Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Who is the Lord of this world?The Hebrew Bible repeatedly affirms YHWH as sovereign over all the kingdoms and the whole earth, but several New Testament passages — most notably the Temptati…
Psalms 132:7(v5)“We will go into his dwelling place. We will worship at his footstool.
Isaiah 6:3(vv3, 9)One called to another, and said, “Holy, holy, holy, is Yahweh of Armies! The whole earth is full of his glory!”
Psalms 97:9(v2)For you, Yahweh, are most high above all the earth. You are exalted far above all gods.
Jeremiah 15:1(v6)Then Yahweh said to me, “Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind would not turn toward this people. Cast them out of my sight,…
Luke 1:49(v9)For he who is mighty has done great things for me. Holy is his name.
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Psalms 97:1(v1)Yahweh reigns! Let the earth rejoice! Let the multitude of islands be glad!
Isaiah 66:1(v5)Yahweh says, “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build to me? Where will I rest?
Exodus 25:22(v1)There I will meet with you, and I will tell you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the…
Exodus 33:9(v7)When Moses entered into the Tent, the pillar of cloud descended, stood at the door of the Tent, and Yahweh spoke with Moses.
Deuteronomy 28:58(v3)If you will not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and fearful name,…
Exodus 15:2(v5)Yah is my strength and song. He has become my salvation. This is my God, and I will praise him; my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
Numbers 12:5(v7)Yahweh came down in a pillar of cloud, and stood at the door of the Tent, and called Aaron and Miriam; and they both came forward.
Psalms 11:7(v4)For Yahweh is righteous. He loves righteousness. The upright shall see his face.
Psalms 34:3(v5)Oh magnify Yahweh with me. Let’s exalt his name together.
Psalms 80:1(v1)Hear us, Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock, you who sit above the cherubim, shine out.
Psalms 93:1(v1)Yahweh reigns! He is clothed with majesty! Yahweh is armed with strength. The world also is established. It can’t be moved.
Psalms 97:4(v1)His lightning lights up the world. The earth sees, and trembles.
Psalms 108:5(v5)Be exalted, God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth.
Numbers 20:12(v8)Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you didn’t believe in me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you…
Job 36:5-7(v4)“Behold, God is mighty, and doesn’t despise anyone. He is mighty in strength of understanding. He doesn’t preserve the life of the wicked,…
Isaiah 12:4(v5)In that day you will say, “Give thanks to Yahweh! Call on his name. Declare his doings among the peoples. Proclaim that his name is exalted!
Isaiah 25:1(v5)Yahweh, you are my God. I will exalt you! I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago, in complete…
Isaiah 57:15(v9)For the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy, says: “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also who is of a…
Jeremiah 23:5(v4)“Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that I will raise to David a righteous Branch, and he will reign as king and deal wisely, and will…
Revelation 20:11(v1)I saw a great white throne, and him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. There was found no place for them.
Psalms 2:6(vv1, 9)“Yet I have set my King on my holy hill of Zion.”
Psalms 99:3(vv5, 9)Let them praise your great and awesome name. He is Holy!
Revelation 4:8(vv3, 9)The four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within. They have no rest day and night, saying,…
Exodus 15:25(v6)Then he cried to Yahweh. Yahweh showed him a tree, and he threw it into the waters, and the waters were made sweet. There he made a statute…
Exodus 24:6-8(v6)Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. He took the book of the covenant and…
Deuteronomy 4:5(v7)Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, even as Yahweh my God commanded me, that you should do so in the middle of the land…
Psalms 2:11-12(v1)Serve Yahweh with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Give sincere homage to the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish on the way, for his…
Psalms 18:10(v1)He rode on a cherub, and flew. Yes, he soared on the wings of the wind.
Psalms 21:8-9(v1)Your hand will find out all of your enemies. Your right hand will find out those who hate you. You will make them as a fiery furnace in the…
Psalms 45:6-7(v4)Your throne, God, is forever and ever. A scepter of equity is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness, and hated…
Psalms 89:33(v8)But I will not completely take my loving kindness from him, nor allow my faithfulness to fail.
Psalms 96:10(v1)Say among the nations, “Yahweh reigns.” The world is also established. It can’t be moved. He will judge the peoples with equity.
Psalms 99:9(v5)Exalt Yahweh, our God. Worship at his holy hill, for Yahweh, our God, is holy!
Psalms 111:9(v3)He has sent redemption to his people. He has ordained his covenant forever. His name is holy and awesome!
Isaiah 5:16(v9)but Yahweh of Armies is exalted in justice, and God the Holy One is sanctified in righteousness.
Isaiah 14:32(v2)What will they answer the messengers of the nation? That Yahweh has founded Zion, and in her the afflicted of his people will take refuge.
Isaiah 19:14(v1)Yahweh has mixed a spirit of perverseness in the middle of her; and they have caused Egypt to go astray in all of its works, like a drunken…
Isaiah 24:19-20(v1)The earth is utterly broken. The earth is torn apart. The earth is shaken violently. The earth will stagger like a drunken man, and will…
Jeremiah 4:24(v1)I saw the mountains, and behold, they trembled, and all the hills moved back and forth.
Jeremiah 5:22(v1)Don’t you fear me?’ says Yahweh ‘Won’t you tremble at my presence, who have placed the sand for the bound of the sea, by a perpetual…
Jeremiah 49:21(v1)The earth trembles at the noise of their fall; there is a cry, the noise which is heard in the Red Sea.
Jeremiah 50:46(v1)At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth trembles; and the cry is heard among the nations.
Luke 19:12(v1)He said therefore, “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return.
Luke 19:14(v1)But his citizens hated him, and sent an envoy after him, saying, ‘We don’t want this man to reign over us.’
Luke 19:27(v1)But bring those enemies of mine who didn’t want me to reign over them here, and kill them before me.’ ”
Philippians 2:12(v1)So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation…
1 Peter 1:15-16(v9)but just as he who called you is holy, you yourselves also be holy in all of your behavior; because it is written, “You shall be holy; for…
Revelation 6:14(v1)The sky was removed like a scroll when it is rolled up. Every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
Revelation 11:17(v1)saying: “We give you thanks, Lord God, the Almighty, the one who is and who was; because you have taken your great power and reigned.
Revelation 15:3-4(v3)They sang the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and marvelous are your works, Lord God, the…
Exodus 14:15(v6)Yahweh said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Speak to the children of Israel, that they go forward.
Exodus 19:9(v7)Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, I come to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you…
Leviticus 19:2(v5)“Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘You shall be holy; for I, Yahweh your God, am holy.
Deuteronomy 7:21(v3)You shall not be scared of them; for Yahweh your God is among you, a great and awesome God.
Deuteronomy 32:3-4(v4)For I will proclaim Yahweh’s name. Ascribe greatness to our God! The Rock: his work is perfect, for all his ways are just. A God of…
1 Samuel 7:9-12(v6)Samuel took a suckling lamb, and offered it for a whole burnt offering to Yahweh. Samuel cried to Yahweh for Israel; and Yahweh answered…
1 Samuel 12:18-24(v6)So Samuel called to Yahweh; and Yahweh sent thunder and rain that day. Then all the people greatly feared Yahweh and Samuel. All the people…
1 Chronicles 28:2(v5)Then David the king stood up on his feet, and said, “Hear me, my brothers, and my people! As for me, it was in my heart to build a house of…
Nehemiah 1:5(v3)and said, “I beg you, Yahweh, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and loving kindness with those who love him…
Nehemiah 4:14(v3)I looked, and rose up, and said to the nobles, to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of them! Remember the Lord,…
Psalms 21:13(v5)Be exalted, Yahweh, in your strength, so we will sing and praise your power.
Psalms 66:3(v3)Tell God, “How awesome are your deeds! Through the greatness of your power, your enemies submit themselves to you.
Psalms 82:5(v1)They don’t know, neither do they understand. They walk back and forth in darkness. All the foundations of the earth are shaken.
Psalms 99:5(v9)Exalt Yahweh our God. Worship at his footstool. He is Holy!
Psalms 107:32(v5)Let them exalt him also in the assembly of the people, and praise him in the seat of the elders.
Psalms 118:28(v5)You are my God, and I will give thanks to you. You are my God, I will exalt you.
Psalms 145:17(v3)Yahweh is righteous in all his ways, and gracious in all his works.
Isaiah 11:3-5(v4)His delight will be in the fear of Yahweh. He will not judge by the sight of his eyes, neither decide by the hearing of his ears; but he…
Isaiah 12:6(v2)Cry aloud and shout, you inhabitant of Zion; for the Holy One of Israel is great among you!”
Jeremiah 46:28(v8)Don’t be afraid, O Jacob my servant,” says Yahweh; “for I am with you; for I will make a full end of all the nations where I have driven…
John 17:11(v3)I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them through your name which you have…
Hebrews 3:2(v7)who was faithful to him who appointed him, as also Moses was in all his house.
1 John 3:21-22(v7)Beloved, if our hearts don’t condemn us, we have boldness toward God; so whatever we ask, we receive from him, because we keep his…
Revelation 19:16(v4)He has on his garment and on his thigh a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”
1 Samuel 2:2(vv3, 9)There is no one as holy as Yahweh, for there is no one besides you, nor is there any rock like our God.
Exodus 29:11-37(v6)You shall kill the bull before Yahweh at the door of the Tent of Meeting. You shall take of the blood of the bull, and put it on the horns…
Exodus 32:11-14(v6)Moses begged Yahweh his God, and said, “Yahweh, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, that you have brought out of the land of…
Exodus 32:30(v6)On the next day, Moses said to the people, “You have sinned a great sin. Now I will go up to Yahweh. Perhaps I shall make atonement for…
Exodus 33:12-15(v6)Moses said to Yahweh, “Behold, you tell me, ‘Bring up this people;’ and you haven’t let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have…
Exodus 40:16(v7)Moses did so. According to all that Yahweh commanded him, so he did.
Leviticus 8:1-30(v6)Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments, and the anointing oil, and the bull of the sin…
Numbers 14:13-20(v6)Moses said to Yahweh, “Then the Egyptians will hear it; for you brought up this people in your might from among them. They will tell it to…
Numbers 16:21-22(v6)“Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment!” They fell on their faces, and said, “God, the God…
Numbers 16:47-48(v6)Aaron did as Moses said, and ran into the middle of the assembly. The plague had already begun among the people. He put on the incense, and…
Deuteronomy 10:18(v4)He executes justice for the fatherless and widow and loves the foreigner in giving him food and clothing.
Deuteronomy 33:9(v7)He said of his father, and of his mother, ‘I have not seen him.’ He didn’t acknowledge his brothers, nor did he know his own children; for…
Joshua 24:19(v3)Joshua said to the people, “You can’t serve Yahweh, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God. He will not forgive your disobedience nor…
1 Samuel 12:3-5(v7)Here I am. Witness against me before Yahweh, and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I…
2 Samuel 23:3-4(v4)The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me, ‘One who rules over men righteously, who rules in the fear of God, shall be as the…
Job 37:23(v4)We can’t reach the Almighty. He is exalted in power. In justice and great righteousness, he will not oppress.
Psalms 48:1-2(v9)Great is Yahweh, and greatly to be praised, in the city of our God, in his holy mountain. Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole…
Psalms 48:1-3(v2)Great is Yahweh, and greatly to be praised, in the city of our God, in his holy mountain. Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole…
Psalms 50:2(v2)Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines out.
Psalms 66:7(v2)He rules by his might forever. His eyes watch the nations. Don’t let the rebellious rise up against him.
Psalms 72:1-2(v4)God, give the king your justice; your righteousness to the royal son. He will judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with…
100 distinct cross-references across this passage (134 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (27 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
John Calvin1540 · Public DomainOn vv1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 91 Jehovah reigns The people, who were formerly called…
1 Jehovah reigns The people, who were formerly called upon to rejoice, are now commanded to tremble. For as the Jews were encompassed by enemies, it was of the utmost importance that God’s power should be magnified among them, that they might know that, while under his guardianship, they would be constantly and completely safe from the hatred and fury of every foe. The Hebrew word רגז, ragaz, as we have elsewhere seen, sometimes signifies to tremble, at other times, to be angry, and, in short, denotes any strong emotion arising either from anger or fear. Accordingly, the prophet here intends that God, in the emancipation of his chosen people, should give such a palpable display of his power, as would strike all the nations with dismay, and make them feel how madly they had rushed upon their own destruction. For it is with regard to men that God is said to reign, when he exalts himself by the magnificent displays which he gives of his power; because, while the aid which he gives to them remains invisible, unbelievers act a more presumptuous part, just as if there were no God.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators1599 · Public DomainOn vv1, 3, 5, 6, 8When God delivereth his Church, all the enemies shall…
When God delivereth his Church, all the enemies shall have cause to tremble.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv1–9Psa 99:1 The LORD reigneth; let the people tremble:…
Psa 99:1 The LORD reigneth; let the people tremble: he sitteth [between] the cherubims; let the earth be moved.
Ver. 1. The Lord reigneth] Even the Lord Christ, as Psa 97:1.
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Let the people tremble] Let them serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. By the people some understand the Jews, and by the earth all other nations; let there be a general subjection yielded to the sceptre of his kingdom.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole1685 · Public DomainOn vv1–9The people, to wit such are are enemies to…
The people, to wit such are are enemies to God and to his people. Between the cherubims; upon the ark. See 1Sa 4:4. He is present with his people to protect them, and to punish their enemies. The earth; the people of the earth, by comparing this clause with the former. Be moved, to wit, with fear and trembling, as in the former clause.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry1710 · Public DomainOn vv1, 6The foundation of all religion is laid in this…
The foundation of all religion is laid in this truth, That the Lord reigns. God governs the world by his providence, governs the church by his grace, and both by his Son. We are to believe not only that the Lord lives, but that the Lord reigns. This is the triumph of the Christian church, and here it was the triumph of the Jewish church, that Jehovah was their King; and hence it is inferred, Let the people tremble, that is, 1. Let even the subjects of this kingdom tremble; for the Old Testament dispensation had much of terror in it. At Mount Sinai Israel, and even Moses himself, did exceedingly fear and quake; and then God was terrible in his holy places. Even when he appeared in his people's behalf, he did terrible things. But we are not now come to that mount that burned with fire, Heb 12:18. Now that the Lord reigns let the earth rejoice. Then he ruled more by the power of holy fear; now he rules by the power of holy love. 2. Much more let the enemies of this kingdom tremble; for he will either bring them into obedience to his golden sceptre or crush them with his iron rod. The Lord reigns, though the people be stirred with indignation at it; though they fret away all their spirits, their rage is all in vain. He will set his King upon his holy hill of Zion in spite of them (Psa 2:1-6); first, or last, he will make them tremble, Rev 6:15, etc. The Lord reigns, let the earth be moved. Those that submit to him shall be established, and not moved (Psa 96:10); but those that oppose him will be moved. Heaven and earth shall be shaken, and all nations; but the kingdom of Christ is what cannot be moved; the things which cannot be shaken shall remain, Heb 12:27. In these is continuance, Isa 64:5.
God's kingdom, set up in Israel, is here made the subject of the psalmist's praise.
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I. Two things the psalmist affirms: - 1. God presided in the affairs of religion: He sitteth between the cherubim (Psa 99:1), as on his throne, to give law by the oracles thence delivered - as on the mercy-seat, to receive petitions. This was the honour of Israel, that they had among them the Shechinah, or special presence of God, attended by the holy angels; the temple was the royal palace, and the Holy of holies was the presence-chamber. The Lord is great in Zion (Psa 99:2); there he is known and praised (Psa 76:1, Psa 76:2); there he is served as great, more than any where else. He is high there above all people; as that which is high is exposed to view, and looked up to, so in Zion the perfections of the divine nature appear more conspicuous and more illustrious than any where else. Therefore let those that dwell in Zion, and worship there, praise thy great and terrible name, and give thee the glory due unto it, for it is holy. The holiness of God's name makes it truly great to his friends and terrible to his enemies, Psa 99:3. This is that which those above adore - Holy, holy, holy. 2. He was all in all in their civil government, Psa 99:4. As in Jerusalem was the testimony of Israel, whither the tribes went up, so there were set thrones of judgment, Psa 122:4, Psa 122:5. Their government was a theocracy. God raised up David to rule over them (and some think this psalm was penned upon occasion of his quiet and happy settlement in the throne) and he is the king whose strength loves judgment. He is strong; all his strength he has from God; and his strength is not abused for the support of any wrong, as the power of great princes often is, but it loves judgment. He does justice with his power, and does it with delight; and herein he was a type of Christ, to whom God would give the throne of his father David, to do judgment and justice. He has power to crush, but his strength loves judgment; he does not rule with rigour, but with moderation, with wisdom, and with tenderness. The people of Israel had a good king; but they are here taught to look up to God as he by whom their king reigns: Thou dost establish equity (that is, God gave them those excellent laws by which they were governed), and thou executest judgment and righteousness in Jacob; he not only by his immediate providences often executed and enforced his own laws, but took care for the administration of justice among them by civil magistrates, who reigned by him and by him did decree justice. Their judges judged for God, and their judgment was his, Ch2 19:6.
II. Putting these two things together, we see what was the happiness of Israel above any other people, as Moses had described it (Deu 4:7, Deu 4:8), that they had God so night unto them, sitting between the cherubim, and that they had statutes and judgments so righteous, by which equity was established, and God himself ruled in Jacob, from which he infers this command to that happy people (Psa 99:5): "Exalt you the Lord our God, and worship at his footstool; give him the glory of the good government you are under, as it is now established, both in church and state." Note, 1. The greater the public mercies are which we have a share in the more we are obliged to bear a part in the public homage paid to God: the setting up of the kingdom of Christ, especially, ought to be the matter of our praise. 2. When we draw night to God, to worship him, our hearts must be filled with high thoughts of him, and he must be exalted in our souls. 3. The more we abase ourselves, and the more prostrate we are before God, the more we exalt him. We must worship at his footstool, at his ark, which was as the footstool to the mercy-seat between the cherubim; or we must cast ourselves down upon the pavement of his courts; and good reason we have to be thus reverent, for he is holy, and his holiness should strike an awe upon us, as it does on the angels themselves, Isa 6:2, Isa 6:3.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn vv1–9The Lord reigneth,.... The King Messiah, he is made…
The Lord reigneth,.... The King Messiah, he is made and declared Lord and Christ; he has reigned, does reign, and ever will; see Psa 93:1,
let the people tremble: with awe of his majesty, and reverence of his word and ordinances; rejoicing before him with trembling, as his own people and subjects do, Psa 2:11, and so it agrees with Psa 97:1, or it may be understood of the people that are enemies to Christ, who would not have him to reign, though he shall whether they will or not; and who will sooner or later tremble for fear of him, and his righteous judgment. Jarchi refers this to the war of Gog and Magog. The Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions, render it, "let the people be angry"; or it may be rendered, "they are angry"; or "therefore they are angry"; because he reigns; so the people, both Jews and Gentiles, were angry and raged, when his kingdom was first visibly set up among them, Psa 2:1, and so the nations will when he takes to himself his great power, and reigns, Rev 11:18,
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he sitteth between the cherubim; "upon" or "above", as the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and all the Oriental versions; alluding to the seat of the Shechinah, or divine Majesty, in the holy of holies; and respects either the exalted glory of Christ among the angels, and above them at the right hand of God, where they are subject to him, stand about him, ready to do his will; or rather his presence with his ministers of the word, who are the instruments of spreading his Gospel, and enlarging his kingdom and interest in the world; See Gill on Psa 80:1.
let the earth be moved: not that itself out of its place, but the inhabitants of it; and these either with a sense of sin and duty, and become subject to Christ their King; or with wrath and indignation at him, or through fear of him, as before; Kimchi says, at the fall of Gog and Magog; it may be particularly understood of the land of Judea, and of the commotion in it, especially in Jerusalem, when the tidings were brought of the birth of the King Messiah, Mat 2:1, or of the shaking and moving both of the civil and ecclesiastical state of the nation, and of the ruin of it; see Heb 12:26.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley1765 · Public DomainOn vv1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8Israel is required to praise God, for their hasty…
Israel is required to praise God, for their hasty constitution both in church and state, ver. 1-5. Some instances of the happy administration of it, ver. 6-9.
People - Such as are enemies to God and his people. Sitteth - Upon the ark. He is present with his people. Earth - The people of the earth. Moved - With fear and trembling.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn vv1–9The empire of God in the world and the…
PSALM XCIX
The empire of God in the world and the Church, 1, 2.
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He ought to be praised, 3.
Justice and judgment are his chief glory, 4.
He should be worshipped as among the saints of old, whom he
graciously answered and saved, 5-8.
Exalt him because he is holy, 9.
NOTES ON PSALM XCIX
The Hebrew and Chaldee have no title; all the versions but the Chaldee attribute it to David. The Syriac says it concerns "the slaughter of the Midianites which Moses and the children of Israel had taken captive; and is a prophecy concerning the glory of the kingdom of Christ." But the mention of Samuel shows that it cannot be referred to the time of Moses. Calmet thinks that it was sung at the dedication of the city, or of the second temple, after the return from the Babylonish captivity. Eight of Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS. join it to the preceding psalm.
Verse 1. The Lord reigneth] See Clarke on Ps 97:1.
Let the people tremble] He will establish his kingdom in spite of his enemies; let those who oppose him tremble for the consequences.
He sitteth between the cherubims] This is in reference to the ark, at each end of which was a cherub of glory; and the shechinah, or symbol of the Divine Presence, appeared on the lid of the ark, called also the mercy-seat, between the cherubim. Sitting between the cherubim implies God's graciousness and mercy. While then, in his reign, he was terrible to sinners, he is on the throne of grace to all who fear, love, and obey him. Though this symbol were not in the second temple, yet the Divine Being might very well be thus denominated, because it had become one of his titles, he having thus appeared under the tabernacle and first temple.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson1811 · Public DomainOn vv1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8Psa 99:1-3. The Lord reigneth, let the people tremble…
Psa 99:1-3. The Lord reigneth, let the people tremble — Namely, such of them as are enemies to God and his truth. He sitteth between the cherubims — Upon the ark; that is, he is present with his people, to protect them and punish their enemies. Let the earth — Namely, the people of the earth; be moved — With fear and trembling. The Lord is great in Zion — Hebrew, The Lord in Zion (that is, who dwelleth in Zion) is great. He is high above all people — Above all the people of the earth who exalt themselves against him. Let them — Namely, all people last mentioned; praise thy great and terrible name — And give thee the glory due unto it; for it is holy — As well as great, and therefore worthy to be praised. The holiness of God’s name makes it truly great to his friends and terrible to his enemies.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes1834 · Public DomainOn vv1–9The Lord reigneth - The Lord, Yahweh, is king.…
The Lord reigneth - The Lord, Yahweh, is king. See Psa 93:1.
Let the people tremble - The Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate render this, “Let the people rage” - or, be angry: as if the idea were that God reigned, although the people were enraged, and were opposed to him. The true meaning of the word used here, however, is “tremble,” properly signifying to be moved, disturbed, disquieted, thrown into commotion; and then it may mean to be moved with anger, Pro 29:9; Isa 28:21; or with grief, 2Sa 18:33 : or with fear, Psa 4:4; or with joy, Jer 33:9. Hence, it means to be agitated or moved with fear or reverence; and it refers here to the reverence or awe which one has in the conscious presence of God.
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He sitteth between the cherubims - See the notes at Psa 80:1.
Let the earth be moved - Margin, “stagger.” The word means to move or quake. It occurs nowhere else. Compare the notes at Psa 18:7. See also Hab 3:6, Hab 3:10.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures1864 · Public DomainOn v1Psalms 99
Psalms 99
1 The Lord reigneth; let the people tremble:
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He sitteth between the cherubim; let the earth be moved.
2 The Lord is great in Zion;
And he is high above all the people.
3 Let them praise thy great and terrible name;
For it is holy.
4 The king’s strength also loveth judgment;
Thou dost establish equity,
Thou executest judgment and righteousness in Jacob.
5 Exalt ye the Lord our God,
And worship at his footstool;
For he is holy.
6 Moses and Aaron among his priests,
And Samuel among them that call upon his name;
They called upon the Lord, and he answered them.
7 He spake unto them in the cloudy pillar:
They kept his testimonies,
And the ordinance that he gave them.
8 Thou answeredst them, O Lord our God:
Thou wast a God that forgavest them,
Though thou tookest vengeance of their inventions.
