Psalm 99: Worship the Holy God

[Preliminary Comments: Another untitled psalm that calls us to worship the Lord. It starts with a call to recognize that he reigns over heaven and earth and is therefore worthy of our praise and worship [v.1-3]. He is a God who demands justice [v.4] and who brings judgment [v.8] but was also willing to forgive as people like Moses, Aaron & Samuel testify [v.6,7] and so there is a repeated call to exalt Him [v.5 & 9]. A psalm based in history to calls us to respond today.]

v.1-3 A call to rightly respond to the Lord

v.1 The Lord reigns,
    let the nations tremble;
he sits enthroned between the cherubim,
let the earth shake.

v.2 Great is the Lord in Zion;
    he is exalted over all the nations.

v.3 Let them praise your great and awesome name –
    he is holy.

v.4 Realize that the Lord is concerned with Justice

v.4 The King is mighty, he loves justice –
    you have established equity;
in Jacob you have done
    what is just and right.

v.5 So worship Him who is holy

v.5 Exalt the Lord our God
    and worship at his footstool;
    he is holy.

v.6,7 The saints of old testify that God is a communicator

v.6 Moses and Aaron were among his priests,
    Samuel was among those who called on his name;
they called on the Lord
    and he answered them.

v.7 He spoke to them from the pillar of cloud;
    they kept his statutes and the decrees he gave them.

v.8 He is both a bringer of judgment AND forgiveness

v.8 Lord our God,
    you answered them;
you were to Israel a forgiving God,
    though you punished their misdeeds.

v.9 So again, worship Him who has revealed Himself as holy

v.9 Exalt the Lord our God
    and worship at his holy mountain,
    for the Lord our God is holy.

[Additional Comments: Go back over the psalm and note the things about the Lord that come out of history, the general things said about Him, and the instructions to us and to the world as to how we should respond to Him.

After perhaps going back and meditating on individual verses, now read it meaningfully out loud straight through

1 The Lord reigns,
    let the nations tremble;
he sits enthroned between the cherubim,
    let the earth shake.
2 Great is the Lord in Zion;
    he is exalted over all the nations.
3 Let them praise your great and awesome name –
    he is holy.

4 The King is mighty, he loves justice –
    you have established equity;
in Jacob you have done
    what is just and right.
5 Exalt the Lord our God
    and worship at his footstool;
    he is holy.

6 Moses and Aaron were among his priests,
    Samuel was among those who called on his name;
they called on the Lord
    and he answered them.
7 He spoke to them from the pillar of cloud;
    they kept his statutes and the decrees he gave them.

8 Lord our God,
    you answered them;
you were to Israel a forgiving God,
    though you punished their misdeeds.
9 Exalt the Lord our God
    and worship at his holy mountain,
    for the Lord our God is holy.

For those who may wish to make a study of this chapter, to perhaps think some more about what you have been reading, use the link below: