed, this same Hebrew word is translated by the NIV as “happiness” in Esther 8:16. So it’s not too much of a stretch to translate this verse:
“Happiness is shed upon the righteous, joy on the upright in heart.”
God says, “You want joy? Then quit pursuing all those dead ends! Your desires are too weak! Go after the greatest joy imaginable – knowing me!”
Far from being a victim of evil, far from missing out on joy, the righteous man comes under the protection of the most powerful being in the universe, and receives the greatest joy there is.
Verse 12 then gives our proper response, echoing verse 1:
12 Rejoice in the LORD, you who are righteous, and praise his holy name.
If you look at a number of English translations, you will find that the word here translated “praise” is sometimes translated “give thanks”. The Hebrew word is sort of a combination. It is never used of giving thanks to a person, only to God. But it does connote the ideas of confessing God’s attributes, and thanking God for working mightily for our good.
So the idea is this: Rejoice in Him, recognizing who He is and what He has done. God reigns!
From http://www.expository.org/ps97a.htm
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