9 Exalt the Lord our God,
And worship at his holy hill;
For the Lord our God is holy.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Contents and Division.—The three times holy is sounded here in the confessing Church upon earth, as in Isaiah 6 it is represented as being sung in heaven by angels. It divides the Psalm into three parts, the refrain being somewhat lengthened in each repetition. First, there is an acknowledgment of the manifestations of Jehovah’s kingly might in heaven and upon earth, which makes the world tremble, and is worthy to evoke praise to this exalted Ruler and His mighty name. To this is attached the simple acknowledgment of His holiness. This is then connected with the worship of Jehovah on the steps of His throne, as the King who has established the Theocracy in Israel. Finally, both the place of worship and the object to whom it is due are particularly described, after it had been shown from the history of Israel previous to the establishment of the Monarchy, that God’s kingdom is not dependent upon the existence of earthly kings, but is regulated in accordance with a course of action, in harmony with its true nature, both on the part of the Church and on the part of God. This analysis and view of the Psalm avoids the difficulties and artificial character of the usual division into two parts, to which Hengstenberg also adheres, except that he regards Psa_99:1 as the Theme prefixed. Hupfeld also finds a reference to the history of the leading through the desert, as in Psalms 95, 81, joined to an appeal to the people of Israel to praise Jehovah as the mighty and dreadful King of the world, who also loves that justice which He has established and administered among His people. The exact point of view of this allusion and its connection, both internal and with the first part, is, according to him, rather obscurely expressed. The threefold division of Bengel and his school, approved by Delitzsch, according to which the Lord is praised as He that is coming, He who is, and He who was, is open to the same objections. Our view agrees more closely with the text, explains the mention of the three most important men in the Theocracy before the time of David, and preserves for the Psalm its peculiar character, which indicates decisively its position in the period after the destruction of the kingdom. That the ark of the covenant was still in existence at that time, according to Psa_99:1; Psa_99:5, and that therefore this Psalm, with its whole cycle and the second part of Isaiah, is to be assigned to a period preceding the Exile (Hengstenberg) is not an “indisputable fact,” but an unsupported inference. [Perowne, who does not attempt to settle the time of composition, remarks on the character and position of the Psalm: “This is the last of the series of royal Psalms, of Psalms which celebrate the coming of Jehovah as King. The first of this series is the 93d. The 99th, like the 93d and 97th, opens with the joyful announcement that Jehovah is King, and then bids all men fall down, and confess His greatness, and worship Him who alone is holy. Both the first and the last of the series celebrate the kingly majesty and the holiness of Jehovah, and also the holiness of His worship. In this Psalm, the true character of His worshippers as consecrated priests, holy, set apart for His service, is illustrated by the example of holy men of old, like Moses, Aaron, and Samuel.”—J. F. M.]
Psa_99:1 ff. Throned upon the cherubim. [E. V. he sitteth between the cherubim]. The participle is dependent upon the preceding מָלָךְ as defining the nature and manner of Jehovah’s reign (Olshausen). The expression itself always denotes a manifestation of the kingly majesty of Jehovah in the world (see on Psa_18:11) whether it be from heaven or out of Zion, and is connected with the belief, not merely of the identity of the heavenly King and the God who was adored in Zion, but also of His presence in Israel. The Cherubim are represented, therefore, as being both over the ark of the covenant and in the chariot of heaven, and in the temple also in various forms, and if the term is applied also to the place of the throne over the ark of the covenant, and derives its most frequent application therefrom, the usage of this expression, which had become an established designation of God in His definite relation to the world and the history of the Theocracy, Psa_80:3, can no longer be urged in proof of the actual contemporaneous existence of the ark of the covenant.
Psa_99:5. The footstool in Psa_99:5 is to be viewed in the same way, although it is not distinguished as an object of adoration, by means of a rhetorical figure (Hupfeld), but as the place where it is offered, in allusion to prostration upon the steps of the throne. The expression might, it is true, be referred to the covering of the ark of the covenant (Psa_132:7-8; 1Ch_28:2) and it is such a general one, that it may characterize even the whole earth in relation to heaven, the throne of that God who rules the world and fills all space (Isa_66:1). But here, as Psa_99:9 shows, it denotes the sanctuary at Jerusalem (Lam_2:1) as the dwelling of God, where He has His throne (Psa_5:8; Psa_138:2) and the place of His feet (Isa_60:13; Eze_43:7), without implying thereby the existence of the ark of the covenant.
Psa_99:4. And the might of a King who loveth justice [E. V.: The king’s strength also loveth judgment]. The connection by “and” does not contain any convincing ground for the assumption, that the sentence continues to enumerate objects of praise (Isaaki, Rosenmüller and others) and, accordingly, that Psa_99:3 b, is a parenthesis (De Wette, Hengst.). This would destroy the strophical structure. Nor does it justify us in detaching this member of the verse from the following as an independent sentence, or in considering it as a parallel confession to the words that refer to the holiness of Jehovah (or His person). According to the last view, עז is taken inadmissibly as denoting majesty, and the article is supplied, thus affording the rendering: the majesty of the king is loving justice. (The ancient translators and expositors). Nor can we regard the abstract as an adjective: the strong king (Hupfeld). The position of the words favors the view that “loving justice” is a relative clause (Chald., Aben Ezra, Delitzsch, Hitzig), and that “might” is the accusative of the object preceding its verb. The idea, that with this King omnipotence and righteousness are inseparable, is retained; but it is placed in direct connection with the actual verification of that truth, which is the occasion and subject of this Psalm, and by which the might or strength of the King is confirmed, as elsewhere His throne is said to be, (Psa_9:8; 2Sa_7:13; 1Ch_17:12). Jehovah has administered justice and righteousness in Jacob by means of the Theocracy. [The author renders accordingly: And the might of the king, who loveth righteousness, hast thou established in uprightness; justice and righteousness hast thou fulfilled in Jacob.—J. F. M.].
Psa_99:6 ff. Moses twice performed acts essentially priestly (Exodus 24 and Exo_40:22 f, comp. Leviticus 8), at the ratification of the covenant, and at the consecration of the priests. For this reason he could the more readily be placed here among the priestly mediators. Among the suppliants Samuel is given the prominence (1Sa_7:8 f.; 1Sa_12:16 f.; Sir_46:16 f.). But he too offered sacrifices and blessed the offerings (1Sa_9:13), as Moses also prayed mightily (Exo_17:11 f.; Exo_32:30 f.; Psa_106:23). [Hengstenberg: “The whole passage proceeds upon the view that the communication of new precepts and rules of life shall be bound up with the future glorious revelation of the Lord. The people are here told how they may gain participation in this. Participation in the new covenant is the reward of faithfulness to the old. If we observe the commandments of God, we shall receive the commandments of God, and with them salvation.”—J. F. M.]. On the cloudy pillar see especially Num_12:5, and Exo_33:7. [Psa_99:7. Alexander: “The pronoun in the first clause (them), can only refer to Moses, Aaron, and Samuel, in the second it is applicable both to them and to the people; in the third it relates to the latter exclusively.”—J. F. M.].
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. God makes known by deeds of kingly might, what He is, a King above all kings, and will be regarded and acknowledged as such on earth as in heaven. Therefore He insists upon the honor of His name, in which He reveals the august majesty of His being, and will have it regarded as holy, as He Himself is holy.
2. But God shows His pre-eminent kingly glory not only in manifestations of His might, which shake the world, make the people quake, and invest His name with dreadful exaltation. He has begun upon earth a kingdom of righteousness, whose king He Himself appoints and qualifies, whose lasting duration He Himself assures and effects; whose inhabitants He calls and leads to piety in the worship of Himself as the true God. He has made the historical beginning of this system in the family of Jacob, and has placed its central point in Zion.
3. God, however, long before the establishment of the actual kingdom among the Israelites, instituted the ordinances of His worship through mediators whom He called, and, in their administration, proved Himself to be the living God of revelation, who hears prayer and forgives sin, and yet keeps watch over the observance of His precepts, in order that He may be feared as the Avenger of human deeds.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
Those who praise the thrice-holy One must adore Him as the true God, serve Him as the heavenly King, and trust Him as the effectual Deliverer.—God will hear our prayers and we must keep His commandments.—God is holy in the exercise of His power, in the manifestation of His wrath, in dispensing His mercy.—The part borne by God’s righteousness in founding, preserving, and ruling His church upon earth.—There is a trembling of fear as there is a trembling of hope and joy, but all these emotions, if they are to tend to salvation, must be combined with subjection to the great king who is a mighty Ruler, as well as a holy God.
Starke: God delights to dwell among those who look with their faces towards the throne of grace, for over them will He spread the wings of His mercy.—Mark this ye unrighteous! In Christ’s kingdom men must love justice; your wicked perversions of it will not succeed there.—Before all things we must pray in penitence for forgiveness of sins; otherwise our sins will hinder us in our efforts to obtain blessings.—The hearing of prayer and forgiveness of sins are not irreconcilable with God’s chastisements, they can very well coexist.—If men bend low before an earthly king, how much more are we bound to do so towards the heavenly king!—God is holy! These words should pervade our minds whenever we hold intercourse with God, and many forbidden thoughts would then be expelled.
Osiander: God always remains true to His promises, and fulfils them, though we are not worthy that He should hear us.—Selnecker: God has begun His kingdom on Zion and not on Mount Sinai. It is not a kingdom of wrath, but of mercy.—Menzel: The kingdom of Christ is distinguished from all nations of the world, not only by its being spiritual and being concerned with spiritual things, but also by its leading and pointing the way to all justice and righteousness.—Frisch: Yield thyself only to the protection of God’s grace, and pray the more earnestly that His kingdom may come, and the devil cannot prevent it with all his cunning and strength. It must advance within and without thee, and end at last in glory and majesty.—Arndt: Is not that a fair and gracious kingdom which possesses these characteristics: (1) to love justice; (2) to induce piety; (3) to work justice and righteousness!—Rieger: What no human laws can avail to effect, namely, that none who are innocent shall be injured or molested, and that none who are guilty shall sin with impunity, is accomplished in God’s kingdom and by His righteousness.—Tholuck: God in His mercy has granted to His people powerful intercessors. It is true that He has punished their iniquities: yet He has not turned His mercy away from them, but forgiven them for the sake of those intercessors. Can Israel forget this?—Vaihinger: The more highly God is glorified, the lower must men bow to Him.—Richter (Hausbibel): Glorify the kingly majesty of the Lord! Pay homage to His righteousness! Draw near to Him as His servants!—Guenther: Without commotion and trembling and quaking there is no revelation from God.—To the elect God is at the same time the Pardoner and Avenger of sin. Let the heart tremble, and the conscience be aroused; fear the Avenger and love the God of mercy!—Diedrich: God’s highest majesty is not displayed in the creation, nor in the government of the world, but in His gracious dealings among sinful men whom He has chosen to Himself. In this He shows how He is our King, by taking our deepest cares upon Himself.—Taube: It is just that the fulness of mercy should fall into the bosom of faith; it is just that the wrath of the Lamb should be the most severe.
[Matt. Henry: The more we abase ourselves, and the more prostrate we are before God, the more we exalt Him.—J. F. M.].
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Daniel D. Whedon1874 · Public DomainOn vv1–91. The Lord reigneth—A public proclamation, (see on Psa_93:1;…
1. The Lord reigneth—A public proclamation, (see on Psa_93:1; Psa_97:1,) for all the nations to hear.
Let the people tremble—Or, the nations shall tremble. The future tense of the verb makes it prophetic. It is spoken of the hostile nations who hated, and meditated evil of, the Hebrew people and religion. These shall quake through fear when they learn that Jehovah is the true king of Israel, and will defend them, and punish with destruction those who conspire against them. The allusion is to Exo_15:14-16; Deu_2:25; Jos_2:9-11.
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He sitteth between the cherubim—He not only reigns, but he is now sitting in his throne of judgment, with the swift executioners of his will—the cherubim—about him. See note on Psa_80:1.
Let the earth be moved—The earth shall be moved. This clearly determines that the address is to all the nations.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges1878 · Public DomainOn vv1–91. Jehovah hath proclaimed himself King; the peoples tremble:
1. Jehovah hath proclaimed himself King; the peoples tremble:
Even he that sitteth enthroned upon the cherubim; the earth shaketh.
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When Jehovah manifests His sovereignty the nations must needs tremble with awe (Isa_64:2), and all the earth must confess His majesty (Psa_77:18). The title he that sitteth enthroned upon the cherubim (Psa_80:1) suggests the thought that He Who is supremely exalted in heaven has yet in time past condescended to dwell among His people on earth (1Sa_4:4; 2Sa_6:2; 2Ki_19:15).
1–3. Jehovah has proclaimed Himself King in Zion: let all the earth worship this Holy God.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers1878 · Public DomainOn vv1, 3, 5, 6, 8(1) The Lord reigneth.—See Note, Psa_93:1.
(1) The Lord reigneth.—See Note, Psa_93:1.
Tremble.—LXX. and Vulg., “be angry.” The optative in this and the following clause is after the LXX.; but the Hebrew is in the ordinary present, the peoples tremble, the earth staggers.
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He sitteth.—In original a participle.
Between the cherubims . . .—See Notes on Psa_80:1.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary1880 · Public DomainOn vv1–9HERE we have the last of the series of…
HERE we have the last of the series of Second Advent psalms, which began with Psalm 93. The first of them, the fifth, and the last, commence in the same way with the watchword, "The Lord reigneth." The first and last lay special stress on holiness, as God"s leading characteristic, and as required by him. (Psa_93:5 Psa_99:3, Psa_99:5, Psa_99:9) Delitzsch has called this psalm "the earthly echo of the seraphic Trisagion." It resolves the concentrated declaration, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts", (Isa_6:3) into three distinct and separate cries, "Holy is he" (ver. 3); "Holy is he" (ver. 5); and "Holy is the Lord our God" (ver. 9). This refrain divides the psalm into three unequal portions, viz. vers. 1-3; vers. 4, 5; and vers. 6-9.
The Lord reigneth. (see the comment on Psa_93:1) Let the people tremble; literally, the peoples; i.e. all the nations upon earth. He sitteth between the cherubim; rather, he hath his seat upon the cherubim. (comp. Psa_80:2) The imagery is taken from the internal economy of the Jewish temple, where the Shechinah was enthroned above the cherubic forms that overshadowed and guarded the ark. Let the earth be moved; or, quake. (comp. Psa_114:7)
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HOMILIES BY R. TUCK Ver. 1. The permanency of God"s reign.
"He sitteth between the cherubim." Jennings and Lowe render, "Jehovah has become King, the peoples tremble; (even) he that sits upon the cherubim, the earth shakes." There is a designed contrast. The peoples tremble, the king is established firm; the earth shakes, the throne of the king is steady and unmoved. The figure of God as sitting on the cherubim is difficult, because we cannot be quite sure of the ideas Israelites had of the position and relations of the fire symbol of God in the holy of holies. In Psa_80:1 God is presented as sitting, throned above the cherubim;" and the idea here is probably above the cherubim" rather than on the cherubim." Then we get a clear meaning. The cherubim represent all created beings superior to man, all supersensual beings; and God is to be thought of as beyond and above even them, as superior to them as to the people of this earth, and as unaffected by conceivable changes in them as he is unaffected by the commotions of earth. The more usual way of explaining the figure is given by Spurgeon, thus: "In grandeur of sublime glory, yet in nearness of mediatorial condescension, Jehovah revealed himself above the mercy seat, whereon stood the likeness of those flaming ones who gaze upon his glory, and forever cry, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts.
I GOD"S REIGN ESTABLISHED. Keep the associations of the restored exiles. They set up again the theocratic kingdom, and conceived of Jehovah as coming again to reign. So they naturally recalled the old sign of his presence and rule, the Shechinah-light which shone above the mercy seat, which the cherubic figures guarded. The sign of the lapse of the nation from Jehovah was the fading or removing of that light. Now the restored exiles rejoiced in the resumption of Jehovah"s reign, and in figure presented it as God taking his seat again above the cherubim. God takes the throne only when hearts are willing to receive him.
II GOD"S REIGN CONFIRMED. The satisfaction of the psalmist evidently is in the fact that God means to stay enthroned. He is conceived of as unaffected by the trembling of the people or the shaking of the earth. There is even a more striking poetical figure. If even the cherubim were to tremble, or shake, or fail, God"s reign is too confirmed to be affected by it. We may think of him as "above the cherubim." Absolute reliance on him may find expression in loyal and loving service of him. R.T.
HOMILIES BY C. SHORT Vers. 1-9. The holy God infinitely worthy of our worship.
I BECAUSE OF HIS UNIVERSAL SUPREMACY. (Vers. 1-3) His power exercised for the ends of goodness. "He is great in Zion," the most beneficent institution.
II BECAUSE HE RULES FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF RIGHT AND TRUTH. (Vers. 4, 5) He is setting up throughout the world righteous order, establishing the dominion of right and justice.
III BECAUSE HE HEARS AND ANSWERS THOSE WHO PRAY TO HIM. (Vers. 6, 7) Grants them their need; speaks to their minds; reveals his Law and his will to them; still guides as he guided his ancient people.
IV BECAUSE HE IS MERCIFUL TO THE PENITENT. (Ver. 8) "Thou wast a God that forgavest them.
V BECAUSE HE PUNISHES THE IMPENITENT. (Ver. 8) This is as great a necessity of his nature and rule as that he should pardon the penitent. He is holy. S.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon1885 · Public DomainOn vv1–9This may be called THE SANCTUS, or, THE HOLY,…
This may be called THE SANCTUS, or, THE HOLY, HOLY, HOLY PSALM, for the word "holy" is the conclusion and the refrain of its three main divisions. Its subject is the holiness of the divine government, the sanctity of the mediatorial reign. It seems to us to declare the holiness of Jehovah himself in Ps 99:1-3; it mentions the equity of the king whom the Lord had appointed, as an illustration of the Lord's love of holiness, or more probably it describes the Lord as himself the king, in Ps 99:4-5, and it then sets forth the severely righteous character of God's dealings with those favoured persons whom in former times he had selected to approach him on behalf of the people, Ps 99:6-9. It is a hymn fitted for the cherubim who surround the throne, who are mentioned in Ps 99:1; it is a Psalm most fitting for saints who dwell in Zion, the holy city, and especially worthy to be reverently sung by all who, like David the king, Moses the lawgiver, Aaron the priest, or Samuel the seer, are honoured to lead the church of God, and plead for her with her Lord.
Ver. 1. The Lord reigneth. One of the most joyous utterances which ever leaped from mortal lip. The overthrow of the reign of evil and the setting up of Jehovah's kingdom of goodness, justice, and truth, is worthy to be hymned again and again, as we have it here for the third time in the psalms.
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Let the people tremble. Let the chosen people feel a solemn yet joyful awe, which shall thrill their whole manhood. Saints quiver with devout emotion, and sinners quiver with terror when the rule of Jehovah is fully perceived and felt. It is not a light or trifling matter, it is a truth which, above all others, should stir the depths of our nature.
He sitteth between the cherubims. In grandeur of sublime glory, yet in nearness of mediatorial condescension, Jehovah revealed himself above the mercyseat, whereon stood the likeness of those flaming ones who gaze upon his glory, and for ever cry, "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts." The Lord reigning on that throne of grace which is sprinkled with atoning blood, and veiled with the covering wings of mediatorial love, is above all other revelations wonderful, and fitted to excite emotion among all mankind, hence it is added,
Let the earth be moved. Not merely "the people, "but the whole earth should feel a movement of adoring awe when it is known that on the mercyseat God sits as universal monarch. The pomp of heaven surrounds him, and is symbolised by the outstretched wings of waiting cherubs; let not the earth be less moved to adoration, rather let all her tribes bow before his infinite majesty, yea, let the solid earth itself with reverent tremor acknowledge his presence.
Whole Psalm. This psalm has three parts, in which the Lord is celebrated as He who is to come, as He who is, and as he who was. John Albert Bengel, 1687-1752.
Whole Psalm. In each of the three strophes Jehovah is acknowledged in his peculiar covenant relation to his people. In the first he is "great in Zion"(Ps 99:2); in the second, he has "executed righteousness in Jacob"(Ps 99:4); and he is "Jehovah our God" (Ps 99:5); in the third, the great examples of this covenant relationship are cited from Israel's ancient history; and again God is twice claimed as "Jehovah our God" (Ps 99:8-9). J.J.S. Perowne.
Whole Psalm. There are three psalms which begin with the words, "The Lord (JEHOVAH) reigneth." (Psalms 93, 97, 99.) This is the third and last of these Psalms; and it is remarkable that in this Psalm the words He is holy are repeated three times (Ps 99:3, 5, 9). Thus this Psalm is one of the links in the chain which connects the first revelation of God in Genesis with the full manifestation of the doctrine of the blessed Trinity, which is revealed in the commission of the risen Saviour to his apostles: "Go ye, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, "and which prepares the faithful to join in the heavenly Hallelujah of the church glorified, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come." The other links in this chain in the Old Testament are, the Aaronic benediction, in Nu 6:24-27; and the Seraphic Trisagion, in Isa 6:1-3. Christopher Wordsworth.
Whole Psalm. Many of the preceding Psalms, in extolling the Dominion and Supremacy of the Messiah, have spoken of him solely as the object of triumph and rejoicing. He has been represented in all the bounteousness of his mercy, and the excess of his lovingkindness; and the ideas of might and majesty, with which he has been accompanied, seem chiefly to have been regarded as the means by which these gracious designs will be carried into a sure effect. There is always a great danger in such a feeling, lest our reciprocal covenant should be too much forgotten; and we should rest on our privileges to the exclusion of our practice. This was a constant error to the Jews. "We have Abraham to our Father, "was continually on their lips; as if the given promise to their nation had been inalienable for ever. Subsequent ages have shown the existence of the same false principle amongst the Gentiles. It is a part of the weakness of human nature; and hence was the prophet inspired to warn the world of the evil, and draw their minds to a just sense of the awfulness of the Redeemer's majesty. In this view, joined as it is throughout with assertions of his readiness at all times to listen to the believer and to grant his supplication, the Psalm is at once of great power and of an exceeding consolation. William Hill Tucker.
Ver. 1. Let the people tremble... let the earth be moved. That fear which proceeds from simple reverence as well as that which arises from apprehension of evil, produces bodily shaking. Thus this exhortation may concern believing as well as unbelieving nations. Amyraldus.
Ver. 1. Let the people tremble. He bids a defiance, as it were, to all his enemies, orgizesywsan, irascantur, commoveantur, fremant populi;let the people be angry, fret, and be unquiet, as Ps 2:1. Let the earth, that is, the tyrants of the earth, be moved at it; yet let them know that all their endeavours are but vain. William Nicholson.
Ver. 1. Let the people tremble. Jarchi refers this to the war of Gog and Magog. John Gill.
Ver. 1. Let the people tremble. Albeit the church be compassed about with enemies, as the lily among the thorns, yet because her Lord reigneth in the midst of her, she hath reason not only to comfort herself in him, but also hath ground of defying her enemies, and boasting against them: "The LORD reigneth; let the people tremble." The Lord's people do not worship an unknown God, they know who he is, and where to find him; to wit, in his ordinances, on the throne of grace, reconciling himself to the world in Christ: He sitteth between the cherubims. David Dickson.
Ver. 1. The cherubims. These were figures, or representations of angels, inclining their faces one towards the other, and touching one another with their wings. Ex 25:18. The use of these was to cover or overshadow the mercyseat with their wings, Ex 25:20, and from this seat God used to speak unto Moses, Ex 25:22; Nu 7:8-9. Which may be applied unto Christ, whose mediation was signified by the mercyseat;whence it is said, that he is a propitiation or covering mercyseat, Ro 3:25 1Jo 2:2 4:10, because by his obedience all our unrighteousness is covered. Thomas Wilson(-1621), in "A Complete Christian Dictionary, "1678.
Ver. 1. He sitteth between the cherubims. Our friend Mr. Charles Stanford, in his delicious work, "Symbols of Christ, "has beautifully brought out the connection between Mt 23:37 and Mt 23:38. The house was left desolate because Christ, who was set forth by the symbol of shelter, was rejected by them, and was not permitted to cover them with his wings. It was customary for the Jews to say of a proselyte, "He has taken refuge under the wings of the Shekinah." We now see that to take shelter under the wings of the Shekinah is to hide beneath the wings of Christ. Beneath that living shield which beats back the destroying stroke, and is broad enough to canopy a fugitive world, we take shelter, and there the promise is fulfilled, "He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust."
Ver. 1. He sitteth between the cherubims. The cherubim is the seat of God, as the scripture sheweth us, a certain exalted heavenly throne, which we see not; but the word of God knoweth it, knoweth it as his own seat: and the word of God and the Spirit of God hath itself revealed to the servants of God where God sitteth. Not that God doth sit, as doth man, but thou, if thou dost wish that God sit in thee, if thou wilt be good, shalt be the seat of God; for thus is it written, "The soul of the righteous is the seat of wisdom" Septuagint translation]. For a throne is in our language called a seat. For some, conversant with the Hebrew tongue, have interpreted cherubim in the Latin language (for it is a Hebrew term) by the words fulness of knowledge. Therefore, because God surpasses all knowledge, he is said to sit above the fulness of knowledge. Let there be therefore in thee fulness of knowledge, and even thou shalt be the throne of God. Augustine.
Ver. 1. Let the earth be moved. Those that submit to him shall be established, and not "moved, "Ps 96:10; but they that oppose him will be moved. Heaven and earth shall be shaken, and all nations; but the kingdom of Christ cannot be moved. The "things which cannot be shaken shall remain, "Heb 12:27. Matthew Henry.
Ver. 1.
1. The doctrine of divine sovereignty enunciated.
2. The apprehension of divine sovereignty demanded. It ought to be spiritually apprehended. God wants to be King in the hearts of men. All mortals must tremble before the Immortal; especially the wicked.
