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.
EXPOSITION
Verse 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. 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.
Verse 2. The Lord is great in Zion. Of old the
temple's sacred hill was the centre of the worship of the great
King, and the place where his grandeur was most clearly beheld:
his church is now his favoured palace, where his greatness is
displayed, acknowledged, and adored. He there unveils his
attributes and commands the lowliest homage; the ignorant forget
him, the wicked despise him, the atheistical oppose him, but
among his own chosen he is great beyond comparison. He is great
in the esteem of the gracious, great in his acts of mercy, and
really great in himself: great in mercy, power, wisdom, justice,
and glory. And he is high above all the people; towering above
their highest thoughts and loftiest conceptions. The highest are
not high to him, yet, blessed be his name, the lowliest are not
despised by him. In such a God we rejoice, his greatness and
loftiness are exceedingly delightful in our esteem; the more he
is honoured and exalted in the hearts of men, the more exultant
are his people. If Israel delighted in Saul because he was head
and shoulders above the people, how much more should we exult in
our God and King, Who is as high above us as the heavens are
above the earth.
Verse 3. Let them praise thy great and terrible
name: let all the dwellers in Zion and all the nations upon
the earth praise the Lord, or "acknowledge thankfully"
the goodness of his divine nature, albeit that there is so much
in it which must inspire their awe. Under the most terrible
aspect the Lord is still to be praised. Many profess to admire
the milder beams of the sun of righteousness, but burn with
rebellion against its more flaming radiance: so it ought not to
be: we are bound to praise a terrible, God and worship him who
casts the wicked down to hell. Did not Israel praise him
"who overthrew Pharaoh and his hosts in the Red Sea, for
his mercy endureth for ever." The terrible Avenger is to be
praised, as well as the loving Redeemer. Against this the
sympathy of man's evil heart with sin rebels; it cries out for
an effeminate God in whom pity has strangled justice. The
well-instructed servants of Jehovah praise him in all the
aspects of his character, whether terrible or tender. Grace
streaming from the mercy-seat can alone work in us this
admirable frame of mind. For it is holy, or He is holy.
In him is no flaw or fault, excess or deficiency, error or
iniquity. He is wholly excellent, and is therefore called holy.
In his words, thoughts, acts, and revelations as well as in
himself, he is perfection itself. O come let us worship and bow
down before him.
Verse 4. The king's strength also loveth judgment.
God is the king, the mercy-seat is his throne, and the sceptre
which he sways is holy like himself. His power never exerts
itself tyrannically; he is a sovereign, and he is absolute in
his government, but his might delights in right, his force is
used for just purposes only. Men in these days are continually
arranging the Lord's government, and setting up to judge whether
he does right or not; but saintly men in the olden time were of
another mind, they were sure that what the Lord did was just,
and instead of calling him to account they humbly submitted
themselves to his will, rejoicing in the firm persuasion that
with his whole omnipotence God was pledged to promote
righteousness, and work justice among all his creatures. Thou
dost establish equity. Not a court of equity merely, but equity
itself thou dost set up, and that not for a time or upon an
occasion, but as an established institution, stable as thy
throne. Not even for the sake of mercy does the Lord remove or
injure the equity of his moral government: both in providence
and in grace he is careful to conserve the immaculate purity of
his justice. Most kingdoms have an establishment of some kind,
and generally it is inequitable; here we have an establishment
which is equity itself. The Lord our God demolishes every system
of injustice, and right alone is made to stand. Thou executest
judgment and righteousness in Jacob. Justice is not merely
established, but executed in God's kingdom; the laws are carried
out, the executive is as righteous as the legislative. Herein
let all the oppressed, yea, and all who love that which is
right, find large occasion for praise. Other nations under their
despots were the victims and the perpetrators of grievous wrong,
but when the tribes were faithful to the Lord they enjoyed an
upright government within their own borders, and acted with
integrity towards their neighbours. That kingcraft which
delights in cunning, favouritism, and brute force is as opposite
to the divine Kingship as darkness to light. The palace of
Jehovah is no robber's fortress nor despot's castle, built on
dungeons, with stones carved by slaves, and cemented with the
blood of toiling serfs. The annals of most human governments
have been written in the tears of the downtrodden, and the
curses of the oppressed: the chronicles of the Lord's kingdom
are of another sort, truth shines in each line, goodness in
every syllable, and justice in every letter. Glory be to the
name of the King, whose gentle glory beams from between the
cherubic wings.
Verse 5. Exalt ye the LORD our God. If no
others adore him, let his own people render to him the most
ardent worship. Infinite condescension makes him stoop to be
called our God, and truth and faithfulness bind him to maintain
that covenant relationship; and surely we, to whom by grace he
so lovingly gives himself, should exalt him with all our hearts.
He shines upon us from under the veiling wings of cherubim, and
above the seat of mercy, therefore let us come and worship at
his footstool. When he reveals himself in Christ Jesus, as our
reconciled God, who allows us to approach even to his throne, it
becomes us to unite earnestness and humility, joy and adoration,
and, while we exalt him, prostrate ourselves in the dust before
him. Do we need to be thus excited to worship? How much ought we
to blush for such backwardness! It ought to be our daily delight
to magnify so good and great a God. For he is holy. A second
time the note rings out, and as the ark, which was the divine
footstool, has just been mentioned, the voice seems to sound
forth from the cherubim where the Lord sitteth, who continually
do cry, "Holy, Holy, Holy. Lord God of Sabaoth!"
Holiness is the harmony of all the virtues. The Lord has not one
glorious attribute alone, or in excess, but all glories are in
him as a whole; this is the crown of his honour and the honour
of his crown. His power is not his choicest jewel, nor his
sovereignty, but his holiness. In this all comprehensive moral
excellence he would have his creatures take delight, and when
they do so their delight is evidence that their hearts have been
renewed, and they themselves have been made partakers of his
holiness. The gods of the heathen were, according to their own
votaries, lustful, cruel, and brutish; their only claim to
reverence lay in their supposed potency over human destinies:
who would not far rather adore Jehovah, whose character is
unsullied purity, unswerving justice, unbending truth, unbounded
love, in a word, perfect holiness?
Verse 6. Moses and Aaron among his priests, and
Samuel among them that call upon his name. Though not
ordained to the typical priesthood, Moses was a true priest,
even as Melchizedek had been before him. God has ever had a
priesthood beside and above that of the law. The three holy men
here mentioned all stood in his courts, and saw his holiness,
each one after his own order. Moses saw the Lord in flaming fire
revealing each perfect law, Aaron full often watched the sacred
fire devour the sin-offering, and Samuel witnessed the judgment
of the Lord on Eli's house, because of the error of his way.
These each one stood in the gap when the wrath of God broke
forth, because his holiness had been insulted; and acting as
intercessors, they screened the nation from the great and
terrible God, who otherwise would in a dreadful manner have
executed judgment in Jacob. Let these men, or such as these,
lead us in our worship, and let us approach the Lord at the
mercy-seat as they did, for he is as accessible to us as to
them. They made it their life's business to call upon him in
prayer, and by so doing brought down innumerable blessings upon
themselves and others. Does not the Lord call us also to come up
into the mount with Moses, and to enter the most holy place with
Aaron? Do we not hear him call us by our name as he did Samuel?
And do we not answer, "Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth"?
They called upon the Lord, and he answered them. Not in vain
were their prayers; but being a holy God he was true to his
promises, and hearkened to them from off the mercy-seat. Here is
reason for praise, for answers to the petitions of some are
proofs of God's readiness to hear others. These three men asked
large things, they pleaded for a whole nation, and they stayed
great plagues and turned away fiery wrath; who would not
exercise himself in adoring so great and merciful a God? If he
were unholy he would be false to his word and refuse his
people's cries; this, then, is recorded for our joy and for his
glory, that holy men of old were not suffered to pray in vain.
Verse 7. He spake unto them in the cloudy pillar.
We have had mention of the ark and the shekinah, and now of the
fiery cloudy pillar, which was another visible token of the
presence of God in the midst of Israel. Responses came to Moses
and Aaron out of that glorious overshadowing cloud, and though
Samuel saw it not, yet to him also came the mystic voice which
was wont to thunder forth from that divine canopy. Men have had
converse with God, let men therefore speak to God in return. He
has told us things to come, let us in return confess the sins
which are past; he has revealed his mind to us, let us then pour
out our hearts before him. They kept his testimonies. When
others turned aside they were faithful; in their hearts they
laid up his word, and in their lives they obeyed it. When he
spake to them they observed his will, and therefore when they
spake to him he yielded to their desires. This keeping of the
divine testimonies is a virtue all too rare in these our days;
men run after their own views and opinions, and make light of
the truth of God; hence it is that they fail in prayer, and
scoffers have even dared to say that prayer avails not at all.
