Psalm 99
by Pastor Lawrence

This is the sixth offering in what is known as the royal psalms that proclaim God’s rule not only over Israel but all of creation. Like a few other psalms, this one begins by reminding God’s people that “the Lord God reigns,” over every nation and that all the peoples are meant to tremble before the power of this great king. Although it is not clearly seen in every generation and in every part of the world, the Lord is sitting on his throne and is exercising his sovereign rule.

The one attribute of God that sticks out more than any other in this psalm is the Lord’s holiness. In verses three and five, the psalmist repeats the refrain, “Holy is he!” Then in verse nine, in exhorting the people to worship God on his “holy” mountain, again he says, “the Lord our God is holy!” Here, the psalmist is not referring mainly to God’s moral perfection so much as His unique being in contradistinction from his creatures. He is totally “other” than us and separate from us in so many ways, not merely in the greatest of love and justice but in His very person and His absolute power over all creation.

In verses five and nine the psalmist gives the proper response of creatures in the presence of their creator, and of subjects in the presence of their king, whether on earth or in heaven, whether at God’s footstool on earth or in Zion above. There are two things both expected and exhorted of us: to exalt the Lord and to worship or bow down before Him. If we really grasp something of the difference between God and His creatures, and just how holy He is, then we will naturally exalt and magnify His name and simultaneously humble ourselves and bow low before one so much greater. There simply is no room for personal pride in the presence of a wise and powerful king.

Of course, it is only through Christ that we can come before the Lord in this way, and it is only through His own exalted name and works that we can approach a Holy God, so even when we are offering our tribute and humble obeisance to the great king we are exalting the name of Jesus who has granted us access. Indeed, even today as we go before the Lord in prayer, it is our duty and privilege to exalt the Lord and to humble ourselves, for the Lord reigns and He alone is holy!