3. The accessories of divine sovereignty hinted at. Sovereignty never forsakes the mercyseat. Angels are represented on the mercyseat, the ministers of sovereignty,
4. The effect of divine sovereignty described. Men should be "moved" to
fear and obey the King before whom angels bow. Men
should be moved to seek the mercy which angels study. William Durban.
Ver. 1. He sitteth between the cherubims, etc.
1. Statement made; where God dwells, on the mercyseat. To hear prayer, and confession, and to grant salvation.
2. Effect produced"Earth moved; "to admiration, to prayer, to sorrowful contrition, to draw near, etc. E. G. Gange.
Psalms 99:2*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator1887 · Public DomainOn vv1, 2, 5, 8The Lord reigneth.
Psa_99:1-9
The Lord reigneth.
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The rulership of God over the world
I. As seen in symbol. He sitteth between the cherubim. This reference to the Shekinah teaches us that His reign is--
1. Moral.
2. Merciful.
3. Glorious. The ark is a humble emblem of that throne which is invisible in its nature, and universal in its authority, and withal characterized by the sublimely moral, merciful, and redemptive.
II. As extolled in language (Psa_99:2-4). He is extolled--
1. Because He is supreme. King of kings and Lord of lords.
2. Because He is holy. His throne has never been stained with wrong, it is a great white throne.
3. Because it is mighty in rectitude (Psa_99:4). Gods throne is morally omnipotent because it is infinitely just.
III. As recalled in memory (Psa_99:6-8). His reign as here brought to the memory of the author of this poem taught two things.
1. That His reign had respect to human prayer. Moses and Aaron prayed and they were answered, Samuel prayed and he was answered, and so ever it was with the pious Hebrew. He recognized the duty and power of human prayer. Prayer is an element of the Divine Government.
2. That His reign had respect to human forgiveness. How frequently did He forgive His people of old; He forgave Moses, Samuel, Aaron, David, etc. Thus under Gods reign on earth forgiveness is dispensed, dispensed to all true penitents. Let the wicked forsake his way, etc.
IV. As felt in conscience (Psa_99:5; Psa_99:9). Here the sublime sense of moral obligation in the author is touched, excited and speaks with an ill-imperial voice. Exalt ye. It is at once the supreme interest and duty of every man to give Him in all things the pre-eminence in thought, sympathy, volition, aim. (Homilist.)
The supreme dominion of God
The text states not only a truth, but a necessity also. It is not only absolutely true--that is, true without any restriction whatever--that God reigns; but it is also equally true, that He must reign; and that He must reign everywhere--throughout His entire universe, and over all His creatures.
I. Consider the fact, that the Lord reigneth.
1. And in doing so, let it be understood, that nothing whatever is intended to be said by way of proof. That would be both useless and impertinent; for God has declared the fact. And when God speaks, it is the duty of men to believe, not to dispute or argue.
2. But though it is not necessary to prove the truth of what God has said, or to explain its reasonableness, ere we receive it, it is of the utmost advantage to obtain suitable illustrations; as thereby, not only is a more sensible impression made upon the mind, but our faith also is greatly strengthened.
3. The first idea suggested arises from a consideration of the person who is said to reign--The Lord reigneth--that is, the Almighty, Omniscient, Omnipresent God. Now, if such attributes belong to God, then all difficulties as to the ability of God to reign supremely at once vanish.
4. Having thus glanced at some of the attributes of God, we next observe that the idea of reigning implies permission of every thing which occurs. We must not, therefore, be staggered at those strange transactions, which ever and anon fill the world with wonder and alarm, as though they indicated the absence of a supreme sovereignty.
5. But this idea of permission, when applied to God, necessitates the thought of control also. For to say that He permits only because He cannot resist is to deny His power altogether.
6. But if God reigns supremely, then all things must be reader His direction, as well as control. Otherwise, there may be another will in operation before the will of God, and independent of Him.
7. But, in thus endeavouring to show the absolute supremacy of God, we may not forget that His glory will be the sure result of His reign, whatever efforts may be made by men or others to frustrate it.
8. It has sometimes been argued, that as no creature can do anything except by the permission of God, add as the glory of God is the necessary result of whatever He permits, so men are justified in all their actions; and the well-known sentiment whatever is, is right, has become a very favourite maxim with many, who plead for a licentious and irresponsible course of life. Such reasoning, however, is of no weight, since it totally overlooks the Word of God, which is our only rule of action.
II. Consider the duty of those who believe that the Lord reigneth. Let the people tremble.
1. It is a fearfully solemn and overwhelming thought, that an almighty and infinitely holy God is the ruler of this ungodly world, and that He has appointed a day in the which He will judge the world in righteousness (Act_17:31). Surely, then, those who believe the Word of God ought to take every opportunity to let their light shine; not only that they may bear a testimony in favour of His truth, but likewise that, knowing the terror of the Lord, they may persuade men to flee from the wrath to come.
2. This consideration is strengthened by remembering, how utterly impotent and vain are all our efforts to withstand the Most High.
3. It is not a man that reigns, nor any creature, however great in intelligence or power. It is the eternal God, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. However much men may repine at His dispensations and strive to alter His purposes, and whatever wickedness may fill the earth while the nations are resisting His authority and His laws, the wisdom of His government is unimpeachable, and demands our unreserved and cheerful submission.
4. But not less are we called to rejoice in the goodness, than in the wisdom of God. Is the law to be vindicated? Is justice to be satisfied? Is holiness to be enforced? All this is done, so as clearly to discover that God is love.
5. But are not other duties imperative, besides those already referred to? It is not enough that we should tremble and rejoice, while we remember that God reigns. He requires us also to be co-workers with Him in establishing His kingdom. (T. Woolmer.)
The great King
We have here a contrast between the omnipotence of God and the impotence of man:--We see the great King sitting on His throne, raised up far above all the changes of time and sense; we see the people raging, discontented, contending one with another, but all their fury in no way affects the calm majesty of the great King. The picture is an impressive one. Power, solemnity, grandeur, on the one hand; paltriness, meanness, pretence on the other.
I. Let it teach us our own insignificance. We make among ourselves lords many and gods many. Our little sphere is exalted and magnified, but how ridiculous are our pretensions!
II. Let it teach us our dependence. All we can do cannot alter or change our condition. We must be dependent on the sovereign power of the Almighty.
III. Let it teach us patience. The restless wave is hurled back upon itself broken in pieces from the granite rock. Our greenings and discontent recoil upon our own heads when we attempt to murmur against Omnipotence.
IV. Let it teach us reverence We cannot but honour One so great. Our own insignificance should teach us the folly of setting up ourselves as a model of perfection. (Homilist.)
Signs of Gods kingdom
Among these are--
I. Greater honesty of thought. Professor Huxley, when he set himself to number the triumphs of scientific work during the reign of Victoria, did not put so high the inventions which have yoked steam and electricity to mans service as he put the more general habit of scientific thinking. The man in the street takes fewer statements on faith, and popular literature offers more reasons for actions. Old customs and old beliefs are tried in a court where the question is, Does this custom express present belief? Does this belief express truth? Positions of great attraction are now often considered, not only in relation to the pay or the power they offer, but the further question is asked, Can I take this post and be honest? Can I, having my views, serve in this leaders party? Can I, with my opinions, take orders? Men of high intelligence and goodness who would to-day be preaching and teaching in the Church, are doing work they like less because they will not be untrue. Justice to the individual is now often regarded as of greater obligation than expediency. The value set on thinking has brought out the value of the man; each one would live his own life and would let his neighbour live his life. Never before was there so much care that the weak and the wicked should have fair treatment.
II. A larger human spirit. Each mornings news takes in the history of the world, and sympathy from English breakfast-tables reaches out to the needs of the sick, the plague-stricken, the wrecked, and the oppressed in all parts of the world. People watch with anxiety the movement of ideas, and without an eye to their own profit give their time and money to forward or hinder the spread of ideas. Societies for relief, for giving knowledge, for passing on discoveries and inventions increase daily.
III. A more general historic sense. This is shown in the new interest taken in the characters of old times, in the many books and essays written out of much study to throw light on men who hitherto have been but names. It is shown in the interest taken in old forms, in the revival of ritual and pageantry, and in the popularity of romantic literature, in the care and restoration of old monuments. It is shown in the judgments now passed on the manners and morals of other ages. Acts wrong in the present society are seen to be right in another environment. The same principle has been discovered in martyrs and persecutors, in those who kill prophets and in those who build their sepulchres. The seeds of institutions now admired have been sown in deeds now condemned. The past and present are parts of one whole. Unity is seen to be in diversity rather than in uniformity, and a care for beauty, which is the expression of the unity of diversity, has thus been developed. Religion, which I have been trying to show is the thought about God, is, if we will only open our eyes, being worked into the actions and feelings of modern life. God is King, and His kingdom comes. (Canon Barnett.)
Christs reign over men
Quoting the words God reigneth of the forty-seventh Psalm, the Church Father, Justin Martyr, added, by way of explanation, from the wood. He meant from the wood of the Cross: Christ being lifted up on the Cross reigneth over all whom He draws to Him. We are reminded of Napoleons saying that Charlemagne himself, who conquered and ruled by force, will soon be forgotten; but that Jesus Christ will reign for ever in the hearts of men by loving them.
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible1887 · Public DomainOn v1Psalms 99
Psalms 99
DELITZSCH has well called this psalm "an earthly echo of the seraphic Trisagion," the threefold proclamation of the Divine holiness, which Isaiah. {Isa_6:3} It is, as already noted, a pendant to Psalms 98, but is distinguished from the other psalms of this group by its greater originality, the absence of distinct allusion to the great act of deliverance celebrated in them. and its absorption in the one thought of the Divine holiness. Their theme is the event by which Jehovah manifested to the world His sovereign rule, this psalm passes beyond the event, and grasps the eternal central principle of that rule-namely, holiness. The same thought has been touched on in the other members of the group, but here it is the single subject of praise. Its exhibition in Gods dealings with Israel is here traced in ancient examples, rather than in recent instances; but the viewpoint of the other psalms is retained, in so far as the Divine dealings with Israel are regarded as the occasion for the worlds praise.
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The first strophe (Psa_99:1-3) dwells in general terms on Jehovahs holiness, by which august conception is meant, not only moral purity, but separation from. by elevation above, the finite and imperfect. Psa_99:1 vividly paints in each clause the glory reigning in heaven, and its effect on an awestruck world. We might render the verbs in the second part of each clause as futures or as optatives (shall tremble, shall totter, or let peoples tremble, etc.), but the thought is more animated if they are taken as describing the result of the theophany. The participial clause "throned on the cherubim" adds detail to the picture of Jehovah as King. It should not, strictly speaking, be rendered with a finite verb. When that vision of Him sitting in royal state is unveiled, all people are touched with reverence, and the solid earth staggers. But the glory which is made visible to all men has its earthly seat in Zion, and shines from thence into all lands. It is by His, deeds in Israel that Gods exaltation is made known. The psalmist does not call on men to bow before a veiled Majesty, of which they only know that it is free from all creatural limitations, lowliness and imperfections; but before a God, who has revealed Himself in acts, and has thereby made Himself a name. "Great and dread" is that name, but it is a sign of His lovingkindness that it is known by men, and thanksgiving, not dumb trembling, befits men who know it. The refrain might be rendered "It is holy," referring to the name, but Psa_99:5 and Psa_99:9 make the rendering Holy is He more probable. The meaning is unaffected whichever translation is adopted.
Jehovah is holy, not only because lifted above and separated from creatural limitations, but because of His righteousness. The second strophe therefore proclaims that all His dominion is based on uprightness, and is a continual passing of that into acts of "judgment and righteousness." The "And" at the beginning of Psa_99:4, following the refrain, is singular, and has led many commentators to link the words with Psa_99:3 a, - and, taking the refrain as parenthetical, to render, "Let them give thanks to Thy great and dread name, [for it is holy], and [to] the strength of the King [who] loveth," etc. But the presence of the refrain is an insuperable bar to this rendering. Others, as Delitzsch and Cheyne, regard "the strength of the king" as dependent on "established" in Psa_99:4 b, and suppose that the theocratic monarch of Israel is represented as under Jehovahs protection, if he reigns righteously. But surely one King only is spoken of in this psalm, and it is the inmost principle and outward acts of His rule which are stated as the psalmists reason for summoning men to prostrate themselves at His footstool. The "And" at the beginning of the strophe links its whole thought with that of the preceding, and declares eloquently how closely knit together are Jehovahs exaltation and His righteousness. The singer is in haste to assert the essentially moral character of infinite power. Delitzsch thinks that love cannot be predicated of "strength," but only of the possessor of strength; but surely that is applying the measuring line of prosaic accuracy to lyric fervour. The intertwining of Divine power and righteousness could not be more strongly asserted than by that very intelligible attribution to His power of the emotion of love, impelling it ever to seek union with uprightness. He is no arbitrary ruler. His reign is for the furtherance of justice. Its basis is "equity," and its separate acts are "judgment and righteousness." These have been done in and for Jacob. Therefore the call to worship rings out again. It is addressed to an undefined multitude, which, as the tone of all this group of psalms leads us to suppose, includes the whole race of man. They are summoned to lift high the praise of Him who in Himself is so high. and to cast themselves low in prostrate adoration at His footstool-i.e., at His sanctuary on Zion (Psa_99:9). Thus again, in the centre strophe of this psalm, as in Psalms 96 and 98, mankind are called to praise the God who has revealed Himself in Israel; but while in the former of these two psalms worship was represented as sacrificial, and in the second as loud music of voice and instrument, here silent prostration is the fitting praise of the holiness of the infinitely exalted Jehovah.
The third strophe turns to examples drawn from the great ones of old, which at once encourage to worship and teach the true nature of worship, while they also set in clear light Jehovahs holiness in dealing with His worshippers. Priestly functions were exercised by Moses, as in sprinkling the blood of the covenant, {Exodus 24} and in the ceremonial connected with the consecration of Aaron and his sons, {Leviticus 8} as well as at the first celebration of worship in the Tabernacle. {Exo_40:18 sqq.} In the wider sense of the word priest, he acted as mediator and intercessor, as Exo_17:12, in the fight against Amalek, and Exo_32:30-32, after the worship of the golden calf. Samuel. too, interceded for Israel after their seeking a king, {1Sa_12:19 sqq.} and offered sacrifices. {1Sa_7:9} Jeremiah couples them together as intercessors with God. {Jer_15:1}
From these venerable examples the psalmist draws instruction as to the nature of the worship befitting the holiness of Jehovah. He goes deeper than all sacrifices, or than silent awe. To call on God is the best adoration. The cry of a soul conscious of emptiness and need, and convinced of His fulness and of the love which is the soul of His power, is never in vain. "They called, and He"-even He in all the unreachable separation of His loftiness from their lowliness-"answered them." There is a commerce of desire and bestowal between the holy Jehovah and us. But these answers come on certain conditions, which are plain consequences of His holiness - namely, that His worshippers should keep His testimonies, by which Hehas witnessed both to His own character and to their duty. The psalmist seems to lose sight of his special examples, and to extend his view to the whole people, when he speaks of answers from the pillar of cloud, which cannot apply to Samuels experience. The persons spoken of in Psa_99:8 as receiving answers may indeed be Moses, Aaron, and Samuel, all of whom were punished for evil deeds, as well as answered when they cried; but more probably they are the whole community. The great principle, firmly grasped and clearly proclaimed by the singer, is that a holy God is a forgiving God, willing to hearken to mens cry, and rich to answer with needed gifts, and that indissolubly interwoven with the pardon, which He in His holiness gives is retribution for evil. God loves too well to grant impunity. Forgiveness is something far better than escape from penalties. It cannot be worthy of God to bestow or salutary for men to receive, unless it is accompanied with such retribution as may show the pardoned man how deadly his sin was. "Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap" is a law not abrogated by forgiveness. The worst penalty of sin, indeed-namely, separation from God-is wholly turned aside by repentance and forgiveness; but for the most part the penalties which are inflicted on earth, and which are the natural results of sin, whether in character, memory, habit, or circumstances, are not removed by pardon. Their character is changed; they become loving chastisement for our profit.
Such, then, is the worship which all men are invited to render to the holy Jehovah. Prostrate awe should pass into the cry of need, desire, and aspiration. It will be heard, if it is verified as real by obedience to Gods known will. The answers will be fresh witnesses of Gods holiness, which declares itself equally in forgiveness and in retribution. Therefore, once more the clear summons to all mankind rings out, and once more the proclamation of His holiness is made.
There is joyful confidence of access to the Inaccessible in the reiteration in Psa_99:9 of Jehovah our God. "Holy is He," sang the psalmist at first, but all the gulf between Jehovah and us is bridged over when to the name which emphasises the eternal, self-existent being of the holy One we can add "our God." Then humble prostration is reconcilable with confident approach; and His worshippers have not only to lie lowly at His footstool, but to draw near with childrens frankness, to His heart.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary1892 · Public DomainOn v1This Psalm is one of the series of Psalms…
INTRODUCTION
This Psalm is one of the series of Psalms which celebrate the Kingship of Jehovah. “All these Psalms,” says Perowne, “alike tell of the setting up of a Divine kingdom upon earth. All alike anticipate the event with joy. One universal anthem bursts from the whole wide world to greet the advent of the righteous King. Not Zion only and the daughters of Judah are glad, but the dwellers in far-off islands and the ends of the earth. Even inanimate nature sympathises with the joy; the sea thunders her welcome, the rivers clap their hands, the trees of the wood break forth into singing before the Lord. In all these Psalms alike the joy springs from the same source, from the thought that on this earth, where might has so long triumphed over right, a righteous King shall reign, a kingdom shall be set up which shall be a kingdom of righteousness, and judgment, and truth.
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“In this Psalm, not only the righteous sway of the King, but His awful holiness, forms the subject of praise, and the true character of His worshippers as consecrated priests, holy, set apart for His service, is illustrated by the examples of holy men of old, like Moses, Aaron, and Samuel.”
THE SUPREMACY OF THE LORD IN THE CHURCH AND THE STATE
(Psa_99:1-5)
The Psalmist celebrates—
I. The supremacy of the Lord in the Church. Psa_99:1-3.
1. The Lord dwells in the Church. “He sitteth throned upon the cherubim.” The sitting implies rest and permanence; that Jehovah is not a transient guest, but an abiding resident there. “The Lord hath chosen Zion, he hath desired it for His habitation. This is My rest for ever; here will I dwell, for I have desired it.” In a special manner the Lord dwells in the Church. He specially manifested Himself in the Holy of Holies in the Jewish Temple. “The Temple was the royal palace, and the Holy of Holies was the presence-chamber.” And in the Christian Church He is specially present. Here He manifests the perfections and glory of His character more fully than elsewhere—
(1) In the salvation of sinners.
(2) In the communications of His grace which He makes to His people. (See remarks on Psa_76:2; Psa_80:1; Psalms 87.)
2. The Lord it Supreme in the Church. “The Lord reigneth; He sitteth throned upon the cherubim; the Lord is great in Zion, and He is high above all the people.” The Lord rules in His Church. He is sovereign there. His will is loyally obeyed there. And He is supreme in the hearts of His people. He has manifested His greatness in the Church,—the greatness of His power, wisdom, righteousness, and grace. And He who rules in Zion rules in all the nations of the earth. He is exalted above all the peoples. The Psalmist speaks of His “great and terrible name,” or, “great and fearful name.” The Lord’s name is equivalent to the Lord himself in His revealed holiness. His name is “terrible” to His enemies, “holy” to His people, “great” to both, and should be held in awe and reverence by all men. Let the Church of this age ask herself two questions.
First. Does the Lord dwell in her midst? Are the tokens of His presence manifest? Are sinners converted to Him? Do her members live as members of a society in constant communication with and in the constant presence of the Lord and King?
Second. Is the Lord supreme in her? In some Churches Acts of Parliament are supreme, in others rigid creeds and formulæ, in others respectability and fashion, in others sacraments and ceremonies. Oh, for the day when the Lord Jesus Christ, in His spirit and principles, shall be supreme in every community of His professed followers!
II. The supremacy of the Lord in the state. Psa_99:4-5. Two prominent features of this supremacy are mentioned by the Poet—
1. Power. “The King’s strength.” “This verse, as regards construction, is entirely dependent upon the preceding one.”—Hengstenberg. Perowne says: “Others carry on the construction from the last verse, taking the words ‘He (or, it) is holy,’ as parenthetical, thus: ‘They shall praise Thy great and fearful Name (it is holy), and the might of the King who (or, which) loveth righteousness.’ It must be confessed that, but for the words of the refrain, which it is awkward to take thus parenthetically, the sense and the construction are better preserved by this rendering.” Christ is an almighty King both in Himself, and in and for all who believe in Him.
2. Righteousness. This is the great thing. His strength is mentioned, because it is perfectly righteous. His omnipotence expresses itself only in righteousness. We have here—
(1) Righteousness in the heart of the King. “Loveth judgment.” “He loveth righteousness and judgment.” “The Lord loveth judgment, and forsaketh not His saints.”
(2) Righteousness in His legislation. “Thou dost establish equity.” He has established rectitude as the great eternal law of His government. “The law is holy.”
(3) Righteousness in His administration. “Thou executest judgment and righteousness in Jacob.” Under the reign of Jehovah the executive is as just as the legislative. All the laws and all the administration tend to the establishment of righteousness.
Learn here the Divine idea of religion in the state. The government of a country is religious when the king rules in righteousness, when Parliament strives to abolish all unrighteous laws and to enact righteous ones, when magistrates and judges seek to administer the laws justly, and when venality and corruption are swept from all its departments and offices.
There is one feature in the relation of the King both to the Church and to the State which is brought into prominence, viz., His Holiness. “He is holy.” Charnock well says: “As His holiness seems to challenge an excellency above all His other perfections, so it is the glory of all the rest; as it is the glory of the Godhead, so it is the glory of every perfection in the Godhead; as His power is the strength of them, so His holiness is the beauty of them.… As sincerity is the lustre of every grace in a Christian, so is purity the splendour of every attribute in the Godhead. His justice is a holy justice, His wisdom a holy wisdom, His arm of power a ‘holy arm,’ His truth or promise a ‘holy promise.’ ‘Holy and true’ go hand in hand. ‘His name,’ which signifies all His attributes in conjunction, is holy.’ ”
III. The holy supremacy of the Lord as a reason for worship. “Let them praise Thy name; for it is holy. Exalt ye the Lord our God, and worship at His footstool; for He is holy.” Holiness is the summation of all moral perfections; therefore we should worship the Lord. He is supreme not only in position, but in character; therefore we should adore Him. We should exalt Him—
1. With reverent fear. “Let the people tremble; let the earth be moved.” Amyraldus points out that the fear which proceeds from simple reverence, as well as that which arises from apprehension of evil, produces trembling. So the first verse may apply to the Church as well as to the world. With awe approach THE HOLY ONE.
2. With profound humility. “Worship at His footstool.” As weak and dependent creatures, and especially as sinful creatures, it behoveth us to draw near to Him with deep self-abasement.
EXAMPLES OF THE HOLY SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD AND THE BECOMING WORSHIP OF HIS PEOPLE
(Psa_99:6-9)
The connection of these verses with the foregoing is not very clear. It is not easy to trace with certainty the continuity or the relation of thought. The relation suggested by Perowne seems to us the most probable with which we are acquainted. “The great subject of the Psalmist’s praise is the holiness of God. It is a holy God whom he calls upon all men to worship. It is ‘a holy foot-stool,’ ‘a holy mountain,’ before which they bow down; it is therefore a holy worship which they must render. Such was the worship of His saints of old: and then likewise Jehovah manifested His holiness both in ‘forgiving’ and in ‘taking vengeance.’ ” Consider—
I. The examples of the becoming worship of man. “Moses and Aaron among His priests, and Samuel,” &c. Of these Aaron only was a priest in the usual acceptation of the term. But Moses discharged the priestly duties before Aaron entered upon his office (Exo_40:22-27), and he consecrated Aaron and his sons. Samuel also exercised priestly functions (1Sa_9:12-13; and 1Sa_7:9). But the feature of the priestly office which is here brought into view is intercession, calling upon God. “Among them that call upon His name,” is an explanation of “among His priests.” Examples of this calling upon God in intercession by Moses are recorded in Exo_17:11-12; Exo_32:30-32; Psa_106:23; and by Samuel, 1Sa_7:8-9; 1Sa_12:16-19; 1Sa_12:23. And a signal example of the efficacy of Aaron’s intercession is recorded in Num_16:47-48. These distinguished saints worshipped God—
1. In earnest prayer. Intercessions and pleadings such as theirs—so bold, yet so reverent; so confident, yet so humble—greatly honour the Lord. Their living faith in Himself and their sincere and deep trust in His mercy were well-pleasing to Him. “He that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.”
2. In holy lives. “They kept His testimonies and the ordinances that He gave them.” They gave to God the praise not only of the lip, but of the life. “Thanksgiving is good, but thanks-living is better.” A holy life is the true expression of a reverent heart. The worship of a holy life excels the purest and most reverent worship of prayer and praise; because
(1) it is constant, and
(2) it is more influential.
Let us imitate these high examples of worship.