May the good Lord bring back his people to reverence his word,
and then will he also have respect unto the voice of their cry.
And the ordinance that he gave them. His practical precept they
observed as well as his doctrinal instruction. Ordinances are
not to be trifled with, or testimonies will also be despised;
and the converse is also true, a light estimate of inspired
dogma is sure to end in neglect of moral virtues. To Moses,
Aaron, and Samuel special and personal charges were committed,
and they were all true to their trust, for they stood in awe of
the Lord, their God, and worshipped him with their whole souls.
They were very different men, and had each one a work to do
peculiar to himself, yet because each was a man of prayer they
were all preserved in their integrity, fulfilled their office,
and blessed their generation. Lord, teach us like Moses to hold
up our hands in prayer and conquer Amalek, like Aaron to wave
the censer between the living and the dead till the plague is
stayed, and like Samuel to say to a guilty people, "God
forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for
you; "if thou wilt make us mighty with thee in prayer, we
shall also be kept faithful before thee in the service which
thou hast laid upon us.
Verse 8. Thou answeredst them, 0 LORD our God.
A sweet title and a cheering fact. Our covenant God in a very
special manner heard his three servants when they pleaded for
the people. Thou wast a God that forgavest them, though thou
tookest vengeance of their inventions. He forgave the
sinners, but he slew their sins. Some apply this verse to Moses,
Aaron, and Samuel, and remind us that each of these fell into a
fault and received chastisement. Of Samuel they assert that, for
having set up his sons as his successors, he was compelled to
submit to the anointing of Saul as king, which was a great grief
to him: this is to our mind a very doubtful statement, and leads
us to abandon the interpretation altogether. We believe that the
passage refers to the nation which was spared through the
intercession of these three holy men, but yet was severely
chastened for its transgressions. In answer to the cry of Moses
the tribes lived on, but the then existing generation could not
enter Canaan: Aaron's golden calf was broken, though the fire of
the Lord did not consume the people; and Israel smarted under
the harsh government of Saul, though at Samuel's request its
murmurings against the theocratic rule of their fathers' God was
not visited with pestilence or famine. So to forgive sin as at
the same time to express abhorrence of it, is the peculiar glory
of God, and is best seen in the atonement of our Lord Jesus.
Reader, are you a believer? Then your sin is forgiven you; but
so surely as you are a child of God the rod of paternal
discipline will be laid upon you if your walk be not close with
God. "You only have I known of all the nations of the
earth, therefore I will punish you for your iniquities."
Verse 9. Exalt the LORD our God. A second time
the delightful title of Jehovah our God is used, and it is
quickly followed by a third. The Psalm is Trinitarian in its
whole structure. In each of his sacred persons the Lord is the
God of his people; the Father is ours, the Son is ours, and the
Holy Spirit is ours: let us exalt him with all our ransomed
powers. And worship at his holy hill. Where he appoints his
temple let us resort. No spot of ground is now fenced about as
peculiarly holy, or to be regarded as more sacred than another;
yet his visible church is his chosen hill, and there would we be
found, numbered with his people, and unite with them in worship.
For the LORD our God is holy. Again this devout description is
repeated, and made the climax of the song. Oh for hearts made
pure within, so that we may rightly perceive and worthily praise
the infinite perfection of the Triune Lord.
EXPLANATORY NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
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.
Verse 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.
Verse 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.
Verse 1. Let the people tremble. Jarchi refers
this to the war of Gog and Magog. John Gill.
Verse 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.
Verse 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.
Verse 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."
Verse 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.
Verse 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.
Verse 2. He is high above all the people. The
metaphor is taken from such great objects as trees, animals,
palaces, towers, which are the more valued, and are regarded as
possessing the greater strength, the higher they rise above
others. So De 1:28 2:10,21 9:2, Concerning the Canaanites and
the giants. Martin Geier.
Verse 3. Let them praise thy great and terrible
name, etc. Although the enemies of the Church of God are in
a tumult, and the whole earth is moved, do you nevertheless with
joyful spirit entrust your salvation to him, and acknowledge and
diligently celebrate his power displayed in the defence of his
people and the overthrow of his foes. Mollerus.
Verse 3. Thy great and terrible name; for it is
holy. The FATHER'S name is "great, "for he
is the source, the Creator, the Lord of all; the SON'S name is "terrible,
"for he is to be our judge; the name of the HOLY GHOST
is "holy, "for he it is who bestows hallowing
and sanctification. The Hebrew commentators see here the mystic
Tetragrammaton hwhy, whose true pronunciation was kept a
profound secret by the Rabbins, owing to a feeling of awful
reverence; while the Greeks are precise in bidding us take it of
that name, which is "terrible" to God's
enemies, "holy" to his friends, and "great"
to both, the name of JESUS. Hugo Cardinalis, Genebrardus, and
Balthazar Corderius, in Neale's Commentary.
Verse 3. Let them praise thy terrible name.
What force the experience of a burdened conscience attaches to
the expression, "Thy great and terrible name; for it
is holy!" The misery of sin consists not merely in its
consequences, but in its very nature, which is to separate
between God and our souls, and to shut us out from God, and God
from us. Yet the Spirit of God indicates, in the covenant of
grace, a threefold practical influence of his holiness upon us,
of which the issue is the opposite of despair. The various steps
are marked as praise, exaltation, and worship (Ps 99:3, 5, 9).
Of these the last seems by far the most difficult to realise.
For it is in the nature of conscious sin to prevent even our
approaches to God, to keep us from all comfortable fellowship
with God, and to fill us with a heavy sense of our infinite and
almost hopeless distance from him. Yet we will "praise
thy great and terrible name; for it is holy." Great it
is; most glorious and high; far above all human conceptions.
Viewed in this light, even the fact otherwise so consoling,
"The Lord reigneth, "leads only to the inference,
"Let the people tremble; "and "He sitteth between
the cherubim" (or manifesteth himself as the covenant God)
to the conclusion, "Let the earth be moved, "or stagger.
But his name is not only great and terrible in its
manifestations, "it is holy, "and therefore we
"praise" it. His greatness is all arrayed on the side
of goodness, his power on that of righteousness and truth. Alfred
Edersheim, in "The Golden Diary of Heart Converse with
Jesus in the Book of Psalms, "1873.
Verse 3. Thy terrible name... holy. In acts of
man's vindictive justice, there is something of impurity,
perturbation, passion, some mixture of cruelty; but none of
these fall upon God in the several acts of wrath. When God
appears to Ezekiel in the resemblance of fire, to signify his
anger against the house of Judah for their idolatry, "from
his loins downward there was the appearance of fire, but from
the loins upward the appearance of brightness, as the colour of
amber." Eze 8:2. His heart is clean in his most terrible
acts of vengeance; it is a pure flame wherewith he scorcheth and
burns his enemies. He is holy in the most fiery appearance. Stephen
Charnock.
Verse 3. It is holy. No attribute is sounded
out so loftily, with such solenmity, and so frequently by angels
that stand before his throne, as this. Where do you find any
other attribute trebled in the praises of it as this? Isa 6:3:
"Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is
full of his glory; "and Re 4:8: "The four living
creatures rest not day and night saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord
God Almighty, "&c. His power of sovereignty as Lord of
hosts is but once mentioned, but with a ternal repetition of his
holiness. Do you hear in any evangelical song any other
perfection of the divine nature thrice repeated? Where do we
read of the crying out, Eternal, eternal, eternal; or Faithful,
faithful, faithful, Lord God of hosts! Whatsoever other
attribute is left out, this God would have to fill the mouths of
angels and blessed spirits for ever in heaven... As it seems to
challenge an excellence 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 all would be weak without almightiness to back them, so
all would be uncomely without holiness to adorn them: should
this be sullied all the rest would lose their honour and their
comfortable efficacy; as at the same instant that the sun should
lose its light, it would lose its heat, its strength, its
generative and quickening virtue. 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, "
Ps 98:1; his truth or promise a "holy promise, "Ps
105:42. Holy and true go hand and hand, Re 6:10.
"His name, " which signifies all his attributes
in conjunction, "is holy." Stephen Charnock.
Verse 4. The king's strength. They will
remember his strength with joy, because he loveth judgment,
and there is no reason, therefore, to be afraid of him in
consequence of his great strength, so long as they continue to
walk in the good way. George Phillips.
