Psalm 99

 ¹The Lord reigns;

Let the peoples tremble!

He dwells between the cherubim;

Let the earth be moved!

²The Lord is great in Zion,

And He is high above all the peoples.

³Let them praise Your great and awesome name—

He is holy.

⁴The King’s strength also loves justice;

You have established equity;

You have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.

⁵Exalt the Lord our God,

And worship at His footstool— He is holy.

⁶Moses and Aaron were among His priests,

And Samuel was among those who called upon His name;

They called upon the Lord, and He answered them.

⁷He spoke to them in the cloudy pillar;

They kept His testimonies and the ordinance He gave them.

⁸You answered them, O Lord our God;

You were to them God-Who-Forgives,

Though You took vengeance on their deeds.

⁹Exalt the Lord our God,

And worship at His holy hill;

For the Lord our God is holy.

Preamble: This is another Psalm given through God’s Spirit to foretell and glorify the Lord Jesus Christ while also edifying us His people by giving us a future and hope in His Future Regin on earth!

Commentary 

 Vs. 1 “The Lord reigns;

Let the people’s tremble!

He dwells between the cherubim;

Let the earth be moved!”

 In awe inspiring praise and reverent fear, the psalmist makes it clear that our Lord reigns! The peoples then will tremble when they see Him, for He will be revealed to one and to all, as the Awesome God who dwells between the cherubim; that is the angels that overshadow His mercy seat that was mounted on top of the Ark of the Covenant. For it is from there that He will make intercession for the peoples and The Nation during His earthly Reign! “Let the earth be moved!” is then the disposition of all of creation before Him, for everything will bow before Him and too Him.!

 Vs. 2-3 “The Lord is great in Zion,

And He is high above all the peoples.

³Let them praise Your great and awesome name—

He is holy.

In the New Jerusalem, the Lord is great in Zion. For it is from there that he will be exalted above all peoples, He will be honored and hallowed above all! Therefore, the Word of God says let all peoples praise His great and Awesome Name, the Name above very named that is named, for He is holy. Perfect without blemish or fault by sin or anything else is what it means to be holy.

Vs. 4 “The King’s strength also loves justice;

You have established equity;

You have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.”

The King, the Lord Jesus Christ, who alone is strong, uses His strength to bring forth justice, for He loves justice. Indeed, by His strength He shall establish equity, justice, and thus fairness for all! And in seeing Him in His Reign the Holy Spirit can now say that He has executed justice and righteousness in Jacob (i.e., Israel). In fact, in looking back through Israel’s history this can also be said; for He always dealt with them according to their works and all their ways throughout all their history. 

Vs. 5 “Exalt the Lord our God,

And worship at His footstool— He is holy.”

“Exalt the Lord our God, and not yourselves nor someone else, and worship at His footstool, at His feet; which is our place of reverence before Him; for He is holy (consider Luke 7:36-50).

Vs. 6 “Moses and Aaron were among His priests,

And Samuel was among those who called upon His name;

They called upon the Lord, and He answered them.”

Three revered men are now mentioned as examples for us beginning with Moses, the prophet who led Israel out of Egypt at God’s command. Aaron his brother through whom God established the priesthood for His Covenant with Israel, and Samuel the righteous prophet of Israel who anointed their king for them at God’s command. These men then all called upon the Lord and He answered them. (In this consider Psalm 86:5; 145:18; Isaiah 55:6-7; Jeremiah 29:11-13; Rom. 10:12-13 etc.). This principal then extends to all who believe in Him for salvation, “for whoever calls upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved.” ^{Rom. 10:13} This verse then is declaring to us all His faithfulness, for He heard them, just as surely as He will hear us.

Vs. 7 “He spoke to them in the cloudy pillar;

They kept His testimonies and the ordinance He gave them.

God spoke to them then through the cloud that overshadowed the Tabernacle, which was their meeting place with Him. And they kept His testimonies and the ordinance that He gave them, Moses and Aaron kept the Law and the priestly ordinances God gave them after the Mount Sinai incident. and in this Samuel did so when the whole nation and the priesthood under Elie had gone terribly astray.

Vs. 8 “You answered them, O Lord our God;

You were to them God-Who-Forgives,

Though You took vengeance on their deeds.”

Yes, it was through these men that God often spared the nation, for our Lord God answered them, He was to them God who forgives, though He took vengeance on their deeds. This principal then should not be lost on anyone, for God’s grace given us through the Lord Jesus Christ does not mean that God will not take vengeance on our deeds when He deems it just and righteous to do so. Which is why the fear of the Lord is so fervently proclaimed throughout the Scriptures, for that is where wisdom truly begins. To think then that God’s grace equates with a license to sin is only to be terribly deceived.

Vs. 9 “Exalt the Lord our God,

and worship at His holy hill;

For the Lord our God is holy.”

In closing we are once again called to “Exalt the Lord our God;” and not the celebrities and personalities of this world. “And worship at His holy hill” That is where He makes His Name and Person dwell. “For the Lord our God is holy.”

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.