II. The examples of the holy sovereignty of God. “He answered them. He spake unto them in the cloudy pillar. Thou answeredst them, O Lord our God,” &c. The Lord’s holy sovereignty was manifest in His answers to the prayers of His servants. He answered them—
1. By His communications unto them. “He spake unto them in the cloudy pillar.” These words are strictly applicable only to Moses and Aaron. But the cloudy pillar may be taken as a figurative expression denoting Divine revelation generally, taken from one of its original forms. The Lord frequently communicated with Moses (Exo_16:10-12; Exo_24:15-18, et al); and with Aaron (Num_12:5-8). Moreover the Lord often spoke to Samuel. Even in childhood the voice of the Lord was addressed to him; and He continued to communicate with him through a long life. In thus responding to the worship of His servants the Lord manifested His gracious condescension, &c.
2. By granting the forgiveness for which they pleaded. “Thou wast a God that forgavest them.” These ancient saints interceded with the Lord on behalf of the sinful people, when His wrath was kindled against them (Exo_32:11-14; Exo_32:31-32; Num_16:47-48; 1Sa_7:9), and in answer to their prayers He forgave the sins of the people. In their own personal history there are no remarkable examples of the forgiving mercy of the Lord; but there are in their intercessions for the people. The Divine supremacy is merciful and gracious. The King has “no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live.”
3. By inflicting judgment on their evil doings. “Thou tookest vengeance of their inventions,” or “doings.” There is perhaps an allusion here to the punishment of the whole adult population of Israel for their murmurings and rebellions. In that portion of their history we see the intercession (Num_14:13-19), the forgiveness (20, 21), and the judgment (22, 23). Thus God manifested His grace in hearing prayer, His mercy to the offenders, His anger against sin, and His holiness in all.
CONCLUSION.—
1. How holy are all the doings of God! Holiness has been defined “the symmetry of the soul;” and all the attributes and operations of God are gloriously symmetrical, they harmonise; the harmony is holiness.
2. How great is the power of prayer! “Prayer is the slender nerve that moveth the muscles of Omnipotence.”
PARDON WITH PUNISHMENT
(Psa_99:8)
“Thou wast a God that forgavest them, though Thou tookest vengeance of their inventions.”
A very great and grave mistake about the whole relations of forgiveness and retribution, and about the whole character of that Divine nature from which they both flow, is implied and concentrated, as it were, in that little word “though.” It is no part of the original Psalm, and the rendering is a case of interpretation, rather than of translation. What the Psalm says is this: “Thou wast a God that forgavest them, and Thou tookest vengeance of their inventions.” There is no apparent antagonism here even hinted at between pardon, forgiveness, and punishment, but they are both regarded as parts of one great whole, and as flowing from the holy love of God, which the whole Psalm celebrates.
“Vengeance”! The modern notion attached to revenge is by no means to be found in the word which is here employed. What the Old Testament meant by vengeance is precisely that public justice to which the modern notion of revenge is diametrically opposed.
Notice,—
I. That forgiveness is, at bottom, the undisturbed communication of the love of God to sinful man. We are far too apt to think that God pardons men in the fashion in which the sovereign pardons a culprit who has been sentenced to be hanged. Such pardon implies nothing as to the feelings of either the criminal or the monarch. There need neither be pity on the one side nor penitence on the other. The true idea of forgiveness is to be found not in the region of law only, but in the region of love and Fatherhood. The forgiveness of God is over and over again set forth in Scripture as being—a father’s forgive-ness. “Your heavenly Father will forgive you your trespasses.” Let us remember our own childhood, our children, and how we do with them … Not putting up the rod, but taking your child to your heart, is your forgiveness. The blessing of forgiveness is not fully comprehended when it is thought of as shutting up some outward hell, or the quenching of its flames. It goes much deeper than this, and means the untroubled communion of love and delight between the reconciled father and the repentant child. The slave may dread the rod, but the child dreads the father’s closed heart. And pardon is the open heart of God, full of love, unaverted by any consequences of my sin, unclosed by any of my departures from Him.
II. That such pardon does necessarily sweep away the one true penalty of sin. I have been maintaining that the proper notion of pardon is not the removal of penalty, and that is absolutely true if you think of penalty only as being external and arbitrarily inflicted. But it is not true when we come into the spiritual region. What is the penalty of sin? “The wages of sin is death.” What is “death”? The wrenching away of a dependent soul from God. How is that penalty ended? When the soul is united to God in the threefold bond of trust, love, and obedience. The communication of the love is the barring of the hell. The one true penalty of sin is to be torn asunder from God by our own evil desires, and therefore the outflow of His love to us sinners is really the cancelling of the sorest penalty and true wages of unrighteousness. The real penalty passes away where the love is welcomed and received.
III. That the pardoning mercy of God leaves many penalties unremoved.
“Thou forgavest them, and Thou tookest vengeance of their inventions.” Forgiveness and punishment are both parts of one process, they both come from one source, the One heart which is all holiness and all love. Let me remind you of historical illustrations that may help to bring this idea out a little more clearly. Aaron, see ‘Num_20:24; Moses, see Deu_32:48-51; David, see 2Sa_12:7-14. The old statement, “Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap,” is absolutely true, universally true. God loves us too well, not to punish His children when they sin, and He loves us too well to annihilate, were it possible, the secondary consequences of our transgressions. The two sides of the one truth must both be recognised—that the deepest and the primary penalties of our evil, which are separation from God, and the painful consciousness of guilt, are swept away—and, also, that other results are allowed to remain, which, being allowed, may be blessed and salutary for the transgressors. If you waste your youth, no repentance will send the shadow back upon the dial, or recover the ground lost by idleness, or restore the constitution shattered by dissipation, or give again the resources wasted upon vice, or bring back the fleeting opportunities.
IV. That pardoning love so modifies the punishment that it becomes an occasion for solemn thankfulness. Whatever painful consequences of past sin may still linger about our lives, or haunt our hearts, we may be sure of two things about them all—that they come from Forgiving Mercy, that they come for our profit. It is no harsh,—no, nor even only a righteous Judge who deals with us. We are chastened by a Father’s hand. “When we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned.” The stroke of condemnation will never fall upon our pardoned hearts. That it may not, the loving strokes of His discipline must needs accompany the embrace of His forgiveness. And so the pains change their character, and become things to be desired, to be humbly welcomed, to be patiently borne and used, and even to be woven into our hymns of praise.
Brethren! you know where and how the pardon is to be found. In Christ is all the Divine forgiveness treasured. Trust in Him, and there is no condemnation for you.
You have before you an alternative—either you will be separated from your sins by God’s pardon in Christ and God’s chastisement of love; or, clutching your sins, refusing to let Him cast them all away, you will be separated by them utterly from God, and so fall into the death which is the wages and punishment of sin.—A. Maclaren, D.D.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible1900 · Public DomainOn v1I. The Lord is great in supremacy.
Psa 99:2
I. The Lord is great in supremacy.
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II. The Lord is great in power.
III. The Lord is great in faithfulness.
IV. The Lord is great in mercy.
G. W. McCree, Christian World Pulpit, vol. x., p. 81.
Psa 99:8
The truths that lie in the text are these: pardon and retribution are ever united. They spring from one source of holy love, and they ought to become to us the occasions of solemn and thankful praise. "Exalt the Lord our God, for He is holy." "Thou forgavest them, and didst punish their inventions."
I. Notice, first, that forgiveness is at bottom the undisturbed communication of the love of God to sinful men. We are too apt to think that God pardons men in the fashion in which the sovereign pardons a culprit who has been sentenced to be hanged. Such pardon implies nothing as to the feelings of either the criminal or the monarch. There need neither be pity on the one side nor penitence on the other. The true idea of forgiveness is to be found not in the region of law only, but in the region of love and fatherhood. The forgiveness of God is over and over again set forth in Scripture as being a Father’s forgiveness.
II. Such pardon does necessarily sweep away the one true penalty of sin. "The wages of sin is death." What is death? The wrenching away of a dependent soul from God. How is that penalty ended? When the soul is united to God in the threefold bond of trust, love, and obedience. The communication of the love is the barring of the hell.
III. The pardoning mercy of God leaves many penalties unremoved. Forgiveness and punishment both come from the same source, and generally go together. The old statement, "Whatever a man soweth, that shall he also reap," is absolutely true, universally true. The Gospel is not its abrogation. God loves us too well to annihilate the secondary consequences of our transgressions.
IV. Pardoning love so modifies the punishment that it becomes an occasion for solemn thankfulness. Whatever painful consequences of past sin may still linger about our lives or haunt our hearts, we may be sure of two things about them all: that they come from forgiving mercy; that they come for our profit.
A. Maclaren, Sermons Preached in Manchester, 3rd series, p. 195.
Reference: Psa 99:8.— Expositor, 1st series, vol. ix., p. 150.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
F. W. Grant1903 · Public DomainOn v1Victory over evil.
Victory over evil.
The victory over evil requires more development. It is this that the sixth psalm of the series, in accordance with the numerical significance, now takes up. Salvation by judgment necessarily involves it; but we see this worked out here both in regard to the world at large, and to the saints also. Thus the apostle applies it to the latter: "for the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God;" and in this way "the righteous are with difficulty saved" (1Pe 4:17-18) -not "scarcely:" but God having to be at such pains with them to bring them through, so as both to His creatures at large, and for their own sakes also, to justify His holy government.
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1. The first section; therefore, speaks of this government as now manifested, Jehovah reigning, enthroned above the cherubim, as Ezekiel and the book of Revelation show Him. In the latter the "living creatures" in their various characters thus represent the features of His rule. The lion shows the fundamental necessity for all government -power. The ox shows it however to be used in patient ministry, as true rule is. The "face of a man" speaks of intelligence that seeks to be known by men His creatures. And lastly, the "flying eagle" speaks of ways yet "too wonderful" for comprehension by them (Pro 30:18-19). These cherubic beings, with their sleepless vigilance and activity, proclaim the Thrice-holy who is still above them (Rev 4:8); and this is the Throne now established over the earth. Well may "the peoples tremble" before Him; and "the earth be moved."
But He reigns in Zion, which His grace has chosen as the place of His rest, the accessible metropolis of the whole earth. Let the peoples praise His great and terrible Name: for it is holy.
2. Might and right are wedded at last, in a despotic rule, from which yet none need shrink except the wicked. For "the king’s strength loveth judgment" -a beautiful poetic phrase which strangely seems to perplex the commentators: "Thou hast established equity; Thou hast executed judgment and righteousness in Jacob."
Thus the world is saved and blest, and all are bidden to worship at the footstool of the Throne: Jehovah our God is holy.
The third verse here one might naturally take to belong to the closing section. Yet the structure is against it: for it is evidently a third and not a first, and its presence in the last section would derange all the numbers there. Moreover the connection is not so close as at first it seems. "In the pillar of cloud He spake to them," could not refer to Samuel; and the three together -Moses and Aaron and Samuel are cited here as practical examples of the worship to which the people now are called. Such were the men that drew nigh to Him; His priests: Samuel not officially that, but practically standing in that place, when the priests themselves had departed from Him, and known characteristically as one that called upon His Name. These all, He in His faithfulness had answered, drawing near to those that drew near to Him.
3. But with all His people sanctification was the object that He steadily pursued. "In the pillar of cloud He spake to them" -that pillar which as the sign of His Presence, moved with them all the way from Egypt to the land: thus grace had sought them; and obedience followed: "they kept His testimonies, and the statute He gave unto them."
His holiness was as fully displayed as His love; and His love was not less that it was holy: "Jehovah our God, Thou answeredst them: a forgiving God Thou wast to them; even while taking vengeance on their doings."
Upon them it was not wrath, but chastening love -grace that showed itself in this that declared His wrath upon the evil, to make them "partakers of His holiness" (Heb 12:10). Thus does "grace reign" in holiness as well as righteousness; the very "vengeance" only showing the forgiveness to be really that, and not indifference; and that "without holiness no man shall see the Lord" (ver. 14). Blessed, salutary lessons, worthy of God to give!
Praise, therefore, is what ends the psalm: "Exalt Jehovah our God; and worship at His holy hill: for Jehovah our God is holy."
F. W. Grant, The Numerical Bible (4th ed., 1903) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren1905 · Public DomainOn v8
Psalms
FORGIVENESS AND RETRIBUTION
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Psa 99:8.
When the prophet Isaiah saw the great vision which called him to service, he heard from the lips of the seraphim around the Throne the threefold ascription of praise: ‘Holy! holy! holy! Lord God of hosts.’ This psalm seems to be an echo of that heavenly chorus, for it is divided into three sections, each of which closes with the refrain, ‘He is holy,’ and each of which sets forth some one aspect or outcome of that divine holiness. In the first part the holiness of His universal dominion is celebrated; in the second, the holiness of His revelations and providences to Israel, His inheritance; in the third, the holiness of His dealings with them that call upon His name, both when He forgives their sins and when He scourges for the sins that He has forgiven.
Two remarks of an expository character will prepare the way for what I have further to say. The first is that the word ‘though’ in my text, which holds together the two statements that it contains, is commentary rather than translation. For the original has the simple ‘and,’ and the difference between the two renderings is this, that ‘though’ implies some real or apparent contrariety between forgiveness and taking vengeance, which makes their co-existence remarkable, whereas ‘and’ lays the two things down side by side. The Psalmist simply declares that they are both there, and puts in no such fine distinction as is represented by the words ‘though,’ or ‘but,’ or ‘yet.’ To me it seems a great deal more eloquent in its simplicity and reticence that he should say, ‘Thou forgavest them and tookest vengeance,’ than that he should say ‘Thou forgavest them though Thou tookest vengeance.’
Then there is another point to be noted, viz. we must not import into that word ‘vengeance,’ when it is applied to divine actions, the notions which cluster round it when it is applied to ours. For in its ordinary use it means retaliation, inflicted at the bidding of personal enmity or passion. But there are no turbid elements of that sort in God. His retribution is a great deal more analogous to the unimpassioned, impersonal action of public law than it is to the ‘wild justice of revenge.’ When we speak of His ‘vengeance’ we simply mean-unless we have dropped into a degrading superstition-the just recompense of reward which divinely dogs all sin. There is one saying in Scripture which puts the whole matter in its true light, ‘Vengeance is Mine; I will repay,’ saith the Lord; the last clause of which interprets the first. So, then, with these elucidations, we may perhaps see a little more clearly the sequence of the Psalmist’s thought here-God’s forgiveness, and co-existing with that, God’s scourging of the sin which He forgives; and both His forgiveness and the scourging, the efflux and the manifestation of the divine holiness. Now just let us look at these thoughts. Here we have-
I. The adoring contemplation of the divine forgiveness.
I suppose that is almost exclusively a thought due to the historical revelation, through the ages, to Israel, crowned, as well as deepened, by the culmination and perfecting of the eternal revelation of God in Jesus Christ our Lord. I suppose the conception of a forgiving God is the product of the Old and of the New Testament. But familiar as the word is to us, and although the thing that it means is embodied in the creed of Christendom, ‘I believe . . . in the forgiveness of sins,’ I think that a great many of us would be somewhat put to it, if we were called upon to tell definitely and clearly what we mean when we speak of the forgiveness of sins. Many of us, prior to thinking about the matter, would answer ‘the non-infliction or remission of penalty.’ And I am far from denying that that is an element in forgiveness, although it is the lowest and the most external, in both the Old Testament and the New Testament conception of it. But we must rise a great deal higher than that. We are entitled, by our Lord’s teaching, to parallel God’s forgiveness and man’s forgiveness; and so perhaps the best way to understand the perfect type of forgiveness is to look at the imperfect types which we see round us. What, then, do we mean by human forgiveness? It is seen in multitudes of cases where there is no question at all of penalty. Two men get alienated from one another. One of them does something which the other thinks is a sin against friendship or loyalty, and he who is sinned against says, ‘I forgive you.’ That does not mean that he does not inflict a penalty, because there is no penalty in question. Forgiveness is not a matter of conduct, then, primarily, but it is a matter of disposition, of attitude, or, to put it into a shorter word, it is a matter of the heart; and even on the lower level of the human type, we see that remission of penalty may be a part, sometimes is and sometimes is not, but is always the smallest part of it, and a derivative and secondary result of something that went before. An unconscious recognition of this attitude of mind and heart, as being the essential thing in forgiveness, brings about an instance of the process by which two words that originally mean substantially the same thing come to acquire each its special shade of meaning. What I refer to is this-when a judicial sentence on a criminal is remitted, we never hear any one speak about the criminal being ‘forgiven.’ We keep the word ‘pardon,’ in our daily conventional intercourse, for slight offences or for the judicial remission of a sentence. The king pardons a criminal; you never hear about the king ‘forgiving’ a criminal. And that, as I take it, is just because people have been groping after the thought that I am trying to bring out, viz. that the remission of penalty is one thing, and purging the heart of all alienation and hatred is another; and that the latter is forgiveness, whilst the former has to be content with being pardon.
The highest type of forgiveness is the paternal. Every one of us who remembers our childhood, and every one of us who has had children of his own, knows what paternal forgiveness is. It is not when you put away the rod that the little face brightens again and the tears cease to flow, but it is when your face clears, and the child knows that there is no cloud between it and the father, or still more the mother, that forgiveness is realised. The immediate effect of our transgressions is that we, as it were, thereby drop a great, black rock into the stream of the divine love, and the channel is barred by our action; and God’s forgiveness is when, as was the case in another fashion in the Deluge, the floods rise above the tops of the highest hills; and as the good old hymn that has gone out of fashion nowadays, says, over sins:
‘Like the mountains for their size,
The seas of sovereign grace arise.’
When the love of God flows over the black rock, as the incoming tide does over some jagged reef, then, and not merely when the rod is put on the shelf, is forgiveness bestowed and received.
But, as I have said, the remission of penalty is an element in forgiveness. Some people say: ‘It is a very dangerous thing, in the interests of Christian truth, to treat that relation of a loving Father as if it expressed all that God is to men.’ Quite so; God is King as well as Father. There are analogies, both in paternal and regal government, which help us to understand the divine dealings with us; though, of course, in regard to both we must always remember that the analogies are remote and not to be pressed too far. But even in recognising the fact that an integral part of forgiveness is remission of penalty, we come back, by another path, to the same point, that the essence of forgiveness is the uninterrupted flow of love. Remission of penalty;-yes, by all means. But then the question comes, what is the penalty of sin? And I suppose that the deepest answer to that is, separation from God. But if the true New Testament conception of the penalty of sin is the eternal death which is the result of the rending of a man away from the Source of life, then the remission of the penalty is precisely identical with the uninterrupted flow of the divine love. The mists of autumnal mornings drape the sky in gloom, and turn the blessed sun itself into a lurid ball of fire. Sweep away the mists, and its rays again pour out beneficence. The man who sins, piles up, as it were, a cloud-bank between himself and God, and forgiveness, which is the remission of the penalty, is the sweeping away of the cloud-bank, and the pouring out of sunshine upon a darkened heart. So, brethren! the essence of forgiveness is that God shall love me all the same, though I sin against Him.
But now turn, in the next place, to
II. God’s scourging of the sin which He forgives.
Look at the instances in our psalm, ‘Moses and Aaron among His priests. . . . They called upon the Lord and He answered them. Thou wast a God that forgavest them, and Thou tookest vengeance of their doings.’ Moses dies on Pisgah, Aaron is stripped of his priestly robes by his brother’s hand and left alone amongst the clouds and the eagles, on the solitary summit of the mountain, and yet Moses and Aaron knew themselves forgiven the sins for which they died those lonely deaths. And these are but instances of what is universally true, that the sin which is pardoned is also ‘avenged’ in the sense of having retribution dealt out to it.
I need not dwell upon this at any length, but let me just remind you how there are two provinces of human experience in which this is abundantly true: one, that of outward consequences, and another that of inward consequences. Take, for instance, two men, boon companions, who together have wasted their substance in riotous living. One of them is converted, as we call it, becomes a Christian, knows himself forgiven. The other one is not. Is the one less certain to have a corrugated liver than the other? Will the disease, the pauperism, the ruined position in life, the loss of reputation be any different in the cases of him who is pardoned and of him who is not? No; the two will suffer in a similar fashion, and the different attitude that the one has to the divine love from that which the other has, will not make a hair of difference as to the results that follow. The consequences are none the less divine retribution because they are the result of natural laws, and none the less penal because they are automatically inflicted.
There is another department in which we see the same law working, and that is the inward consequences. A man does change his attitude to his former sins, when he knows that he is pardoned; but the results of these sins will follow all the same, whether he is forgiven or not. Memory will be tarnished, habits will be formed and chain a man, capacities will be forfeited, weaknesses will ensue. The wounds may be healed, but the scars will remain, and when we consider how certainly, and as I said, divinely, such issues dog all manner of transgression, we can understand what the Psalmist meant when, not thinking about a future retribution, but about the present life’s experiences, he said, ‘Thou wast a God that forgavest them, and Thou tookest vengeance of their inventions.’ ‘The sluggard will not plough by reason of the cold, therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing,’ and that will be his case whether he is forgiven, or not forgiven, by the divine love.
So, dear friends! do not let us confound the two things which are so widely separated, the flow of the divine love to us irrespective of our sins, which is the true forgiveness, and the remission of the penalty, the infliction of which may itself be a part of forgiveness. ‘Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap,’ and he will reap it whether he has sown darnel and tares and poisonous seeds, of which he is now ashamed, and for which he has received forgiveness, or whether he has not asked nor received it.
Only remember that if we humbly realise the great fact that God has forgiven us, we can, as they say, ‘take our punishment’ in an altogether different spirit and temper, and it comes to be, not judicial penalty, but paternal chastisement, the token of love, and of which we can say that ‘We are judged of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.’
Lastly, my text leads us to think of-
III. Forgiveness and scourging as both issues of holy love.
Some people, in their narrow and altogether superficial view of Christianity, would divide between the two, and say forgiveness comes from God’s love, and scourging comes from His holiness. But this psalm puts the two together, just as we must put together as inseparable from each other the two conceptions of holiness and of love. Now our modern notions of what is meant by the love of God are a great deal too sentimental and gushing and limp. Love is degraded unless there be holiness in it. It becomes immoral good nature, much more than anything that deserves the name of love. A God who is all love, so much so that it makes no difference to Him whether a man is a saint or a sinner, is not a God to be worshipped, and scarcely a God to be admired. He is lower than we, not higher. But His holy love is like a sea of glass mingled with fire; the love being shot all through, as it were, with streams of flame.
This holy love underlies the forgiveness of sins. To forgive may sometimes be profoundly right; it may sometimes be profoundly immoral. A general gaol delivery simply sets the scoundrels free; a universal amnesty is a failure of justice, and a very doubtful benefit. But the forgiveness, which is the issue of holy love, is a means to an end, and the end which it has in view is that, drawn by answering love to a pardoning God, we may be drawn from the sins which alienate us from Him. There is no such sure way of making a man forsake his sins as to give him the assurance that God has forgiven them. ‘Thou shalt be ashamed and confounded, and never open thy mouth any more, because of thy sins, when’-I smite? no-’I am pacified towards thee for all that thou hast done.’ ‘Thou wast a God that forgavest them,’ and in the very act of forgiving, didst draw them from their sins.
That holy love, in like manner, underlies retribution. I have been speaking of retribution mainly as it is seen in the working of natural law. It is none the less God’s act, because it is the operation of the laws which He impressed upon His creation at the beginning. You have weaving machines in your mills that whenever a thread breaks, stop dead. Is it the machine or the maker that is to get the credit of that? God has set us in an order of things wherein, and has given us a nature whereby, automatically, every sin, as it were, stops the loom, and ‘every transgression and disobedience receives its just recompense of reward.’ But men sometimes say ‘that is Nature; that is not God.’ God lies at the back of Nature, and works through Nature. Although Nature is not God, God is Nature. Therefore it is ‘Thou’ that ‘takest vengeance of their inventions.’ Let us, then, remember that retribution is a token of love, meant to drive us from our sins, just as forgiveness is meant to draw us from them. Our Psalmist had come the length of putting these two things together, forgiveness and retribution. We have reached further, and here is the New Testament enlargement and deepening and explanation of the Old Testament thought: ‘If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins,’ and in the very act, ‘to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’ ‘If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous.’
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow1909 · Public DomainOn v1This Ps. is like the preceding ones in the…
This Ps. is like the preceding ones in the prominence it gives to God's Kingship, and no doubt belongs to the same period with them. God's holiness, too, is emphasised in the refrain of Psa_99:3, Psa_99:5, Psa_99:9. The Ps. begins with a call to worship God with the awe and reverence which are due to Him (Psa_99:1-3). His righteous rule in Israel is a reason for repeating the summons (Psa_99:4-5). The history of His dealings with His people from the days of Moses and Aaron to the time of Samuel is summed up (Psa_99:6-8). Psa_99:9 is almost a repetition of Psa_99:5, and implies that the Temple has been restored.
1. People] RV 'peoples.' So in Psa_99:2.
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Between the cherubims] RV 'upon the cherubim': see on Psa_80:1.