Verses 4-5. Our King loveth righteousness:he
will execute perfect justice, tempered with perfect mercy. He
will judge every man according to his works, summing up and
completing the unnoticed righteousness of his providence by an
open manifestation to the universe of his holiness and equity.
"We believe that he will come to be our judge,
"therefore let us magnify and exalt him with our lips and
hearts; and let us fall down and worship the man Christ Jesus,
who took our nature, even his manhood, from the earth, which is
his footstool, into the eternity of the Godhead, in which he is
equal to the Father. As heaven, which is the throne of God, and
earth, which is his footstool, form one universe, so is God and
man one Christ, the everlasting Lord, "holy and true,
"in whom we sinners may appeal from the throne of eternal
justice to the footstool of eternal mercy. "Plain
Commentary."
Verse 5 (second elause). Mark the peculiar
expression, Worship at his footstool. What humility and
subjection does it imply! It is the worship of one whose heart
has been subdued by divine grace. W. Wilson.
Verse 5. Bishop Horsley thus renders this verse:
"Exalt ye Jehovah our God,
And make prostration before his foostool;
It is holy."
Thus he connects "hory" with Jehovah's footstool,
mentioned in the preceding clause. There appears to me great
propriety and beauty in this construction, which divides the
poem into three members. Of these the first terminates with
ascribing "holiness" to the name of Jehovah:
the second, with ascribing the same property to his abode:and
then, at the conclusion of the hymn, "holiness, "
essential holiness, is ascribed to Jehovah himself. Our Bible
marginal translation recognizes this construction of the 5th
verse. Richard Mant.
Verse 6. Moses and Aaron among his priests, or
chief officers; as in 1Ch 18:17. Moses was, if not a
priest, yet a continual intercessor for the people, and a type
of Christ the great Mediator of his church. Aben-Ezra
called him Cohen haccohanim, the priest of priests; and
Philo, writing his life, concludeth, This was the life and death
of Moses the king, the lawgiver, the prophet, and the chief
priest. John Trapp.
Verse 6. Moses twice performed acts essentially
priestly (Ex 24:4-8 and Ex 40:22, compared with Le 8:1-36), 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. C. B. Moll.
Verse 6. Priests. The word cohen is not
confined as a title to the priests of the Levitical order, it is
applied to Melchizedek and others. Moses is included among God's
priests in accordance with the true idea of a priest, as being
the official exponent of the divine love and mercy—one who
represented God though acting in the interests of man. Robert
JBaker Girdlestone, in "Synonyms of the Old
Testament."
Verse 6. His priests. At the foundation of this
there is another spiritual idiom, that, namely, according to
which all are called priests who possess what constitutes the
essence of the ordinary priestly office (although not the
externals), inward connection with God, free access to the
throne of grace, and the gift and power of intercessory prayer.
This figurative idiom occurs even in the law itself, compare Ex
19:6, where it is said to all Israel, "Ye shall be unto me
a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation." F.W.
Hengstenberg.
Verse 6. Priests. The word cohen, Priest, is
from cahan, to plead a cause, as an intercessor,
mediator, or advocate; hence the strict propriety of its use
here in reference to Moses. C. H. S.
Verse 6. They that call upon his name. The
Hebrew word which we translate to call upon God, notes a
sort of men whose chief business or trade was to call upon or
invocate the name of God, and in this instance it implies that
it was the special calling of these men to call upon God. Joseph
Caryl.
Verses 6-9. This third strophe is in reality a
prophetical picture of the future holy worship of God, in which
Moses, Aaron, and Samuel appear as the living representatives of
the redeemed church, like the four and twenty elders in the more
fully developed Apocalyptic scene of St. John. Revelation 5. Joseph
Francis Thrupp.
Verse 7. They kept his testimonies. For this
reason they were so promptly heard, even as the Lord himself
says, "If a man love me he will keep my words, "and
again, "If ye abide in me and my words abide in you, ye
shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you." And
the ordinance that he gave them. They not only observed the
precepts which bind men in general, but the peculiar obligation
of governing, directing, and teaching the people committed to
them. Bellarmine.
