Charles Ellicott Commentary Psalms 97:2

"Clouds and darkness are round about him: Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne." — Psalms 97:2 (ASV)

Clouds and darkness. Compare to Psalms 18:10-12. The imagery in the first instance is borrowed from the Theophany at Sinai (Exodus 19:9; Exodus 19:16; Exodus 20:21; Deuteronomy 4:11; Deuteronomy 5:22–23).

Are the habitation. Better, are the foundation, or pillars (as noted in the margin). This reappears from Psalms 89:14, but the connection with “clouds and darkness” is peculiar to this poet and is striking. The immediate effect on the Hebrew mind of the awful manifestation of Divine power in nature is not fear, but a sublime sense of safety in the established right and truth of God. They knew that it is one and the same power

“Which makes the darkness and the light,
And dwells not in the light alone,
But in the darkness and the cloud,
As over Sinai’s peaks of old,
While Israel made them gods of gold,
Although the trumpet blew so loud.”

TENNYSON: In Memoriam.