2. Zion] The Temple at Jerusalem is God's dwelling and the seat of His rule.
3. For it is holy] RV 'holy is he.'
4. The king] God: see Psa_80:1.
5. His footstool] The ark is so called in 1Ch_28:2, but if this Ps. was written after the exile the ark cannot be directly referred to here. The language may be a survival of an earlier usage.
For he is holy] RV 'holy is he,' as in Psa_99:3.
6-8. These vv. may be taken as an illustration from the past of the principle on which God still deals with His people, or they may be translated by present tenses, as referring to the intercessors in Israel whose prayers God has answered in the deliverance from captivity, and who are figuratively called 'A Moses.. a Samuel.'
8. Both in the past and in the Psalmist's time God has shown at once His hatred of sin and His forgiving love to His people. Inventions] RV 'doings.'
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein1922 · Public DomainOn v1Psalm 99
Psalm 99
The Reign of Righteousness
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1. His throne (Psa 99:1-3)
2. Judgment and righteousness executed (Psa 99:4-6)
3. His gracious dealings (Psa 99:7-9)
It is a Psalm of the righteous government. The Lord who reigns is holy, demands obedience. He is holy and must be worshipped. Moses and Aaron were His priests in the past and Samuel among them that called upon His Name. He dealt graciously with His people in the past and forgave them, and the same Lord now reigneth and will deal in righteousness and mercy with His people.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann1924 · Public DomainOn v1Praise of the Messiah, the Thrice Holy.
Praise of the Messiah, the Thrice Holy.
The psalmist, in this hymn of praise which fits so well into this series, sets forth the merciful government of God, particularly as exercised in and for His Church, in the work of the Messiah.
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v. 1. The Lord reigneth, Jehovah the Messiah is King; let the people tremble, venturing into His presence only with awe and reverence; He sitteth between the cherubim, the space between the outstretched wings of the golden cherubim on the mercy-seat being the place where the Lord revealed Himself to His people, Exo 25:22; Num 7:89. Let the earth be moved, inspired with fear by His lofty presence.
v. 2. The Lord is great in Zion, in His holy Church, and He is high above all the people, in His capacity of King in His threefold kingdom.
v. 3. Let them praise Thy great and terrible name, the awe-inspiring revelation of His majesty; for it is holy, emphatic in the Hebrew: "Holy is He," this being one line from the wonderful seraphic hymn, Isa 6:1-4.
v. 4. The King’s strength also loveth judgment, His essential righteousness causes Him to exercise right at all times; Thou dost establish equity, uprightness and true justice in dealing with men at all times; Thou executest judgment and righteousness in Jacob. The reference is not merely to the theocratic government of God in the Old Testament, but to the Messiah’s rule in His Kingdom of Grace, in which He freely gives to the members of this kingdom the righteousness which He gained for them, by virtue of which they may proudly lift up their heads in the judgment of the Lord.
v. 5. Exalt ye the Lord, our God, for this manifestation of His grace, and worship at His footstool, prostrating themselves upon the steps leading up to His throne, in humble adoration, such places being found wherever the Lord finds two or three gathered together in His name: for He is holy. Again the words of the seraphic hymn ring out: "Holy is He!" The singer now, in casting about for a suitable comparison, looks back into the history of Israel.
v. 6. Moses, who sometimes performed the functions of priest, Exodus 24; Exo 40:22-23, and Aaron among His priests, and Samuel among them that call upon His name, 1Sa 7:8-9, these three being prominent representatives of the Old Testament Church; they called upon the Lord, their entire worship being an expression of their faith in Jehovah of Israel, and He answered them, thus recognizing them as His children by faith, with whom He was united in the fellowship which obtains between the Lord and all believers.
v. 7. He spake unto them, to His entire people, in the cloudy pillar; they kept His testimonies, the true Israelites, the people of the Lord in the real sense of the word, observed all the commandments and precepts of Jehovah, and the ordinance, that of the covenant, that He gave them.
v. 8. Thou answeredst them, O Lord, our God; Thou wast a God that forgavest them, the entire people of the children of Israel, though Thou tookest vengeance of their inventions, punishing them for their misdeeds, for their acts of rebellion. Forgiveness does not include the remission of the punishment which attaches to many sins; the chastening, rather, works greater humility.
v. 9. Exalt the Lord, our God, giving Him the honor due to His majesty and power, and worship at His holy hill, on the mountain where He revealed Himself, that is, in the New Testament, wherever He comes to men in His Gospel, in His grace and truth; for the Lord, our God, is holy, again the emphatic: "For holy is Jehovah, our God. " That is the song of praise which the Christians sing in honor of their Messiah and King, the thrice holy world without end.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Parallelism is common in Hebrew poetry. (See: Poetry and Parallelism)
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the nations
This refers to the people of all nations. AT: "the people of all nations" (See: Metonymy)
tremble
shake with fear
He sits enthroned above the cherubim
You may need to make explicit that the cherubim are those on the lid of the ark of the covenant. The biblical writers often spoke of the ark of the covenant as if it were Yahweh's footstool upon which he rested his feet as he sat on his throne in heaven above. AT: "He sits on his throne above the cherubim on the ark of the covenant" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
quakes
shakes
Yahweh is great in Zion; he is exalted above all the nations
"Not only is Yahweh great in Zion, he is exalted above all the nations" or "Not only does Yahweh rule in Zion, he rules over all the nations"
he is exalted above all the nations
This can be stated in active form. AT: "people in all the nations exalt him" or "people in all nations praise him greatly" (See: Active or Passive and Metonymy)
Let them praise your great and awesome name
Here the author shifts from speaking about God, to speaking to God. After this phrase though, he shifts back to speaking about God.
Tyndale Open Study Notes2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv1, 4, 6, 7Ps 99 The psalmist calls the nations to worship…
Ps 99 The psalmist calls the nations to worship the Lord, the king of the earth who rules from Zion.
99:1-5 The Lord is the holy and righteous King (Isa 6:1-5). Mount Zion, the location of the Lord’s Temple, metaphorically stands as the highest point on earth (Ps 113:4; Isa 2:2; 6:1). From this summit, the Great King (Ps 47:2) can see, rule over, and receive praise from all nations and peoples.
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99:1 It is fitting to tremble and quake in response to the Lord’s holiness (see 96:9). • The throne between the cherubim refers to the cover of the Ark of the Covenant (Exod 25:17-22).
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 1 Jehovah reigns The people, who were formerly called…
1 Jehovah reigns The people, who were formerly called upon to rejoice, are now commanded to tremble. For as the Jews were encompassed by enemies, it was of the utmost importance that God’s power should be magnified among them, that they might know that, while under his guardianship, they would be constantly and completely safe from the hatred and fury of every foe. The Hebrew word רגז, ragaz, as we have elsewhere seen, sometimes signifies to tremble, at other times, to be angry, and, in short, denotes any strong emotion arising either from anger or fear. Accordingly, the prophet here intends that God, in the emancipation of his chosen people, should give such a palpable display of his power, as would strike all the nations with dismay, and make them feel how madly they had rushed upon their own destruction. For it is with regard to men that God is said to reign, when he exalts himself by the magnificent displays which he gives of his power; because, while the aid which he gives to them remains invisible, unbelievers act a more presumptuous part, just as if there were no God.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 5, 6, 8 When God delivereth his Church, all the enemies shall…
When God delivereth his Church, all the enemies shall have cause to tremble.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–9 Psa 99:1 The LORD reigneth; let the people tremble:…
Psa 99:1 The LORD reigneth; let the people tremble: he sitteth [between] the cherubims; let the earth be moved.
Ver. 1. The Lord reigneth] Even the Lord Christ, as Psa 97:1.
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Let the people tremble] Let them serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. By the people some understand the Jews, and by the earth all other nations; let there be a general subjection yielded to the sceptre of his kingdom.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv1–9 The people, to wit such are are enemies to…
The people, to wit such are are enemies to God and to his people. Between the cherubims; upon the ark. See 1Sa 4:4. He is present with his people to protect them, and to punish their enemies. The earth; the people of the earth, by comparing this clause with the former. Be moved, to wit, with fear and trembling, as in the former clause.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv1, 6 The foundation of all religion is laid in this…
The foundation of all religion is laid in this truth, That the Lord reigns. God governs the world by his providence, governs the church by his grace, and both by his Son. We are to believe not only that the Lord lives, but that the Lord reigns. This is the triumph of the Christian church, and here it was the triumph of the Jewish church, that Jehovah was their King; and hence it is inferred, Let the people tremble, that is, 1. Let even the subjects of this kingdom tremble; for the Old Testament dispensation had much of terror in it. At Mount Sinai Israel, and even Moses himself, did exceedingly fear and quake; and then God was terrible in his holy places. Even when he appeared in his people's behalf, he did terrible things. But we are not now come to that mount that burned with fire, Heb 12:18. Now that the Lord reigns let the earth rejoice. Then he ruled more by the power of holy fear; now he rules by the power of holy love. 2. Much more let the enemies of this kingdom tremble; for he will either bring them into obedience to his golden sceptre or crush them with his iron rod. The Lord reigns, though the people be stirred with indignation at it; though they fret away all their spirits, their rage is all in vain. He will set his King upon his holy hill of Zion in spite of them (Psa 2:1-6); first, or last, he will make them tremble, Rev 6:15, etc. The Lord reigns, let the earth be moved. Those that submit to him shall be established, and not moved (Psa 96:10); but those that oppose him will be moved. Heaven and earth shall be shaken, and all nations; but the kingdom of Christ is what cannot be moved; the things which cannot be shaken shall remain, Heb 12:27. In these is continuance, Isa 64:5.
God's kingdom, set up in Israel, is here made the subject of the psalmist's praise.
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I. Two things the psalmist affirms: - 1. God presided in the affairs of religion: He sitteth between the cherubim (Psa 99:1), as on his throne, to give law by the oracles thence delivered - as on the mercy-seat, to receive petitions. This was the honour of Israel, that they had among them the Shechinah, or special presence of God, attended by the holy angels; the temple was the royal palace, and the Holy of holies was the presence-chamber. The Lord is great in Zion (Psa 99:2); there he is known and praised (Psa 76:1, Psa 76:2); there he is served as great, more than any where else. He is high there above all people; as that which is high is exposed to view, and looked up to, so in Zion the perfections of the divine nature appear more conspicuous and more illustrious than any where else. Therefore let those that dwell in Zion, and worship there, praise thy great and terrible name, and give thee the glory due unto it, for it is holy. The holiness of God's name makes it truly great to his friends and terrible to his enemies, Psa 99:3. This is that which those above adore - Holy, holy, holy. 2. He was all in all in their civil government, Psa 99:4. As in Jerusalem was the testimony of Israel, whither the tribes went up, so there were set thrones of judgment, Psa 122:4, Psa 122:5. Their government was a theocracy. God raised up David to rule over them (and some think this psalm was penned upon occasion of his quiet and happy settlement in the throne) and he is the king whose strength loves judgment. He is strong; all his strength he has from God; and his strength is not abused for the support of any wrong, as the power of great princes often is, but it loves judgment. He does justice with his power, and does it with delight; and herein he was a type of Christ, to whom God would give the throne of his father David, to do judgment and justice. He has power to crush, but his strength loves judgment; he does not rule with rigour, but with moderation, with wisdom, and with tenderness. The people of Israel had a good king; but they are here taught to look up to God as he by whom their king reigns: Thou dost establish equity (that is, God gave them those excellent laws by which they were governed), and thou executest judgment and righteousness in Jacob; he not only by his immediate providences often executed and enforced his own laws, but took care for the administration of justice among them by civil magistrates, who reigned by him and by him did decree justice. Their judges judged for God, and their judgment was his, Ch2 19:6.
II. Putting these two things together, we see what was the happiness of Israel above any other people, as Moses had described it (Deu 4:7, Deu 4:8), that they had God so night unto them, sitting between the cherubim, and that they had statutes and judgments so righteous, by which equity was established, and God himself ruled in Jacob, from which he infers this command to that happy people (Psa 99:5): "Exalt you the Lord our God, and worship at his footstool; give him the glory of the good government you are under, as it is now established, both in church and state." Note, 1. The greater the public mercies are which we have a share in the more we are obliged to bear a part in the public homage paid to God: the setting up of the kingdom of Christ, especially, ought to be the matter of our praise. 2. When we draw night to God, to worship him, our hearts must be filled with high thoughts of him, and he must be exalted in our souls. 3. The more we abase ourselves, and the more prostrate we are before God, the more we exalt him. We must worship at his footstool, at his ark, which was as the footstool to the mercy-seat between the cherubim; or we must cast ourselves down upon the pavement of his courts; and good reason we have to be thus reverent, for he is holy, and his holiness should strike an awe upon us, as it does on the angels themselves, Isa 6:2, Isa 6:3.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv1–9 The Lord reigneth,.... The King Messiah, he is made…
The Lord reigneth,.... The King Messiah, he is made and declared Lord and Christ; he has reigned, does reign, and ever will; see Psa 93:1,
let the people tremble: with awe of his majesty, and reverence of his word and ordinances; rejoicing before him with trembling, as his own people and subjects do, Psa 2:11, and so it agrees with Psa 97:1, or it may be understood of the people that are enemies to Christ, who would not have him to reign, though he shall whether they will or not; and who will sooner or later tremble for fear of him, and his righteous judgment. Jarchi refers this to the war of Gog and Magog. The Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions, render it, "let the people be angry"; or it may be rendered, "they are angry"; or "therefore they are angry"; because he reigns; so the people, both Jews and Gentiles, were angry and raged, when his kingdom was first visibly set up among them, Psa 2:1, and so the nations will when he takes to himself his great power, and reigns, Rev 11:18,
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he sitteth between the cherubim; "upon" or "above", as the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and all the Oriental versions; alluding to the seat of the Shechinah, or divine Majesty, in the holy of holies; and respects either the exalted glory of Christ among the angels, and above them at the right hand of God, where they are subject to him, stand about him, ready to do his will; or rather his presence with his ministers of the word, who are the instruments of spreading his Gospel, and enlarging his kingdom and interest in the world; See Gill on Psa 80:1.
let the earth be moved: not that itself out of its place, but the inhabitants of it; and these either with a sense of sin and duty, and become subject to Christ their King; or with wrath and indignation at him, or through fear of him, as before; Kimchi says, at the fall of Gog and Magog; it may be particularly understood of the land of Judea, and of the commotion in it, especially in Jerusalem, when the tidings were brought of the birth of the King Messiah, Mat 2:1, or of the shaking and moving both of the civil and ecclesiastical state of the nation, and of the ruin of it; see Heb 12:26.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 Israel is required to praise God, for their hasty…
Israel is required to praise God, for their hasty constitution both in church and state, ver. 1-5. Some instances of the happy administration of it, ver. 6-9.
People - Such as are enemies to God and his people. Sitteth - Upon the ark. He is present with his people. Earth - The people of the earth. Moved - With fear and trembling.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1–9 The empire of God in the world and the…
PSALM XCIX
The empire of God in the world and the Church, 1, 2.
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He ought to be praised, 3.
Justice and judgment are his chief glory, 4.
He should be worshipped as among the saints of old, whom he
graciously answered and saved, 5-8.
Exalt him because he is holy, 9.
NOTES ON PSALM XCIX
The Hebrew and Chaldee have no title; all the versions but the Chaldee attribute it to David. The Syriac says it concerns "the slaughter of the Midianites which Moses and the children of Israel had taken captive; and is a prophecy concerning the glory of the kingdom of Christ." But the mention of Samuel shows that it cannot be referred to the time of Moses. Calmet thinks that it was sung at the dedication of the city, or of the second temple, after the return from the Babylonish captivity. Eight of Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS. join it to the preceding psalm.
Verse 1. The Lord reigneth] See Clarke on Ps 97:1.
Let the people tremble] He will establish his kingdom in spite of his enemies; let those who oppose him tremble for the consequences.
He sitteth between the cherubims] This is in reference to the ark, at each end of which was a cherub of glory; and the shechinah, or symbol of the Divine Presence, appeared on the lid of the ark, called also the mercy-seat, between the cherubim. Sitting between the cherubim implies God's graciousness and mercy. While then, in his reign, he was terrible to sinners, he is on the throne of grace to all who fear, love, and obey him. Though this symbol were not in the second temple, yet the Divine Being might very well be thus denominated, because it had become one of his titles, he having thus appeared under the tabernacle and first temple.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 Psa 99:1-3. The Lord reigneth, let the people tremble…
Psa 99:1-3. The Lord reigneth, let the people tremble — Namely, such of them as are enemies to God and his truth. He sitteth between the cherubims — Upon the ark; that is, he is present with his people, to protect them and punish their enemies. Let the earth — Namely, the people of the earth; be moved — With fear and trembling. The Lord is great in Zion — Hebrew, The Lord in Zion (that is, who dwelleth in Zion) is great. He is high above all people — Above all the people of the earth who exalt themselves against him. Let them — Namely, all people last mentioned; praise thy great and terrible name — And give thee the glory due unto it; for it is holy — As well as great, and therefore worthy to be praised. The holiness of God’s name makes it truly great to his friends and terrible to his enemies.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv1–9 The Lord reigneth - The Lord, Yahweh, is king.…
The Lord reigneth - The Lord, Yahweh, is king. See Psa 93:1.
Let the people tremble - The Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate render this, “Let the people rage” - or, be angry: as if the idea were that God reigned, although the people were enraged, and were opposed to him. The true meaning of the word used here, however, is “tremble,” properly signifying to be moved, disturbed, disquieted, thrown into commotion; and then it may mean to be moved with anger, Pro 29:9; Isa 28:21; or with grief, 2Sa 18:33 : or with fear, Psa 4:4; or with joy, Jer 33:9. Hence, it means to be agitated or moved with fear or reverence; and it refers here to the reverence or awe which one has in the conscious presence of God.
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He sitteth between the cherubims - See the notes at Psa 80:1.
Let the earth be moved - Margin, “stagger.” The word means to move or quake. It occurs nowhere else. Compare the notes at Psa 18:7. See also Hab 3:6, Hab 3:10.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v1 Psalms 99
Psalms 99
1 The Lord reigneth; let the people tremble:
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He sitteth between the cherubim; let the earth be moved.
2 The Lord is great in Zion;
And he is high above all the people.
3 Let them praise thy great and terrible name;
For it is holy.
4 The king’s strength also loveth judgment;
Thou dost establish equity,
Thou executest judgment and righteousness in Jacob.
5 Exalt ye the Lord our God,
And worship at his footstool;
For he is holy.
6 Moses and Aaron among his priests,
And Samuel among them that call upon his name;
They called upon the Lord, and he answered them.
7 He spake unto them in the cloudy pillar:
They kept his testimonies,
And the ordinance that he gave them.
8 Thou answeredst them, O Lord our God:
Thou wast a God that forgavest them,
Though thou tookest vengeance of their inventions.
9 Exalt the Lord our God,
And worship at his holy hill;
For the Lord our God is holy.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Contents and Division.—The three times holy is sounded here in the confessing Church upon earth, as in Isaiah 6 it is represented as being sung in heaven by angels. It divides the Psalm into three parts, the refrain being somewhat lengthened in each repetition. First, there is an acknowledgment of the manifestations of Jehovah’s kingly might in heaven and upon earth, which makes the world tremble, and is worthy to evoke praise to this exalted Ruler and His mighty name. To this is attached the simple acknowledgment of His holiness. This is then connected with the worship of Jehovah on the steps of His throne, as the King who has established the Theocracy in Israel. Finally, both the place of worship and the object to whom it is due are particularly described, after it had been shown from the history of Israel previous to the establishment of the Monarchy, that God’s kingdom is not dependent upon the existence of earthly kings, but is regulated in accordance with a course of action, in harmony with its true nature, both on the part of the Church and on the part of God. This analysis and view of the Psalm avoids the difficulties and artificial character of the usual division into two parts, to which Hengstenberg also adheres, except that he regards Psa_99:1 as the Theme prefixed. Hupfeld also finds a reference to the history of the leading through the desert, as in Psalms 95, 81, joined to an appeal to the people of Israel to praise Jehovah as the mighty and dreadful King of the world, who also loves that justice which He has established and administered among His people. The exact point of view of this allusion and its connection, both internal and with the first part, is, according to him, rather obscurely expressed. The threefold division of Bengel and his school, approved by Delitzsch, according to which the Lord is praised as He that is coming, He who is, and He who was, is open to the same objections. Our view agrees more closely with the text, explains the mention of the three most important men in the Theocracy before the time of David, and preserves for the Psalm its peculiar character, which indicates decisively its position in the period after the destruction of the kingdom. That the ark of the covenant was still in existence at that time, according to Psa_99:1; Psa_99:5, and that therefore this Psalm, with its whole cycle and the second part of Isaiah, is to be assigned to a period preceding the Exile (Hengstenberg) is not an “indisputable fact,” but an unsupported inference. [Perowne, who does not attempt to settle the time of composition, remarks on the character and position of the Psalm: “This is the last of the series of royal Psalms, of Psalms which celebrate the coming of Jehovah as King. The first of this series is the 93d. The 99th, like the 93d and 97th, opens with the joyful announcement that Jehovah is King, and then bids all men fall down, and confess His greatness, and worship Him who alone is holy. Both the first and the last of the series celebrate the kingly majesty and the holiness of Jehovah, and also the holiness of His worship. In this Psalm, the true character of His worshippers as consecrated priests, holy, set apart for His service, is illustrated by the example of holy men of old, like Moses, Aaron, and Samuel.”—J. F. M.]
Psa_99:1 ff. Throned upon the cherubim. [E. V. he sitteth between the cherubim]. The participle is dependent upon the preceding מָלָךְ as defining the nature and manner of Jehovah’s reign (Olshausen). The expression itself always denotes a manifestation of the kingly majesty of Jehovah in the world (see on Psa_18:11) whether it be from heaven or out of Zion, and is connected with the belief, not merely of the identity of the heavenly King and the God who was adored in Zion, but also of His presence in Israel. The Cherubim are represented, therefore, as being both over the ark of the covenant and in the chariot of heaven, and in the temple also in various forms, and if the term is applied also to the place of the throne over the ark of the covenant, and derives its most frequent application therefrom, the usage of this expression, which had become an established designation of God in His definite relation to the world and the history of the Theocracy, Psa_80:3, can no longer be urged in proof of the actual contemporaneous existence of the ark of the covenant.
Psa_99:5. The footstool in Psa_99:5 is to be viewed in the same way, although it is not distinguished as an object of adoration, by means of a rhetorical figure (Hupfeld), but as the place where it is offered, in allusion to prostration upon the steps of the throne. The expression might, it is true, be referred to the covering of the ark of the covenant (Psa_132:7-8; 1Ch_28:2) and it is such a general one, that it may characterize even the whole earth in relation to heaven, the throne of that God who rules the world and fills all space (Isa_66:1). But here, as Psa_99:9 shows, it denotes the sanctuary at Jerusalem (Lam_2:1) as the dwelling of God, where He has His throne (Psa_5:8; Psa_138:2) and the place of His feet (Isa_60:13; Eze_43:7), without implying thereby the existence of the ark of the covenant.
Psa_99:4. And the might of a King who loveth justice [E. V.: The king’s strength also loveth judgment]. The connection by “and” does not contain any convincing ground for the assumption, that the sentence continues to enumerate objects of praise (Isaaki, Rosenmüller and others) and, accordingly, that Psa_99:3 b, is a parenthesis (De Wette, Hengst.). This would destroy the strophical structure. Nor does it justify us in detaching this member of the verse from the following as an independent sentence, or in considering it as a parallel confession to the words that refer to the holiness of Jehovah (or His person). According to the last view, עז is taken inadmissibly as denoting majesty, and the article is supplied, thus affording the rendering: the majesty of the king is loving justice. (The ancient translators and expositors). Nor can we regard the abstract as an adjective: the strong king (Hupfeld). The position of the words favors the view that “loving justice” is a relative clause (Chald., Aben Ezra, Delitzsch, Hitzig), and that “might” is the accusative of the object preceding its verb. The idea, that with this King omnipotence and righteousness are inseparable, is retained; but it is placed in direct connection with the actual verification of that truth, which is the occasion and subject of this Psalm, and by which the might or strength of the King is confirmed, as elsewhere His throne is said to be, (Psa_9:8; 2Sa_7:13; 1Ch_17:12). Jehovah has administered justice and righteousness in Jacob by means of the Theocracy. [The author renders accordingly: And the might of the king, who loveth righteousness, hast thou established in uprightness; justice and righteousness hast thou fulfilled in Jacob.—J. F. M.].
Psa_99:6 ff. Moses twice performed acts essentially priestly (Exodus 24 and Exo_40:22 f, comp. Leviticus 8), at the ratification of the covenant, and at the consecration of the priests. For this reason he could the more readily be placed here among the priestly mediators. Among the suppliants Samuel is given the prominence (1Sa_7:8 f.; 1Sa_12:16 f.; Sir_46:16 f.). But he too offered sacrifices and blessed the offerings (1Sa_9:13), as Moses also prayed mightily (Exo_17:11 f.; Exo_32:30 f.; Psa_106:23). [Hengstenberg: “The whole passage proceeds upon the view that the communication of new precepts and rules of life shall be bound up with the future glorious revelation of the Lord. The people are here told how they may gain participation in this. Participation in the new covenant is the reward of faithfulness to the old. If we observe the commandments of God, we shall receive the commandments of God, and with them salvation.”—J. F. M.]. On the cloudy pillar see especially Num_12:5, and Exo_33:7. [Psa_99:7. Alexander: “The pronoun in the first clause (them), can only refer to Moses, Aaron, and Samuel, in the second it is applicable both to them and to the people; in the third it relates to the latter exclusively.”—J. F. M.].