Verse 8. The construction of the verse seems to be
this: "O Lord our God, thou didst hear or answer them,
"that is, the aforementioned typical mediators, Moses,
Aaron, and Samuel: "thou becamest a forbearing God for
them, "or, at their intercession; and that "even when
punishing, "or, when thou hadst begun to punish "the
wicked deeds of them, "that is, not of Moses, Aaron, and
Samuel, but of the people, who had transgressed, and for whom
they interceded. This was the case when Moses interceded for the
idolaters, Ex 22:32, Aaron for the schismatics, Nu 16:47, and
Samuel for the whole nation, 1Sa 7:9. George Horne.
Verse 8. Thou answeredst them... forgavest them.
Oh, the blessed assurance that nothing can disturb our standing
in the covenant. Answer and forgiveness are certain, though
vengeance is taken of our inventions. How every word and
expression here seems to go right to our hearts! The very
designation of our sins and punishments is so true. Yet, withal,
we are not shut out from God. We are able to speak to, and to
hear him; we receive what we need, and much more; and, above
all, we have the sweet, abiding sense of forgiveness,
notwithstanding "our inventions." When we smart under
chastisements or disappointments, we know that it is the fire
which burns up the hay, wood, and stubble—a Father's dealings
in compassion and mercy. We willingly, we gladly take these
chastisements, which now are to us fresh pledges of our safety.
For safe, eternally safe, remains the foundation, and unclosed
the way of access. O surely with all our heart do we accord: "Exalt
Jehovah our God, and worship at his holy hill; for Jehovah our
God is holy." Alfred Ederaheim.
Verse 8. The words of this verse have in them three
remarkable particulars.
1. The behaviour of the men it speaks of, which is partly
good, and partly evil. The former verse saith, "They kept
God's testimonies, and the ordinance that he gave them;
"this insinuates (what was also expressed, Ps 99:6) that
they used to call upon God; all this was very good. But withal
they did sometimes some things amiss, they had some inventions,
by-paths, and steps awry, which, as they needed pardon, so they
occasionally incensed him so much against them that he would not
let them escape altogether, without taking some vengeance for
such untowardness.
2. God's graciousness in a double respect: 1, in answering
them, granting their suits and supplications ordinarily. 2. In
forgiving them, pardoning their failings and faults evermore;
never dealing with them altogether according to their sins, but
in the midst of any offence of theirs, or judgment of his,
remembering mercy.
3. His holy justice, notwithstanding, taking vengeance on
their inventions; chastening them for some faults sometimes, and
not letting them always go unpunished, how faithful soever they
were generally, or how gracious soever he was eternally. Herbert
Palmer (1601-1647), in a Sermon entitled "The Glass of
God's Providence." 1644.
Verse 8. Thou wast a God that forgavest them,
literally "for them; "on account of their
intercessions. God did not destroy those for whom his devoted
servants pleaded, in the day of threatened vengeance. Their
sins, indeed, he visited with the rod of divine chastisement;
but thcir forfeited lives he spared in answer to prayer. John
Morison.
Verse 8. Thou... forgavest them, though thou
tookest vengeance of their inventions. Because he loves the
person, and hates only the sin; therefore he preserves the one,
destroys only the other. This is all the fruit, to take away his
sin. The covenant that is made with us in Christ is not a
covenant made with works, but with persons; and therefore,
though the works be often hateful, yet he goes on to love the
persons; and that he may continue to love them, destroys out of
them what he hates, but cutteth not them off. A member that is
leprous or ulcerous, a man loves it as it is "his own
flesh, "Eph 5:29, though he loathes the corruption and
putrefaction that is in it; and therefore he doth not presently
cut it off, but purgeth it daily, lays plasters to it to eat the
corruption out: whereas a wart or even a wen that grows to a
man's body, a man gets it cut off, for he doth not reckon it as
his flesh. Thomas Goodwin.
Verse 8. Thou tookest veageance of their
inventions. It is not a light punishment, but a "vengeance,
""he takes on their inventions; "to manifest
that he hates sin as sin, and not because the worst persons
commit it. Perhaps, had a profane man touched the ark, the hand
of God had not so suddenly reached him. But when Uzzah, a man
zealous for him, as may be supposed by his care for the support
of the tottering ark, would step out of his place, he strikes
him down for his disobedient action, by the side of the ark,
which he would indirectly (as not being a Levite) sustain, 2Sa
6:7. Nor did our Saviour so sharply reprove the Pharisees, and
turn so short from them as he did from Peter, when he gave a
carnal advice, and contrary to that wherein was to be the
greatest manifestation of God's holiness, viz, the death of
Christ, Mt 16:23. He calls him Satan, a name sharper than the
title of the devil's children, wherewith he marked the
Pharisees, and given (besides him) to none but Judas, who made a
profession of love to him, and was outwardly ranked in the
number of his disciples. A gardener hates a weed the more for
being in the bed with the most precious flowers. Stephen
Charnock.