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. God makes known by deeds of kingly might, what He is, a King above all kings, and will be regarded and acknowledged as such on earth as in heaven. Therefore He insists upon the honor of His name, in which He reveals the august majesty of His being, and will have it regarded as holy, as He Himself is holy.
2. But God shows His pre-eminent kingly glory not only in manifestations of His might, which shake the world, make the people quake, and invest His name with dreadful exaltation. He has begun upon earth a kingdom of righteousness, whose king He Himself appoints and qualifies, whose lasting duration He Himself assures and effects; whose inhabitants He calls and leads to piety in the worship of Himself as the true God. He has made the historical beginning of this system in the family of Jacob, and has placed its central point in Zion.
3. God, however, long before the establishment of the actual kingdom among the Israelites, instituted the ordinances of His worship through mediators whom He called, and, in their administration, proved Himself to be the living God of revelation, who hears prayer and forgives sin, and yet keeps watch over the observance of His precepts, in order that He may be feared as the Avenger of human deeds.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
Those who praise the thrice-holy One must adore Him as the true God, serve Him as the heavenly King, and trust Him as the effectual Deliverer.—God will hear our prayers and we must keep His commandments.—God is holy in the exercise of His power, in the manifestation of His wrath, in dispensing His mercy.—The part borne by God’s righteousness in founding, preserving, and ruling His church upon earth.—There is a trembling of fear as there is a trembling of hope and joy, but all these emotions, if they are to tend to salvation, must be combined with subjection to the great king who is a mighty Ruler, as well as a holy God.
Starke: God delights to dwell among those who look with their faces towards the throne of grace, for over them will He spread the wings of His mercy.—Mark this ye unrighteous! In Christ’s kingdom men must love justice; your wicked perversions of it will not succeed there.—Before all things we must pray in penitence for forgiveness of sins; otherwise our sins will hinder us in our efforts to obtain blessings.—The hearing of prayer and forgiveness of sins are not irreconcilable with God’s chastisements, they can very well coexist.—If men bend low before an earthly king, how much more are we bound to do so towards the heavenly king!—God is holy! These words should pervade our minds whenever we hold intercourse with God, and many forbidden thoughts would then be expelled.
Osiander: God always remains true to His promises, and fulfils them, though we are not worthy that He should hear us.—Selnecker: God has begun His kingdom on Zion and not on Mount Sinai. It is not a kingdom of wrath, but of mercy.—Menzel: The kingdom of Christ is distinguished from all nations of the world, not only by its being spiritual and being concerned with spiritual things, but also by its leading and pointing the way to all justice and righteousness.—Frisch: Yield thyself only to the protection of God’s grace, and pray the more earnestly that His kingdom may come, and the devil cannot prevent it with all his cunning and strength. It must advance within and without thee, and end at last in glory and majesty.—Arndt: Is not that a fair and gracious kingdom which possesses these characteristics: (1) to love justice; (2) to induce piety; (3) to work justice and righteousness!—Rieger: What no human laws can avail to effect, namely, that none who are innocent shall be injured or molested, and that none who are guilty shall sin with impunity, is accomplished in God’s kingdom and by His righteousness.—Tholuck: God in His mercy has granted to His people powerful intercessors. It is true that He has punished their iniquities: yet He has not turned His mercy away from them, but forgiven them for the sake of those intercessors. Can Israel forget this?—Vaihinger: The more highly God is glorified, the lower must men bow to Him.—Richter (Hausbibel): Glorify the kingly majesty of the Lord! Pay homage to His righteousness! Draw near to Him as His servants!—Guenther: Without commotion and trembling and quaking there is no revelation from God.—To the elect God is at the same time the Pardoner and Avenger of sin. Let the heart tremble, and the conscience be aroused; fear the Avenger and love the God of mercy!—Diedrich: God’s highest majesty is not displayed in the creation, nor in the government of the world, but in His gracious dealings among sinful men whom He has chosen to Himself. In this He shows how He is our King, by taking our deepest cares upon Himself.—Taube: It is just that the fulness of mercy should fall into the bosom of faith; it is just that the wrath of the Lamb should be the most severe.
[Matt. Henry: The more we abase ourselves, and the more prostrate we are before God, the more we exalt Him.—J. F. M.].
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv1–9 1. The Lord reigneth—A public proclamation, (see on Psa_93:1;…
1. The Lord reigneth—A public proclamation, (see on Psa_93:1; Psa_97:1,) for all the nations to hear.
Let the people tremble—Or, the nations shall tremble. The future tense of the verb makes it prophetic. It is spoken of the hostile nations who hated, and meditated evil of, the Hebrew people and religion. These shall quake through fear when they learn that Jehovah is the true king of Israel, and will defend them, and punish with destruction those who conspire against them. The allusion is to Exo_15:14-16; Deu_2:25; Jos_2:9-11.
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He sitteth between the cherubim—He not only reigns, but he is now sitting in his throne of judgment, with the swift executioners of his will—the cherubim—about him. See note on Psa_80:1.
Let the earth be moved—The earth shall be moved. This clearly determines that the address is to all the nations.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv1–9 1. Jehovah hath proclaimed himself King; the peoples tremble:
1. Jehovah hath proclaimed himself King; the peoples tremble:
Even he that sitteth enthroned upon the cherubim; the earth shaketh.
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When Jehovah manifests His sovereignty the nations must needs tremble with awe (Isa_64:2), and all the earth must confess His majesty (Psa_77:18). The title he that sitteth enthroned upon the cherubim (Psa_80:1) suggests the thought that He Who is supremely exalted in heaven has yet in time past condescended to dwell among His people on earth (1Sa_4:4; 2Sa_6:2; 2Ki_19:15).
1–3. Jehovah has proclaimed Himself King in Zion: let all the earth worship this Holy God.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 5, 6, 8 (1) The Lord reigneth.—See Note, Psa_93:1.
(1) The Lord reigneth.—See Note, Psa_93:1.
Tremble.—LXX. and Vulg., “be angry.” The optative in this and the following clause is after the LXX.; but the Hebrew is in the ordinary present, the peoples tremble, the earth staggers.
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He sitteth.—In original a participle.
Between the cherubims . . .—See Notes on Psa_80:1.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1–9 HERE we have the last of the series of…
HERE we have the last of the series of Second Advent psalms, which began with Psalm 93. The first of them, the fifth, and the last, commence in the same way with the watchword, "The Lord reigneth." The first and last lay special stress on holiness, as God"s leading characteristic, and as required by him. (Psa_93:5 Psa_99:3, Psa_99:5, Psa_99:9) Delitzsch has called this psalm "the earthly echo of the seraphic Trisagion." It resolves the concentrated declaration, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts", (Isa_6:3) into three distinct and separate cries, "Holy is he" (ver. 3); "Holy is he" (ver. 5); and "Holy is the Lord our God" (ver. 9). This refrain divides the psalm into three unequal portions, viz. vers. 1-3; vers. 4, 5; and vers. 6-9.
The Lord reigneth. (see the comment on Psa_93:1) Let the people tremble; literally, the peoples; i.e. all the nations upon earth. He sitteth between the cherubim; rather, he hath his seat upon the cherubim. (comp. Psa_80:2) The imagery is taken from the internal economy of the Jewish temple, where the Shechinah was enthroned above the cherubic forms that overshadowed and guarded the ark. Let the earth be moved; or, quake. (comp. Psa_114:7)
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HOMILIES BY R. TUCK Ver. 1. The permanency of God"s reign.
"He sitteth between the cherubim." Jennings and Lowe render, "Jehovah has become King, the peoples tremble; (even) he that sits upon the cherubim, the earth shakes." There is a designed contrast. The peoples tremble, the king is established firm; the earth shakes, the throne of the king is steady and unmoved. The figure of God as sitting on the cherubim is difficult, because we cannot be quite sure of the ideas Israelites had of the position and relations of the fire symbol of God in the holy of holies. In Psa_80:1 God is presented as sitting, throned above the cherubim;" and the idea here is probably above the cherubim" rather than on the cherubim." Then we get a clear meaning. The cherubim represent all created beings superior to man, all supersensual beings; and God is to be thought of as beyond and above even them, as superior to them as to the people of this earth, and as unaffected by conceivable changes in them as he is unaffected by the commotions of earth. The more usual way of explaining the figure is given by Spurgeon, thus: "In grandeur of sublime glory, yet in nearness of mediatorial condescension, Jehovah revealed himself above the mercy seat, whereon stood the likeness of those flaming ones who gaze upon his glory, and forever cry, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts.
I GOD"S REIGN ESTABLISHED. Keep the associations of the restored exiles. They set up again the theocratic kingdom, and conceived of Jehovah as coming again to reign. So they naturally recalled the old sign of his presence and rule, the Shechinah-light which shone above the mercy seat, which the cherubic figures guarded. The sign of the lapse of the nation from Jehovah was the fading or removing of that light. Now the restored exiles rejoiced in the resumption of Jehovah"s reign, and in figure presented it as God taking his seat again above the cherubim. God takes the throne only when hearts are willing to receive him.
II GOD"S REIGN CONFIRMED. The satisfaction of the psalmist evidently is in the fact that God means to stay enthroned. He is conceived of as unaffected by the trembling of the people or the shaking of the earth. There is even a more striking poetical figure. If even the cherubim were to tremble, or shake, or fail, God"s reign is too confirmed to be affected by it. We may think of him as "above the cherubim." Absolute reliance on him may find expression in loyal and loving service of him. R.T.
HOMILIES BY C. SHORT Vers. 1-9. The holy God infinitely worthy of our worship.
I BECAUSE OF HIS UNIVERSAL SUPREMACY. (Vers. 1-3) His power exercised for the ends of goodness. "He is great in Zion," the most beneficent institution.
II BECAUSE HE RULES FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF RIGHT AND TRUTH. (Vers. 4, 5) He is setting up throughout the world righteous order, establishing the dominion of right and justice.
III BECAUSE HE HEARS AND ANSWERS THOSE WHO PRAY TO HIM. (Vers. 6, 7) Grants them their need; speaks to their minds; reveals his Law and his will to them; still guides as he guided his ancient people.
IV BECAUSE HE IS MERCIFUL TO THE PENITENT. (Ver. 8) "Thou wast a God that forgavest them.
V BECAUSE HE PUNISHES THE IMPENITENT. (Ver. 8) This is as great a necessity of his nature and rule as that he should pardon the penitent. He is holy. S.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain On vv1–9 This may be called THE SANCTUS, or, THE HOLY,…
This may be called THE SANCTUS, or, THE HOLY, HOLY, HOLY PSALM, for the word "holy" is the conclusion and the refrain of its three main divisions. Its subject is the holiness of the divine government, the sanctity of the mediatorial reign. It seems to us to declare the holiness of Jehovah himself in Ps 99:1-3; it mentions the equity of the king whom the Lord had appointed, as an illustration of the Lord's love of holiness, or more probably it describes the Lord as himself the king, in Ps 99:4-5, and it then sets forth the severely righteous character of God's dealings with those favoured persons whom in former times he had selected to approach him on behalf of the people, Ps 99:6-9. It is a hymn fitted for the cherubim who surround the throne, who are mentioned in Ps 99:1; it is a Psalm most fitting for saints who dwell in Zion, the holy city, and especially worthy to be reverently sung by all who, like David the king, Moses the lawgiver, Aaron the priest, or Samuel the seer, are honoured to lead the church of God, and plead for her with her Lord.
Ver. 1. The Lord reigneth. One of the most joyous utterances which ever leaped from mortal lip. The overthrow of the reign of evil and the setting up of Jehovah's kingdom of goodness, justice, and truth, is worthy to be hymned again and again, as we have it here for the third time in the psalms.
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Let the people tremble. Let the chosen people feel a solemn yet joyful awe, which shall thrill their whole manhood. Saints quiver with devout emotion, and sinners quiver with terror when the rule of Jehovah is fully perceived and felt. It is not a light or trifling matter, it is a truth which, above all others, should stir the depths of our nature.
He sitteth between the cherubims. In grandeur of sublime glory, yet in nearness of mediatorial condescension, Jehovah revealed himself above the mercyseat, whereon stood the likeness of those flaming ones who gaze upon his glory, and for ever cry, "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts." The Lord reigning on that throne of grace which is sprinkled with atoning blood, and veiled with the covering wings of mediatorial love, is above all other revelations wonderful, and fitted to excite emotion among all mankind, hence it is added,
Let the earth be moved. Not merely "the people, "but the whole earth should feel a movement of adoring awe when it is known that on the mercyseat God sits as universal monarch. The pomp of heaven surrounds him, and is symbolised by the outstretched wings of waiting cherubs; let not the earth be less moved to adoration, rather let all her tribes bow before his infinite majesty, yea, let the solid earth itself with reverent tremor acknowledge his presence.
Whole Psalm. This psalm has three parts, in which the Lord is celebrated as He who is to come, as He who is, and as he who was. John Albert Bengel, 1687-1752.
Whole Psalm. In each of the three strophes Jehovah is acknowledged in his peculiar covenant relation to his people. In the first he is "great in Zion"(Ps 99:2); in the second, he has "executed righteousness in Jacob"(Ps 99:4); and he is "Jehovah our God" (Ps 99:5); in the third, the great examples of this covenant relationship are cited from Israel's ancient history; and again God is twice claimed as "Jehovah our God" (Ps 99:8-9). J.J.S. Perowne.
Whole Psalm. There are three psalms which begin with the words, "The Lord (JEHOVAH) reigneth." (Psalms 93, 97, 99.) This is the third and last of these Psalms; and it is remarkable that in this Psalm the words He is holy are repeated three times (Ps 99:3, 5, 9). Thus this Psalm is one of the links in the chain which connects the first revelation of God in Genesis with the full manifestation of the doctrine of the blessed Trinity, which is revealed in the commission of the risen Saviour to his apostles: "Go ye, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, "and which prepares the faithful to join in the heavenly Hallelujah of the church glorified, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come." The other links in this chain in the Old Testament are, the Aaronic benediction, in Nu 6:24-27; and the Seraphic Trisagion, in Isa 6:1-3. Christopher Wordsworth.
Whole Psalm. Many of the preceding Psalms, in extolling the Dominion and Supremacy of the Messiah, have spoken of him solely as the object of triumph and rejoicing. He has been represented in all the bounteousness of his mercy, and the excess of his lovingkindness; and the ideas of might and majesty, with which he has been accompanied, seem chiefly to have been regarded as the means by which these gracious designs will be carried into a sure effect. There is always a great danger in such a feeling, lest our reciprocal covenant should be too much forgotten; and we should rest on our privileges to the exclusion of our practice. This was a constant error to the Jews. "We have Abraham to our Father, "was continually on their lips; as if the given promise to their nation had been inalienable for ever. Subsequent ages have shown the existence of the same false principle amongst the Gentiles. It is a part of the weakness of human nature; and hence was the prophet inspired to warn the world of the evil, and draw their minds to a just sense of the awfulness of the Redeemer's majesty. In this view, joined as it is throughout with assertions of his readiness at all times to listen to the believer and to grant his supplication, the Psalm is at once of great power and of an exceeding consolation. William Hill Tucker.
Ver. 1. Let the people tremble... let the earth be moved. That fear which proceeds from simple reverence as well as that which arises from apprehension of evil, produces bodily shaking. Thus this exhortation may concern believing as well as unbelieving nations. Amyraldus.
Ver. 1. Let the people tremble. He bids a defiance, as it were, to all his enemies, orgizesywsan, irascantur, commoveantur, fremant populi;let the people be angry, fret, and be unquiet, as Ps 2:1. Let the earth, that is, the tyrants of the earth, be moved at it; yet let them know that all their endeavours are but vain. William Nicholson.
Ver. 1. Let the people tremble. Jarchi refers this to the war of Gog and Magog. John Gill.
Ver. 1. Let the people tremble. Albeit the church be compassed about with enemies, as the lily among the thorns, yet because her Lord reigneth in the midst of her, she hath reason not only to comfort herself in him, but also hath ground of defying her enemies, and boasting against them: "The LORD reigneth; let the people tremble." The Lord's people do not worship an unknown God, they know who he is, and where to find him; to wit, in his ordinances, on the throne of grace, reconciling himself to the world in Christ: He sitteth between the cherubims. David Dickson.
Ver. 1. The cherubims. These were figures, or representations of angels, inclining their faces one towards the other, and touching one another with their wings. Ex 25:18. The use of these was to cover or overshadow the mercyseat with their wings, Ex 25:20, and from this seat God used to speak unto Moses, Ex 25:22; Nu 7:8-9. Which may be applied unto Christ, whose mediation was signified by the mercyseat;whence it is said, that he is a propitiation or covering mercyseat, Ro 3:25 1Jo 2:2 4:10, because by his obedience all our unrighteousness is covered. Thomas Wilson(-1621), in "A Complete Christian Dictionary, "1678.
Ver. 1. He sitteth between the cherubims. Our friend Mr. Charles Stanford, in his delicious work, "Symbols of Christ, "has beautifully brought out the connection between Mt 23:37 and Mt 23:38. The house was left desolate because Christ, who was set forth by the symbol of shelter, was rejected by them, and was not permitted to cover them with his wings. It was customary for the Jews to say of a proselyte, "He has taken refuge under the wings of the Shekinah." We now see that to take shelter under the wings of the Shekinah is to hide beneath the wings of Christ. Beneath that living shield which beats back the destroying stroke, and is broad enough to canopy a fugitive world, we take shelter, and there the promise is fulfilled, "He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust."
Ver. 1. He sitteth between the cherubims. The cherubim is the seat of God, as the scripture sheweth us, a certain exalted heavenly throne, which we see not; but the word of God knoweth it, knoweth it as his own seat: and the word of God and the Spirit of God hath itself revealed to the servants of God where God sitteth. Not that God doth sit, as doth man, but thou, if thou dost wish that God sit in thee, if thou wilt be good, shalt be the seat of God; for thus is it written, "The soul of the righteous is the seat of wisdom" Septuagint translation]. For a throne is in our language called a seat. For some, conversant with the Hebrew tongue, have interpreted cherubim in the Latin language (for it is a Hebrew term) by the words fulness of knowledge. Therefore, because God surpasses all knowledge, he is said to sit above the fulness of knowledge. Let there be therefore in thee fulness of knowledge, and even thou shalt be the throne of God. Augustine.
Ver. 1. Let the earth be moved. Those that submit to him shall be established, and not "moved, "Ps 96:10; but they that oppose him will be moved. Heaven and earth shall be shaken, and all nations; but the kingdom of Christ cannot be moved. The "things which cannot be shaken shall remain, "Heb 12:27. Matthew Henry.
Ver. 1.
1. The doctrine of divine sovereignty enunciated.
2. The apprehension of divine sovereignty demanded. It ought to be spiritually apprehended. God wants to be King in the hearts of men. All mortals must tremble before the Immortal; especially the wicked.
3. The accessories of divine sovereignty hinted at. Sovereignty never forsakes the mercyseat. Angels are represented on the mercyseat, the ministers of sovereignty,
4. The effect of divine sovereignty described. Men should be "moved" to
fear and obey the King before whom angels bow. Men
should be moved to seek the mercy which angels study. William Durban.
Ver. 1. He sitteth between the cherubims, etc.
1. Statement made; where God dwells, on the mercyseat. To hear prayer, and confession, and to grant salvation.
2. Effect produced"Earth moved; "to admiration, to prayer, to sorrowful contrition, to draw near, etc. E. G. Gange.
Psalms 99:2*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 5, 8 The Lord reigneth.
Psa_99:1-9
The Lord reigneth.
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The rulership of God over the world
I. As seen in symbol. He sitteth between the cherubim. This reference to the Shekinah teaches us that His reign is--
1. Moral.
2. Merciful.
3. Glorious. The ark is a humble emblem of that throne which is invisible in its nature, and universal in its authority, and withal characterized by the sublimely moral, merciful, and redemptive.
II. As extolled in language (Psa_99:2-4). He is extolled--
1. Because He is supreme. King of kings and Lord of lords.
2. Because He is holy. His throne has never been stained with wrong, it is a great white throne.
3. Because it is mighty in rectitude (Psa_99:4). Gods throne is morally omnipotent because it is infinitely just.
III. As recalled in memory (Psa_99:6-8). His reign as here brought to the memory of the author of this poem taught two things.
1. That His reign had respect to human prayer. Moses and Aaron prayed and they were answered, Samuel prayed and he was answered, and so ever it was with the pious Hebrew. He recognized the duty and power of human prayer. Prayer is an element of the Divine Government.
2. That His reign had respect to human forgiveness. How frequently did He forgive His people of old; He forgave Moses, Samuel, Aaron, David, etc. Thus under Gods reign on earth forgiveness is dispensed, dispensed to all true penitents. Let the wicked forsake his way, etc.
IV. As felt in conscience (Psa_99:5; Psa_99:9). Here the sublime sense of moral obligation in the author is touched, excited and speaks with an ill-imperial voice. Exalt ye. It is at once the supreme interest and duty of every man to give Him in all things the pre-eminence in thought, sympathy, volition, aim. (Homilist.)
The supreme dominion of God
The text states not only a truth, but a necessity also. It is not only absolutely true--that is, true without any restriction whatever--that God reigns; but it is also equally true, that He must reign; and that He must reign everywhere--throughout His entire universe, and over all His creatures.
I. Consider the fact, that the Lord reigneth.
1. And in doing so, let it be understood, that nothing whatever is intended to be said by way of proof. That would be both useless and impertinent; for God has declared the fact. And when God speaks, it is the duty of men to believe, not to dispute or argue.
2. But though it is not necessary to prove the truth of what God has said, or to explain its reasonableness, ere we receive it, it is of the utmost advantage to obtain suitable illustrations; as thereby, not only is a more sensible impression made upon the mind, but our faith also is greatly strengthened.
3. The first idea suggested arises from a consideration of the person who is said to reign--The Lord reigneth--that is, the Almighty, Omniscient, Omnipresent God. Now, if such attributes belong to God, then all difficulties as to the ability of God to reign supremely at once vanish.
4. Having thus glanced at some of the attributes of God, we next observe that the idea of reigning implies permission of every thing which occurs. We must not, therefore, be staggered at those strange transactions, which ever and anon fill the world with wonder and alarm, as though they indicated the absence of a supreme sovereignty.
5. But this idea of permission, when applied to God, necessitates the thought of control also. For to say that He permits only because He cannot resist is to deny His power altogether.
6. But if God reigns supremely, then all things must be reader His direction, as well as control. Otherwise, there may be another will in operation before the will of God, and independent of Him.
7. But, in thus endeavouring to show the absolute supremacy of God, we may not forget that His glory will be the sure result of His reign, whatever efforts may be made by men or others to frustrate it.
8. It has sometimes been argued, that as no creature can do anything except by the permission of God, add as the glory of God is the necessary result of whatever He permits, so men are justified in all their actions; and the well-known sentiment whatever is, is right, has become a very favourite maxim with many, who plead for a licentious and irresponsible course of life. Such reasoning, however, is of no weight, since it totally overlooks the Word of God, which is our only rule of action.
II. Consider the duty of those who believe that the Lord reigneth. Let the people tremble.
1. It is a fearfully solemn and overwhelming thought, that an almighty and infinitely holy God is the ruler of this ungodly world, and that He has appointed a day in the which He will judge the world in righteousness (Act_17:31). Surely, then, those who believe the Word of God ought to take every opportunity to let their light shine; not only that they may bear a testimony in favour of His truth, but likewise that, knowing the terror of the Lord, they may persuade men to flee from the wrath to come.
2. This consideration is strengthened by remembering, how utterly impotent and vain are all our efforts to withstand the Most High.
3. It is not a man that reigns, nor any creature, however great in intelligence or power. It is the eternal God, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. However much men may repine at His dispensations and strive to alter His purposes, and whatever wickedness may fill the earth while the nations are resisting His authority and His laws, the wisdom of His government is unimpeachable, and demands our unreserved and cheerful submission.
4. But not less are we called to rejoice in the goodness, than in the wisdom of God. Is the law to be vindicated? Is justice to be satisfied? Is holiness to be enforced? All this is done, so as clearly to discover that God is love.
5. But are not other duties imperative, besides those already referred to? It is not enough that we should tremble and rejoice, while we remember that God reigns. He requires us also to be co-workers with Him in establishing His kingdom. (T. Woolmer.)
The great King
We have here a contrast between the omnipotence of God and the impotence of man:--We see the great King sitting on His throne, raised up far above all the changes of time and sense; we see the people raging, discontented, contending one with another, but all their fury in no way affects the calm majesty of the great King. The picture is an impressive one. Power, solemnity, grandeur, on the one hand; paltriness, meanness, pretence on the other.
I. Let it teach us our own insignificance. We make among ourselves lords many and gods many. Our little sphere is exalted and magnified, but how ridiculous are our pretensions!
II. Let it teach us our dependence. All we can do cannot alter or change our condition. We must be dependent on the sovereign power of the Almighty.
III. Let it teach us patience. The restless wave is hurled back upon itself broken in pieces from the granite rock. Our greenings and discontent recoil upon our own heads when we attempt to murmur against Omnipotence.
IV. Let it teach us reverence We cannot but honour One so great. Our own insignificance should teach us the folly of setting up ourselves as a model of perfection. (Homilist.)
Signs of Gods kingdom
Among these are--
I. Greater honesty of thought. Professor Huxley, when he set himself to number the triumphs of scientific work during the reign of Victoria, did not put so high the inventions which have yoked steam and electricity to mans service as he put the more general habit of scientific thinking. The man in the street takes fewer statements on faith, and popular literature offers more reasons for actions. Old customs and old beliefs are tried in a court where the question is, Does this custom express present belief? Does this belief express truth? Positions of great attraction are now often considered, not only in relation to the pay or the power they offer, but the further question is asked, Can I take this post and be honest? Can I, having my views, serve in this leaders party? Can I, with my opinions, take orders? Men of high intelligence and goodness who would to-day be preaching and teaching in the Church, are doing work they like less because they will not be untrue. Justice to the individual is now often regarded as of greater obligation than expediency. The value set on thinking has brought out the value of the man; each one would live his own life and would let his neighbour live his life. Never before was there so much care that the weak and the wicked should have fair treatment.
II. A larger human spirit. Each mornings news takes in the history of the world, and sympathy from English breakfast-tables reaches out to the needs of the sick, the plague-stricken, the wrecked, and the oppressed in all parts of the world. People watch with anxiety the movement of ideas, and without an eye to their own profit give their time and money to forward or hinder the spread of ideas. Societies for relief, for giving knowledge, for passing on discoveries and inventions increase daily.
III. A more general historic sense. This is shown in the new interest taken in the characters of old times, in the many books and essays written out of much study to throw light on men who hitherto have been but names. It is shown in the interest taken in old forms, in the revival of ritual and pageantry, and in the popularity of romantic literature, in the care and restoration of old monuments. It is shown in the judgments now passed on the manners and morals of other ages. Acts wrong in the present society are seen to be right in another environment. The same principle has been discovered in martyrs and persecutors, in those who kill prophets and in those who build their sepulchres. The seeds of institutions now admired have been sown in deeds now condemned. The past and present are parts of one whole. Unity is seen to be in diversity rather than in uniformity, and a care for beauty, which is the expression of the unity of diversity, has thus been developed. Religion, which I have been trying to show is the thought about God, is, if we will only open our eyes, being worked into the actions and feelings of modern life. God is King, and His kingdom comes. (Canon Barnett.)
Christs reign over men
Quoting the words God reigneth of the forty-seventh Psalm, the Church Father, Justin Martyr, added, by way of explanation, from the wood. He meant from the wood of the Cross: Christ being lifted up on the Cross reigneth over all whom He draws to Him. We are reminded of Napoleons saying that Charlemagne himself, who conquered and ruled by force, will soon be forgotten; but that Jesus Christ will reign for ever in the hearts of men by loving them.
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v1 Psalms 99
Psalms 99
DELITZSCH has well called this psalm "an earthly echo of the seraphic Trisagion," the threefold proclamation of the Divine holiness, which Isaiah. {Isa_6:3} It is, as already noted, a pendant to Psalms 98, but is distinguished from the other psalms of this group by its greater originality, the absence of distinct allusion to the great act of deliverance celebrated in them. and its absorption in the one thought of the Divine holiness. Their theme is the event by which Jehovah manifested to the world His sovereign rule, this psalm passes beyond the event, and grasps the eternal central principle of that rule-namely, holiness. The same thought has been touched on in the other members of the group, but here it is the single subject of praise. Its exhibition in Gods dealings with Israel is here traced in ancient examples, rather than in recent instances; but the viewpoint of the other psalms is retained, in so far as the Divine dealings with Israel are regarded as the occasion for the worlds praise.
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The first strophe (Psa_99:1-3) dwells in general terms on Jehovahs holiness, by which august conception is meant, not only moral purity, but separation from. by elevation above, the finite and imperfect. Psa_99:1 vividly paints in each clause the glory reigning in heaven, and its effect on an awestruck world. We might render the verbs in the second part of each clause as futures or as optatives (shall tremble, shall totter, or let peoples tremble, etc.), but the thought is more animated if they are taken as describing the result of the theophany. The participial clause "throned on the cherubim" adds detail to the picture of Jehovah as King. It should not, strictly speaking, be rendered with a finite verb. When that vision of Him sitting in royal state is unveiled, all people are touched with reverence, and the solid earth staggers. But the glory which is made visible to all men has its earthly seat in Zion, and shines from thence into all lands. It is by His, deeds in Israel that Gods exaltation is made known. The psalmist does not call on men to bow before a veiled Majesty, of which they only know that it is free from all creatural limitations, lowliness and imperfections; but before a God, who has revealed Himself in acts, and has thereby made Himself a name. "Great and dread" is that name, but it is a sign of His lovingkindness that it is known by men, and thanksgiving, not dumb trembling, befits men who know it. The refrain might be rendered "It is holy," referring to the name, but Psa_99:5 and Psa_99:9 make the rendering Holy is He more probable. The meaning is unaffected whichever translation is adopted.
Jehovah is holy, not only because lifted above and separated from creatural limitations, but because of His righteousness. The second strophe therefore proclaims that all His dominion is based on uprightness, and is a continual passing of that into acts of "judgment and righteousness." The "And" at the beginning of Psa_99:4, following the refrain, is singular, and has led many commentators to link the words with Psa_99:3 a, - and, taking the refrain as parenthetical, to render, "Let them give thanks to Thy great and dread name, [for it is holy], and [to] the strength of the King [who] loveth," etc. But the presence of the refrain is an insuperable bar to this rendering. Others, as Delitzsch and Cheyne, regard "the strength of the king" as dependent on "established" in Psa_99:4 b, and suppose that the theocratic monarch of Israel is represented as under Jehovahs protection, if he reigns righteously. But surely one King only is spoken of in this psalm, and it is the inmost principle and outward acts of His rule which are stated as the psalmists reason for summoning men to prostrate themselves at His footstool. The "And" at the beginning of the strophe links its whole thought with that of the preceding, and declares eloquently how closely knit together are Jehovahs exaltation and His righteousness. The singer is in haste to assert the essentially moral character of infinite power. Delitzsch thinks that love cannot be predicated of "strength," but only of the possessor of strength; but surely that is applying the measuring line of prosaic accuracy to lyric fervour. The intertwining of Divine power and righteousness could not be more strongly asserted than by that very intelligible attribution to His power of the emotion of love, impelling it ever to seek union with uprightness. He is no arbitrary ruler. His reign is for the furtherance of justice. Its basis is "equity," and its separate acts are "judgment and righteousness." These have been done in and for Jacob. Therefore the call to worship rings out again. It is addressed to an undefined multitude, which, as the tone of all this group of psalms leads us to suppose, includes the whole race of man. They are summoned to lift high the praise of Him who in Himself is so high. and to cast themselves low in prostrate adoration at His footstool-i.e., at His sanctuary on Zion (Psa_99:9). Thus again, in the centre strophe of this psalm, as in Psalms 96 and 98, mankind are called to praise the God who has revealed Himself in Israel; but while in the former of these two psalms worship was represented as sacrificial, and in the second as loud music of voice and instrument, here silent prostration is the fitting praise of the holiness of the infinitely exalted Jehovah.
The third strophe turns to examples drawn from the great ones of old, which at once encourage to worship and teach the true nature of worship, while they also set in clear light Jehovahs holiness in dealing with His worshippers. Priestly functions were exercised by Moses, as in sprinkling the blood of the covenant, {Exodus 24} and in the ceremonial connected with the consecration of Aaron and his sons, {Leviticus 8} as well as at the first celebration of worship in the Tabernacle. {Exo_40:18 sqq.} In the wider sense of the word priest, he acted as mediator and intercessor, as Exo_17:12, in the fight against Amalek, and Exo_32:30-32, after the worship of the golden calf. Samuel. too, interceded for Israel after their seeking a king, {1Sa_12:19 sqq.} and offered sacrifices. {1Sa_7:9} Jeremiah couples them together as intercessors with God. {Jer_15:1}
From these venerable examples the psalmist draws instruction as to the nature of the worship befitting the holiness of Jehovah. He goes deeper than all sacrifices, or than silent awe. To call on God is the best adoration. The cry of a soul conscious of emptiness and need, and convinced of His fulness and of the love which is the soul of His power, is never in vain. "They called, and He"-even He in all the unreachable separation of His loftiness from their lowliness-"answered them." There is a commerce of desire and bestowal between the holy Jehovah and us. But these answers come on certain conditions, which are plain consequences of His holiness - namely, that His worshippers should keep His testimonies, by which Hehas witnessed both to His own character and to their duty. The psalmist seems to lose sight of his special examples, and to extend his view to the whole people, when he speaks of answers from the pillar of cloud, which cannot apply to Samuels experience. The persons spoken of in Psa_99:8 as receiving answers may indeed be Moses, Aaron, and Samuel, all of whom were punished for evil deeds, as well as answered when they cried; but more probably they are the whole community. The great principle, firmly grasped and clearly proclaimed by the singer, is that a holy God is a forgiving God, willing to hearken to mens cry, and rich to answer with needed gifts, and that indissolubly interwoven with the pardon, which He in His holiness gives is retribution for evil. God loves too well to grant impunity. Forgiveness is something far better than escape from penalties. It cannot be worthy of God to bestow or salutary for men to receive, unless it is accompanied with such retribution as may show the pardoned man how deadly his sin was. "Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap" is a law not abrogated by forgiveness. The worst penalty of sin, indeed-namely, separation from God-is wholly turned aside by repentance and forgiveness; but for the most part the penalties which are inflicted on earth, and which are the natural results of sin, whether in character, memory, habit, or circumstances, are not removed by pardon. Their character is changed; they become loving chastisement for our profit.
Such, then, is the worship which all men are invited to render to the holy Jehovah. Prostrate awe should pass into the cry of need, desire, and aspiration. It will be heard, if it is verified as real by obedience to Gods known will. The answers will be fresh witnesses of Gods holiness, which declares itself equally in forgiveness and in retribution. Therefore, once more the clear summons to all mankind rings out, and once more the proclamation of His holiness is made.
There is joyful confidence of access to the Inaccessible in the reiteration in Psa_99:9 of Jehovah our God. "Holy is He," sang the psalmist at first, but all the gulf between Jehovah and us is bridged over when to the name which emphasises the eternal, self-existent being of the holy One we can add "our God." Then humble prostration is reconcilable with confident approach; and His worshippers have not only to lie lowly at His footstool, but to draw near with childrens frankness, to His heart.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v1 This Psalm is one of the series of Psalms…
INTRODUCTION
This Psalm is one of the series of Psalms which celebrate the Kingship of Jehovah. “All these Psalms,” says Perowne, “alike tell of the setting up of a Divine kingdom upon earth. All alike anticipate the event with joy. One universal anthem bursts from the whole wide world to greet the advent of the righteous King. Not Zion only and the daughters of Judah are glad, but the dwellers in far-off islands and the ends of the earth. Even inanimate nature sympathises with the joy; the sea thunders her welcome, the rivers clap their hands, the trees of the wood break forth into singing before the Lord. In all these Psalms alike the joy springs from the same source, from the thought that on this earth, where might has so long triumphed over right, a righteous King shall reign, a kingdom shall be set up which shall be a kingdom of righteousness, and judgment, and truth.
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“In this Psalm, not only the righteous sway of the King, but His awful holiness, forms the subject of praise, and the true character of His worshippers as consecrated priests, holy, set apart for His service, is illustrated by the examples of holy men of old, like Moses, Aaron, and Samuel.”
THE SUPREMACY OF THE LORD IN THE CHURCH AND THE STATE
(Psa_99:1-5)
The Psalmist celebrates—
I. The supremacy of the Lord in the Church. Psa_99:1-3.
1. The Lord dwells in the Church. “He sitteth throned upon the cherubim.” The sitting implies rest and permanence; that Jehovah is not a transient guest, but an abiding resident there. “The Lord hath chosen Zion, he hath desired it for His habitation. This is My rest for ever; here will I dwell, for I have desired it.” In a special manner the Lord dwells in the Church. He specially manifested Himself in the Holy of Holies in the Jewish Temple. “The Temple was the royal palace, and the Holy of Holies was the presence-chamber.” And in the Christian Church He is specially present. Here He manifests the perfections and glory of His character more fully than elsewhere—
(1) In the salvation of sinners.
(2) In the communications of His grace which He makes to His people. (See remarks on Psa_76:2; Psa_80:1; Psalms 87.)
2. The Lord it Supreme in the Church. “The Lord reigneth; He sitteth throned upon the cherubim; the Lord is great in Zion, and He is high above all the people.” The Lord rules in His Church. He is sovereign there. His will is loyally obeyed there. And He is supreme in the hearts of His people. He has manifested His greatness in the Church,—the greatness of His power, wisdom, righteousness, and grace. And He who rules in Zion rules in all the nations of the earth. He is exalted above all the peoples. The Psalmist speaks of His “great and terrible name,” or, “great and fearful name.” The Lord’s name is equivalent to the Lord himself in His revealed holiness. His name is “terrible” to His enemies, “holy” to His people, “great” to both, and should be held in awe and reverence by all men. Let the Church of this age ask herself two questions.
First. Does the Lord dwell in her midst? Are the tokens of His presence manifest? Are sinners converted to Him? Do her members live as members of a society in constant communication with and in the constant presence of the Lord and King?
Second. Is the Lord supreme in her? In some Churches Acts of Parliament are supreme, in others rigid creeds and formulæ, in others respectability and fashion, in others sacraments and ceremonies. Oh, for the day when the Lord Jesus Christ, in His spirit and principles, shall be supreme in every community of His professed followers!
II. The supremacy of the Lord in the state. Psa_99:4-5. Two prominent features of this supremacy are mentioned by the Poet—
1. Power. “The King’s strength.” “This verse, as regards construction, is entirely dependent upon the preceding one.”—Hengstenberg. Perowne says: “Others carry on the construction from the last verse, taking the words ‘He (or, it) is holy,’ as parenthetical, thus: ‘They shall praise Thy great and fearful Name (it is holy), and the might of the King who (or, which) loveth righteousness.’ It must be confessed that, but for the words of the refrain, which it is awkward to take thus parenthetically, the sense and the construction are better preserved by this rendering.” Christ is an almighty King both in Himself, and in and for all who believe in Him.
2. Righteousness. This is the great thing. His strength is mentioned, because it is perfectly righteous. His omnipotence expresses itself only in righteousness. We have here—
(1) Righteousness in the heart of the King. “Loveth judgment.” “He loveth righteousness and judgment.” “The Lord loveth judgment, and forsaketh not His saints.”
(2) Righteousness in His legislation. “Thou dost establish equity.” He has established rectitude as the great eternal law of His government. “The law is holy.”
(3) Righteousness in His administration. “Thou executest judgment and righteousness in Jacob.” Under the reign of Jehovah the executive is as just as the legislative. All the laws and all the administration tend to the establishment of righteousness.
Learn here the Divine idea of religion in the state. The government of a country is religious when the king rules in righteousness, when Parliament strives to abolish all unrighteous laws and to enact righteous ones, when magistrates and judges seek to administer the laws justly, and when venality and corruption are swept from all its departments and offices.
There is one feature in the relation of the King both to the Church and to the State which is brought into prominence, viz., His Holiness. “He is holy.” Charnock well says: “As His holiness seems to challenge an excellency above all His other perfections, so it is the glory of all the rest; as it is the glory of the Godhead, so it is the glory of every perfection in the Godhead; as His power is the strength of them, so His holiness is the beauty of them.… As sincerity is the lustre of every grace in a Christian, so is purity the splendour of every attribute in the Godhead. His justice is a holy justice, His wisdom a holy wisdom, His arm of power a ‘holy arm,’ His truth or promise a ‘holy promise.’ ‘Holy and true’ go hand in hand. ‘His name,’ which signifies all His attributes in conjunction, is holy.’ ”
III. The holy supremacy of the Lord as a reason for worship. “Let them praise Thy name; for it is holy. Exalt ye the Lord our God, and worship at His footstool; for He is holy.” Holiness is the summation of all moral perfections; therefore we should worship the Lord. He is supreme not only in position, but in character; therefore we should adore Him. We should exalt Him—
1. With reverent fear. “Let the people tremble; let the earth be moved.” Amyraldus points out that the fear which proceeds from simple reverence, as well as that which arises from apprehension of evil, produces trembling. So the first verse may apply to the Church as well as to the world. With awe approach THE HOLY ONE.
2. With profound humility. “Worship at His footstool.” As weak and dependent creatures, and especially as sinful creatures, it behoveth us to draw near to Him with deep self-abasement.
EXAMPLES OF THE HOLY SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD AND THE BECOMING WORSHIP OF HIS PEOPLE
(Psa_99:6-9)
The connection of these verses with the foregoing is not very clear. It is not easy to trace with certainty the continuity or the relation of thought. The relation suggested by Perowne seems to us the most probable with which we are acquainted. “The great subject of the Psalmist’s praise is the holiness of God. It is a holy God whom he calls upon all men to worship. It is ‘a holy foot-stool,’ ‘a holy mountain,’ before which they bow down; it is therefore a holy worship which they must render. Such was the worship of His saints of old: and then likewise Jehovah manifested His holiness both in ‘forgiving’ and in ‘taking vengeance.’ ” Consider—
I. The examples of the becoming worship of man. “Moses and Aaron among His priests, and Samuel,” &c. Of these Aaron only was a priest in the usual acceptation of the term. But Moses discharged the priestly duties before Aaron entered upon his office (Exo_40:22-27), and he consecrated Aaron and his sons. Samuel also exercised priestly functions (1Sa_9:12-13; and 1Sa_7:9). But the feature of the priestly office which is here brought into view is intercession, calling upon God. “Among them that call upon His name,” is an explanation of “among His priests.” Examples of this calling upon God in intercession by Moses are recorded in Exo_17:11-12; Exo_32:30-32; Psa_106:23; and by Samuel, 1Sa_7:8-9; 1Sa_12:16-19; 1Sa_12:23. And a signal example of the efficacy of Aaron’s intercession is recorded in Num_16:47-48. These distinguished saints worshipped God—
1. In earnest prayer. Intercessions and pleadings such as theirs—so bold, yet so reverent; so confident, yet so humble—greatly honour the Lord. Their living faith in Himself and their sincere and deep trust in His mercy were well-pleasing to Him. “He that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.”
2. In holy lives. “They kept His testimonies and the ordinances that He gave them.” They gave to God the praise not only of the lip, but of the life. “Thanksgiving is good, but thanks-living is better.” A holy life is the true expression of a reverent heart. The worship of a holy life excels the purest and most reverent worship of prayer and praise; because
(1) it is constant, and
(2) it is more influential.
Let us imitate these high examples of worship.
II. The examples of the holy sovereignty of God. “He answered them. He spake unto them in the cloudy pillar. Thou answeredst them, O Lord our God,” &c. The Lord’s holy sovereignty was manifest in His answers to the prayers of His servants. He answered them—
1. By His communications unto them. “He spake unto them in the cloudy pillar.” These words are strictly applicable only to Moses and Aaron. But the cloudy pillar may be taken as a figurative expression denoting Divine revelation generally, taken from one of its original forms. The Lord frequently communicated with Moses (Exo_16:10-12; Exo_24:15-18, et al); and with Aaron (Num_12:5-8). Moreover the Lord often spoke to Samuel. Even in childhood the voice of the Lord was addressed to him; and He continued to communicate with him through a long life. In thus responding to the worship of His servants the Lord manifested His gracious condescension, &c.
2. By granting the forgiveness for which they pleaded. “Thou wast a God that forgavest them.” These ancient saints interceded with the Lord on behalf of the sinful people, when His wrath was kindled against them (Exo_32:11-14; Exo_32:31-32; Num_16:47-48; 1Sa_7:9), and in answer to their prayers He forgave the sins of the people. In their own personal history there are no remarkable examples of the forgiving mercy of the Lord; but there are in their intercessions for the people. The Divine supremacy is merciful and gracious. The King has “no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live.”
3. By inflicting judgment on their evil doings. “Thou tookest vengeance of their inventions,” or “doings.” There is perhaps an allusion here to the punishment of the whole adult population of Israel for their murmurings and rebellions. In that portion of their history we see the intercession (Num_14:13-19), the forgiveness (20, 21), and the judgment (22, 23). Thus God manifested His grace in hearing prayer, His mercy to the offenders, His anger against sin, and His holiness in all.
CONCLUSION.—
1. How holy are all the doings of God! Holiness has been defined “the symmetry of the soul;” and all the attributes and operations of God are gloriously symmetrical, they harmonise; the harmony is holiness.
2. How great is the power of prayer! “Prayer is the slender nerve that moveth the muscles of Omnipotence.”
PARDON WITH PUNISHMENT
(Psa_99:8)
“Thou wast a God that forgavest them, though Thou tookest vengeance of their inventions.”
A very great and grave mistake about the whole relations of forgiveness and retribution, and about the whole character of that Divine nature from which they both flow, is implied and concentrated, as it were, in that little word “though.” It is no part of the original Psalm, and the rendering is a case of interpretation, rather than of translation. What the Psalm says is this: “Thou wast a God that forgavest them, and Thou tookest vengeance of their inventions.” There is no apparent antagonism here even hinted at between pardon, forgiveness, and punishment, but they are both regarded as parts of one great whole, and as flowing from the holy love of God, which the whole Psalm celebrates.
“Vengeance”! The modern notion attached to revenge is by no means to be found in the word which is here employed. What the Old Testament meant by vengeance is precisely that public justice to which the modern notion of revenge is diametrically opposed.
Notice,—
I. That forgiveness is, at bottom, the undisturbed communication of the love of God to sinful man. We are far too apt to think that God pardons men in the fashion in which the sovereign pardons a culprit who has been sentenced to be hanged. Such pardon implies nothing as to the feelings of either the criminal or the monarch. There need neither be pity on the one side nor penitence on the other. The true idea of forgiveness is to be found not in the region of law only, but in the region of love and Fatherhood. The forgiveness of God is over and over again set forth in Scripture as being—a father’s forgive-ness. “Your heavenly Father will forgive you your trespasses.” Let us remember our own childhood, our children, and how we do with them … Not putting up the rod, but taking your child to your heart, is your forgiveness. The blessing of forgiveness is not fully comprehended when it is thought of as shutting up some outward hell, or the quenching of its flames. It goes much deeper than this, and means the untroubled communion of love and delight between the reconciled father and the repentant child. The slave may dread the rod, but the child dreads the father’s closed heart. And pardon is the open heart of God, full of love, unaverted by any consequences of my sin, unclosed by any of my departures from Him.
II. That such pardon does necessarily sweep away the one true penalty of sin. I have been maintaining that the proper notion of pardon is not the removal of penalty, and that is absolutely true if you think of penalty only as being external and arbitrarily inflicted. But it is not true when we come into the spiritual region. What is the penalty of sin? “The wages of sin is death.” What is “death”? The wrenching away of a dependent soul from God. How is that penalty ended? When the soul is united to God in the threefold bond of trust, love, and obedience. The communication of the love is the barring of the hell. The one true penalty of sin is to be torn asunder from God by our own evil desires, and therefore the outflow of His love to us sinners is really the cancelling of the sorest penalty and true wages of unrighteousness. The real penalty passes away where the love is welcomed and received.
III. That the pardoning mercy of God leaves many penalties unremoved.
“Thou forgavest them, and Thou tookest vengeance of their inventions.” Forgiveness and punishment are both parts of one process, they both come from one source, the One heart which is all holiness and all love. Let me remind you of historical illustrations that may help to bring this idea out a little more clearly. Aaron, see ‘Num_20:24; Moses, see Deu_32:48-51; David, see 2Sa_12:7-14. The old statement, “Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap,” is absolutely true, universally true. God loves us too well, not to punish His children when they sin, and He loves us too well to annihilate, were it possible, the secondary consequences of our transgressions. The two sides of the one truth must both be recognised—that the deepest and the primary penalties of our evil, which are separation from God, and the painful consciousness of guilt, are swept away—and, also, that other results are allowed to remain, which, being allowed, may be blessed and salutary for the transgressors. If you waste your youth, no repentance will send the shadow back upon the dial, or recover the ground lost by idleness, or restore the constitution shattered by dissipation, or give again the resources wasted upon vice, or bring back the fleeting opportunities.
IV. That pardoning love so modifies the punishment that it becomes an occasion for solemn thankfulness. Whatever painful consequences of past sin may still linger about our lives, or haunt our hearts, we may be sure of two things about them all—that they come from Forgiving Mercy, that they come for our profit. It is no harsh,—no, nor even only a righteous Judge who deals with us. We are chastened by a Father’s hand. “When we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned.” The stroke of condemnation will never fall upon our pardoned hearts. That it may not, the loving strokes of His discipline must needs accompany the embrace of His forgiveness. And so the pains change their character, and become things to be desired, to be humbly welcomed, to be patiently borne and used, and even to be woven into our hymns of praise.
Brethren! you know where and how the pardon is to be found. In Christ is all the Divine forgiveness treasured. Trust in Him, and there is no condemnation for you.
You have before you an alternative—either you will be separated from your sins by God’s pardon in Christ and God’s chastisement of love; or, clutching your sins, refusing to let Him cast them all away, you will be separated by them utterly from God, and so fall into the death which is the wages and punishment of sin.—A. Maclaren, D.D.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain On v1 I. The Lord is great in supremacy.
Psa 99:2
I. The Lord is great in supremacy.
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II. The Lord is great in power.
III. The Lord is great in faithfulness.
IV. The Lord is great in mercy.
G. W. McCree, Christian World Pulpit, vol. x., p. 81.
Psa 99:8
The truths that lie in the text are these: pardon and retribution are ever united. They spring from one source of holy love, and they ought to become to us the occasions of solemn and thankful praise. "Exalt the Lord our God, for He is holy." "Thou forgavest them, and didst punish their inventions."
I. Notice, first, that forgiveness is at bottom the undisturbed communication of the love of God to sinful men. We are too apt to think that God pardons men in the fashion in which the sovereign pardons a culprit who has been sentenced to be hanged. Such pardon implies nothing as to the feelings of either the criminal or the monarch. There need neither be pity on the one side nor penitence on the other. The true idea of forgiveness is to be found not in the region of law only, but in the region of love and fatherhood. The forgiveness of God is over and over again set forth in Scripture as being a Father’s forgiveness.
II. Such pardon does necessarily sweep away the one true penalty of sin. "The wages of sin is death." What is death? The wrenching away of a dependent soul from God. How is that penalty ended? When the soul is united to God in the threefold bond of trust, love, and obedience. The communication of the love is the barring of the hell.
III. The pardoning mercy of God leaves many penalties unremoved. Forgiveness and punishment both come from the same source, and generally go together. The old statement, "Whatever a man soweth, that shall he also reap," is absolutely true, universally true. The Gospel is not its abrogation. God loves us too well to annihilate the secondary consequences of our transgressions.
IV. Pardoning love so modifies the punishment that it becomes an occasion for solemn thankfulness. Whatever painful consequences of past sin may still linger about our lives or haunt our hearts, we may be sure of two things about them all: that they come from forgiving mercy; that they come for our profit.
A. Maclaren, Sermons Preached in Manchester, 3rd series, p. 195.
Reference: Psa 99:8.— Expositor, 1st series, vol. ix., p. 150.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
F. W. Grant 1903 · Public Domain On v1 Victory over evil.
Victory over evil.
The victory over evil requires more development. It is this that the sixth psalm of the series, in accordance with the numerical significance, now takes up. Salvation by judgment necessarily involves it; but we see this worked out here both in regard to the world at large, and to the saints also. Thus the apostle applies it to the latter: "for the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God;" and in this way "the righteous are with difficulty saved" (1Pe 4:17-18) -not "scarcely:" but God having to be at such pains with them to bring them through, so as both to His creatures at large, and for their own sakes also, to justify His holy government.
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1. The first section; therefore, speaks of this government as now manifested, Jehovah reigning, enthroned above the cherubim, as Ezekiel and the book of Revelation show Him. In the latter the "living creatures" in their various characters thus represent the features of His rule. The lion shows the fundamental necessity for all government -power. The ox shows it however to be used in patient ministry, as true rule is. The "face of a man" speaks of intelligence that seeks to be known by men His creatures. And lastly, the "flying eagle" speaks of ways yet "too wonderful" for comprehension by them (Pro 30:18-19). These cherubic beings, with their sleepless vigilance and activity, proclaim the Thrice-holy who is still above them (Rev 4:8); and this is the Throne now established over the earth. Well may "the peoples tremble" before Him; and "the earth be moved."
But He reigns in Zion, which His grace has chosen as the place of His rest, the accessible metropolis of the whole earth. Let the peoples praise His great and terrible Name: for it is holy.
2. Might and right are wedded at last, in a despotic rule, from which yet none need shrink except the wicked. For "the king’s strength loveth judgment" -a beautiful poetic phrase which strangely seems to perplex the commentators: "Thou hast established equity; Thou hast executed judgment and righteousness in Jacob."
Thus the world is saved and blest, and all are bidden to worship at the footstool of the Throne: Jehovah our God is holy.
The third verse here one might naturally take to belong to the closing section. Yet the structure is against it: for it is evidently a third and not a first, and its presence in the last section would derange all the numbers there. Moreover the connection is not so close as at first it seems. "In the pillar of cloud He spake to them," could not refer to Samuel; and the three together -Moses and Aaron and Samuel are cited here as practical examples of the worship to which the people now are called. Such were the men that drew nigh to Him; His priests: Samuel not officially that, but practically standing in that place, when the priests themselves had departed from Him, and known characteristically as one that called upon His Name. These all, He in His faithfulness had answered, drawing near to those that drew near to Him.
3. But with all His people sanctification was the object that He steadily pursued. "In the pillar of cloud He spake to them" -that pillar which as the sign of His Presence, moved with them all the way from Egypt to the land: thus grace had sought them; and obedience followed: "they kept His testimonies, and the statute He gave unto them."
His holiness was as fully displayed as His love; and His love was not less that it was holy: "Jehovah our God, Thou answeredst them: a forgiving God Thou wast to them; even while taking vengeance on their doings."
Upon them it was not wrath, but chastening love -grace that showed itself in this that declared His wrath upon the evil, to make them "partakers of His holiness" (Heb 12:10). Thus does "grace reign" in holiness as well as righteousness; the very "vengeance" only showing the forgiveness to be really that, and not indifference; and that "without holiness no man shall see the Lord" (ver. 14). Blessed, salutary lessons, worthy of God to give!
Praise, therefore, is what ends the psalm: "Exalt Jehovah our God; and worship at His holy hill: for Jehovah our God is holy."
F. W. Grant, The Numerical Bible (4th ed., 1903) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v8
Psalms
FORGIVENESS AND RETRIBUTION
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Psa 99:8.
When the prophet Isaiah saw the great vision which called him to service, he heard from the lips of the seraphim around the Throne the threefold ascription of praise: ‘Holy! holy! holy! Lord God of hosts.’ This psalm seems to be an echo of that heavenly chorus, for it is divided into three sections, each of which closes with the refrain, ‘He is holy,’ and each of which sets forth some one aspect or outcome of that divine holiness. In the first part the holiness of His universal dominion is celebrated; in the second, the holiness of His revelations and providences to Israel, His inheritance; in the third, the holiness of His dealings with them that call upon His name, both when He forgives their sins and when He scourges for the sins that He has forgiven.
Two remarks of an expository character will prepare the way for what I have further to say. The first is that the word ‘though’ in my text, which holds together the two statements that it contains, is commentary rather than translation. For the original has the simple ‘and,’ and the difference between the two renderings is this, that ‘though’ implies some real or apparent contrariety between forgiveness and taking vengeance, which makes their co-existence remarkable, whereas ‘and’ lays the two things down side by side. The Psalmist simply declares that they are both there, and puts in no such fine distinction as is represented by the words ‘though,’ or ‘but,’ or ‘yet.’ To me it seems a great deal more eloquent in its simplicity and reticence that he should say, ‘Thou forgavest them and tookest vengeance,’ than that he should say ‘Thou forgavest them though Thou tookest vengeance.’
Then there is another point to be noted, viz. we must not import into that word ‘vengeance,’ when it is applied to divine actions, the notions which cluster round it when it is applied to ours. For in its ordinary use it means retaliation, inflicted at the bidding of personal enmity or passion. But there are no turbid elements of that sort in God. His retribution is a great deal more analogous to the unimpassioned, impersonal action of public law than it is to the ‘wild justice of revenge.’ When we speak of His ‘vengeance’ we simply mean-unless we have dropped into a degrading superstition-the just recompense of reward which divinely dogs all sin. There is one saying in Scripture which puts the whole matter in its true light, ‘Vengeance is Mine; I will repay,’ saith the Lord; the last clause of which interprets the first. So, then, with these elucidations, we may perhaps see a little more clearly the sequence of the Psalmist’s thought here-God’s forgiveness, and co-existing with that, God’s scourging of the sin which He forgives; and both His forgiveness and the scourging, the efflux and the manifestation of the divine holiness. Now just let us look at these thoughts. Here we have-
I. The adoring contemplation of the divine forgiveness.
I suppose that is almost exclusively a thought due to the historical revelation, through the ages, to Israel, crowned, as well as deepened, by the culmination and perfecting of the eternal revelation of God in Jesus Christ our Lord. I suppose the conception of a forgiving God is the product of the Old and of the New Testament. But familiar as the word is to us, and although the thing that it means is embodied in the creed of Christendom, ‘I believe . . . in the forgiveness of sins,’ I think that a great many of us would be somewhat put to it, if we were called upon to tell definitely and clearly what we mean when we speak of the forgiveness of sins. Many of us, prior to thinking about the matter, would answer ‘the non-infliction or remission of penalty.’ And I am far from denying that that is an element in forgiveness, although it is the lowest and the most external, in both the Old Testament and the New Testament conception of it. But we must rise a great deal higher than that. We are entitled, by our Lord’s teaching, to parallel God’s forgiveness and man’s forgiveness; and so perhaps the best way to understand the perfect type of forgiveness is to look at the imperfect types which we see round us. What, then, do we mean by human forgiveness? It is seen in multitudes of cases where there is no question at all of penalty. Two men get alienated from one another. One of them does something which the other thinks is a sin against friendship or loyalty, and he who is sinned against says, ‘I forgive you.’ That does not mean that he does not inflict a penalty, because there is no penalty in question. Forgiveness is not a matter of conduct, then, primarily, but it is a matter of disposition, of attitude, or, to put it into a shorter word, it is a matter of the heart; and even on the lower level of the human type, we see that remission of penalty may be a part, sometimes is and sometimes is not, but is always the smallest part of it, and a derivative and secondary result of something that went before. An unconscious recognition of this attitude of mind and heart, as being the essential thing in forgiveness, brings about an instance of the process by which two words that originally mean substantially the same thing come to acquire each its special shade of meaning. What I refer to is this-when a judicial sentence on a criminal is remitted, we never hear any one speak about the criminal being ‘forgiven.’ We keep the word ‘pardon,’ in our daily conventional intercourse, for slight offences or for the judicial remission of a sentence. The king pardons a criminal; you never hear about the king ‘forgiving’ a criminal. And that, as I take it, is just because people have been groping after the thought that I am trying to bring out, viz. that the remission of penalty is one thing, and purging the heart of all alienation and hatred is another; and that the latter is forgiveness, whilst the former has to be content with being pardon.
The highest type of forgiveness is the paternal. Every one of us who remembers our childhood, and every one of us who has had children of his own, knows what paternal forgiveness is. It is not when you put away the rod that the little face brightens again and the tears cease to flow, but it is when your face clears, and the child knows that there is no cloud between it and the father, or still more the mother, that forgiveness is realised. The immediate effect of our transgressions is that we, as it were, thereby drop a great, black rock into the stream of the divine love, and the channel is barred by our action; and God’s forgiveness is when, as was the case in another fashion in the Deluge, the floods rise above the tops of the highest hills; and as the good old hymn that has gone out of fashion nowadays, says, over sins:
‘Like the mountains for their size,
The seas of sovereign grace arise.’
When the love of God flows over the black rock, as the incoming tide does over some jagged reef, then, and not merely when the rod is put on the shelf, is forgiveness bestowed and received.
But, as I have said, the remission of penalty is an element in forgiveness. Some people say: ‘It is a very dangerous thing, in the interests of Christian truth, to treat that relation of a loving Father as if it expressed all that God is to men.’ Quite so; God is King as well as Father. There are analogies, both in paternal and regal government, which help us to understand the divine dealings with us; though, of course, in regard to both we must always remember that the analogies are remote and not to be pressed too far. But even in recognising the fact that an integral part of forgiveness is remission of penalty, we come back, by another path, to the same point, that the essence of forgiveness is the uninterrupted flow of love. Remission of penalty;-yes, by all means. But then the question comes, what is the penalty of sin? And I suppose that the deepest answer to that is, separation from God. But if the true New Testament conception of the penalty of sin is the eternal death which is the result of the rending of a man away from the Source of life, then the remission of the penalty is precisely identical with the uninterrupted flow of the divine love. The mists of autumnal mornings drape the sky in gloom, and turn the blessed sun itself into a lurid ball of fire. Sweep away the mists, and its rays again pour out beneficence. The man who sins, piles up, as it were, a cloud-bank between himself and God, and forgiveness, which is the remission of the penalty, is the sweeping away of the cloud-bank, and the pouring out of sunshine upon a darkened heart. So, brethren! the essence of forgiveness is that God shall love me all the same, though I sin against Him.
But now turn, in the next place, to
II. God’s scourging of the sin which He forgives.
Look at the instances in our psalm, ‘Moses and Aaron among His priests. . . . They called upon the Lord and He answered them. Thou wast a God that forgavest them, and Thou tookest vengeance of their doings.’ Moses dies on Pisgah, Aaron is stripped of his priestly robes by his brother’s hand and left alone amongst the clouds and the eagles, on the solitary summit of the mountain, and yet Moses and Aaron knew themselves forgiven the sins for which they died those lonely deaths. And these are but instances of what is universally true, that the sin which is pardoned is also ‘avenged’ in the sense of having retribution dealt out to it.
I need not dwell upon this at any length, but let me just remind you how there are two provinces of human experience in which this is abundantly true: one, that of outward consequences, and another that of inward consequences. Take, for instance, two men, boon companions, who together have wasted their substance in riotous living. One of them is converted, as we call it, becomes a Christian, knows himself forgiven. The other one is not. Is the one less certain to have a corrugated liver than the other? Will the disease, the pauperism, the ruined position in life, the loss of reputation be any different in the cases of him who is pardoned and of him who is not? No; the two will suffer in a similar fashion, and the different attitude that the one has to the divine love from that which the other has, will not make a hair of difference as to the results that follow. The consequences are none the less divine retribution because they are the result of natural laws, and none the less penal because they are automatically inflicted.
There is another department in which we see the same law working, and that is the inward consequences. A man does change his attitude to his former sins, when he knows that he is pardoned; but the results of these sins will follow all the same, whether he is forgiven or not. Memory will be tarnished, habits will be formed and chain a man, capacities will be forfeited, weaknesses will ensue. The wounds may be healed, but the scars will remain, and when we consider how certainly, and as I said, divinely, such issues dog all manner of transgression, we can understand what the Psalmist meant when, not thinking about a future retribution, but about the present life’s experiences, he said, ‘Thou wast a God that forgavest them, and Thou tookest vengeance of their inventions.’ ‘The sluggard will not plough by reason of the cold, therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing,’ and that will be his case whether he is forgiven, or not forgiven, by the divine love.
So, dear friends! do not let us confound the two things which are so widely separated, the flow of the divine love to us irrespective of our sins, which is the true forgiveness, and the remission of the penalty, the infliction of which may itself be a part of forgiveness. ‘Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap,’ and he will reap it whether he has sown darnel and tares and poisonous seeds, of which he is now ashamed, and for which he has received forgiveness, or whether he has not asked nor received it.
Only remember that if we humbly realise the great fact that God has forgiven us, we can, as they say, ‘take our punishment’ in an altogether different spirit and temper, and it comes to be, not judicial penalty, but paternal chastisement, the token of love, and of which we can say that ‘We are judged of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.’
Lastly, my text leads us to think of-
III. Forgiveness and scourging as both issues of holy love.
Some people, in their narrow and altogether superficial view of Christianity, would divide between the two, and say forgiveness comes from God’s love, and scourging comes from His holiness. But this psalm puts the two together, just as we must put together as inseparable from each other the two conceptions of holiness and of love. Now our modern notions of what is meant by the love of God are a great deal too sentimental and gushing and limp. Love is degraded unless there be holiness in it. It becomes immoral good nature, much more than anything that deserves the name of love. A God who is all love, so much so that it makes no difference to Him whether a man is a saint or a sinner, is not a God to be worshipped, and scarcely a God to be admired. He is lower than we, not higher. But His holy love is like a sea of glass mingled with fire; the love being shot all through, as it were, with streams of flame.
This holy love underlies the forgiveness of sins. To forgive may sometimes be profoundly right; it may sometimes be profoundly immoral. A general gaol delivery simply sets the scoundrels free; a universal amnesty is a failure of justice, and a very doubtful benefit. But the forgiveness, which is the issue of holy love, is a means to an end, and the end which it has in view is that, drawn by answering love to a pardoning God, we may be drawn from the sins which alienate us from Him. There is no such sure way of making a man forsake his sins as to give him the assurance that God has forgiven them. ‘Thou shalt be ashamed and confounded, and never open thy mouth any more, because of thy sins, when’-I smite? no-’I am pacified towards thee for all that thou hast done.’ ‘Thou wast a God that forgavest them,’ and in the very act of forgiving, didst draw them from their sins.
That holy love, in like manner, underlies retribution. I have been speaking of retribution mainly as it is seen in the working of natural law. It is none the less God’s act, because it is the operation of the laws which He impressed upon His creation at the beginning. You have weaving machines in your mills that whenever a thread breaks, stop dead. Is it the machine or the maker that is to get the credit of that? God has set us in an order of things wherein, and has given us a nature whereby, automatically, every sin, as it were, stops the loom, and ‘every transgression and disobedience receives its just recompense of reward.’ But men sometimes say ‘that is Nature; that is not God.’ God lies at the back of Nature, and works through Nature. Although Nature is not God, God is Nature. Therefore it is ‘Thou’ that ‘takest vengeance of their inventions.’ Let us, then, remember that retribution is a token of love, meant to drive us from our sins, just as forgiveness is meant to draw us from them. Our Psalmist had come the length of putting these two things together, forgiveness and retribution. We have reached further, and here is the New Testament enlargement and deepening and explanation of the Old Testament thought: ‘If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins,’ and in the very act, ‘to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’ ‘If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous.’
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 This Ps. is like the preceding ones in the…
This Ps. is like the preceding ones in the prominence it gives to God's Kingship, and no doubt belongs to the same period with them. God's holiness, too, is emphasised in the refrain of Psa_99:3, Psa_99:5, Psa_99:9. The Ps. begins with a call to worship God with the awe and reverence which are due to Him (Psa_99:1-3). His righteous rule in Israel is a reason for repeating the summons (Psa_99:4-5). The history of His dealings with His people from the days of Moses and Aaron to the time of Samuel is summed up (Psa_99:6-8). Psa_99:9 is almost a repetition of Psa_99:5, and implies that the Temple has been restored.
1. People] RV 'peoples.' So in Psa_99:2.
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Between the cherubims] RV 'upon the cherubim': see on Psa_80:1.
2. Zion] The Temple at Jerusalem is God's dwelling and the seat of His rule.
3. For it is holy] RV 'holy is he.'
4. The king] God: see Psa_80:1.
5. His footstool] The ark is so called in 1Ch_28:2, but if this Ps. was written after the exile the ark cannot be directly referred to here. The language may be a survival of an earlier usage.
For he is holy] RV 'holy is he,' as in Psa_99:3.
6-8. These vv. may be taken as an illustration from the past of the principle on which God still deals with His people, or they may be translated by present tenses, as referring to the intercessors in Israel whose prayers God has answered in the deliverance from captivity, and who are figuratively called 'A Moses.. a Samuel.'
8. Both in the past and in the Psalmist's time God has shown at once His hatred of sin and His forgiving love to His people. Inventions] RV 'doings.'
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 Psalm 99
Psalm 99
The Reign of Righteousness
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1. His throne (Psa 99:1-3)
2. Judgment and righteousness executed (Psa 99:4-6)
3. His gracious dealings (Psa 99:7-9)
It is a Psalm of the righteous government. The Lord who reigns is holy, demands obedience. He is holy and must be worshipped. Moses and Aaron were His priests in the past and Samuel among them that called upon His Name. He dealt graciously with His people in the past and forgave them, and the same Lord now reigneth and will deal in righteousness and mercy with His people.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v1 Praise of the Messiah, the Thrice Holy.
Praise of the Messiah, the Thrice Holy.
The psalmist, in this hymn of praise which fits so well into this series, sets forth the merciful government of God, particularly as exercised in and for His Church, in the work of the Messiah.
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v. 1. The Lord reigneth, Jehovah the Messiah is King; let the people tremble, venturing into His presence only with awe and reverence; He sitteth between the cherubim, the space between the outstretched wings of the golden cherubim on the mercy-seat being the place where the Lord revealed Himself to His people, Exo 25:22; Num 7:89. Let the earth be moved, inspired with fear by His lofty presence.
v. 2. The Lord is great in Zion, in His holy Church, and He is high above all the people, in His capacity of King in His threefold kingdom.
v. 3. Let them praise Thy great and terrible name, the awe-inspiring revelation of His majesty; for it is holy, emphatic in the Hebrew: "Holy is He," this being one line from the wonderful seraphic hymn, Isa 6:1-4.
v. 4. The King’s strength also loveth judgment, His essential righteousness causes Him to exercise right at all times; Thou dost establish equity, uprightness and true justice in dealing with men at all times; Thou executest judgment and righteousness in Jacob. The reference is not merely to the theocratic government of God in the Old Testament, but to the Messiah’s rule in His Kingdom of Grace, in which He freely gives to the members of this kingdom the righteousness which He gained for them, by virtue of which they may proudly lift up their heads in the judgment of the Lord.
v. 5. Exalt ye the Lord, our God, for this manifestation of His grace, and worship at His footstool, prostrating themselves upon the steps leading up to His throne, in humble adoration, such places being found wherever the Lord finds two or three gathered together in His name: for He is holy. Again the words of the seraphic hymn ring out: "Holy is He!" The singer now, in casting about for a suitable comparison, looks back into the history of Israel.
v. 6. Moses, who sometimes performed the functions of priest, Exodus 24; Exo 40:22-23, and Aaron among His priests, and Samuel among them that call upon His name, 1Sa 7:8-9, these three being prominent representatives of the Old Testament Church; they called upon the Lord, their entire worship being an expression of their faith in Jehovah of Israel, and He answered them, thus recognizing them as His children by faith, with whom He was united in the fellowship which obtains between the Lord and all believers.
v. 7. He spake unto them, to His entire people, in the cloudy pillar; they kept His testimonies, the true Israelites, the people of the Lord in the real sense of the word, observed all the commandments and precepts of Jehovah, and the ordinance, that of the covenant, that He gave them.
v. 8. Thou answeredst them, O Lord, our God; Thou wast a God that forgavest them, the entire people of the children of Israel, though Thou tookest vengeance of their inventions, punishing them for their misdeeds, for their acts of rebellion. Forgiveness does not include the remission of the punishment which attaches to many sins; the chastening, rather, works greater humility.
v. 9. Exalt the Lord, our God, giving Him the honor due to His majesty and power, and worship at His holy hill, on the mountain where He revealed Himself, that is, in the New Testament, wherever He comes to men in His Gospel, in His grace and truth; for the Lord, our God, is holy, again the emphatic: "For holy is Jehovah, our God. " That is the song of praise which the Christians sing in honor of their Messiah and King, the thrice holy world without end.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 4, 6, 8 General Information:
General Information:
Parallelism is common in Hebrew poetry. (See: Poetry and Parallelism)
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the nations
This refers to the people of all nations. AT: "the people of all nations" (See: Metonymy)
tremble
shake with fear
He sits enthroned above the cherubim
You may need to make explicit that the cherubim are those on the lid of the ark of the covenant. The biblical writers often spoke of the ark of the covenant as if it were Yahweh's footstool upon which he rested his feet as he sat on his throne in heaven above. AT: "He sits on his throne above the cherubim on the ark of the covenant" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
quakes
shakes
Yahweh is great in Zion; he is exalted above all the nations
"Not only is Yahweh great in Zion, he is exalted above all the nations" or "Not only does Yahweh rule in Zion, he rules over all the nations"
he is exalted above all the nations
This can be stated in active form. AT: "people in all the nations exalt him" or "people in all nations praise him greatly" (See: Active or Passive and Metonymy)
Let them praise your great and awesome name
Here the author shifts from speaking about God, to speaking to God. After this phrase though, he shifts back to speaking about God.
translationWords
Yahweh
reign
nation
cherub
earth
Zion
exalt
praise
awe
name
holy
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 4, 6, 7 Ps 99 The psalmist calls the nations to worship…
Ps 99 The psalmist calls the nations to worship the Lord, the king of the earth who rules from Zion.
99:1-5 The Lord is the holy and righteous King (Isa 6:1-5). Mount Zion, the location of the Lord’s Temple, metaphorically stands as the highest point on earth (Ps 113:4; Isa 2:2; 6:1). From this summit, the Great King (Ps 47:2) can see, rule over, and receive praise from all nations and peoples.
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99:1 It is fitting to tremble and quake in response to the Lord’s holiness (see 96:9). • The throne between the cherubim refers to the cover of the Ark of the Covenant (Exod 25:17-22).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.