Verse 8. Thou tookest vengeance. Sometimes the
sins of a people may be such, that God will not pardon them as
to temporal punishments; nay, not the godly themselves. Even
they may have been partakers with others in their sins, or may
have so provoked God themselves, and sinned in such a way as to
cause his name to be blasphemed; so that he is concerned in
honour to bring some exemplary punishment upon them. So it was
with David (2Sa 12:10-14.): though he pardoned him as to the
guilt of eternal death, saved his soul, and spared his life,
which was forfeited to divine justice for the murder of Uriah;
yet the prophet announced that sharp afflictions must come on
him, the sword must never "depart front his house,
"and the child begotten in adultery must die, and his wives
must be given to his neighbours. So, in Ps 99:8, it seems to be
spoken of Moses himself, and other godly among the Israelites
who died in the wilderness, and were not permitted to come into
the land of promise, that "God forgave them, "yet
"took vengeance of their inventions, " John Collins
(1687) in the Morning Exercises.
Verse 8. Vengeance of their inventions. It is
remarkable, that in the preceding verses mention is made of
Moses, and Aaron, and Samuel in a way which seems to imply that
they were upon the psalmist's mind when he uttered the
declaration of the text. These three persons, all eminent for
their piety, were also conspicuous for having suffered the
Divine displeasure on account of their failings. Moses angered
the Lord at the waters of strife, and he is not suffered to
enter the promised land; Aaron provoked the Divine anger by
making the golden calf, and would have been destroyed, had not
Moses by fervent intercession turned away the anger of the Lord
lest he should destroy him; so Samuel placed his sons over
Israel, who walked not in his ways, and therefore God gave
Israel a king, whose crimes caused the prophet to go down with
sorrow to the grave. Stephen Bridge, 1852.
HINTS TO THE VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse 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.
Verse 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.
Verse 2.
1. God is great in Zion in Himself, all his perfections are
here, which cannot be said of creation, or of his Law, or of the
heaven of angels.
2. Great in his works of saving sinners, which he cannot do
elsewhere.
3. Great in his glory as displayed in redemption through his
Son.
4. Great in his love to his redeemed. G. R.
Verse 2. The Lord is great in Zion.
1. In the condescension he displays—Zion is his
"habitation, "his "rest."
2. In the glory he manifests—power and glory are in the
sanctuary, Ps 68:2.
3. In the assemblage he draws. "Every one in Zion
appeareth before God, "Ps 84:7.
4. In the blessings he imparts.
5. In the authority he exerts. W. Jackson.
Verse 3. The terrors of the Lord, connected with
holiness, and worthy of praise.
Verse 4.
1. Trace the process of the working of right principles
through three stages—Love, Establishment, Execution.
2. Illustrate from God's character and action.
3. Apply to national, and to daily, life. C. D.
Verse 5. Exalt the Lord your God.
1. Why? For what he is to you. For what he has done for you.
For what he has told you.
2. How? In your affection. In your meditation. In your
supplication. In your conversation. In your profession. In your
consecration. In your co-operation. In your expectation. W.
J.
Verse 5.
1. The loyal enthusiasln of worship, it exalts the Lord.
2. The humble diffidence of worship, not aspiring to his
exaltation it kneels at his footstool.
3. The good reason for worship.—"He is holy." C.
D.
Verses 6-7.
1. Prayer offered. Moses the prophet, Aaron the priest,
Samuel the ruler, "They called, "&c.
2. Prayer answered. "He answered them, ""he
spake, "&c.
3. Prayer vindicated. They kept the other testimonies,
&c. G. R.
Verse 7. (first clause). The revelation of the cloud,
or what God foreshadowed to Israel in the cloudy pillar.
1. That God was willing to commune with man.
2. That sinful man could not see God and live.
3. That God should become incarnate, veiled in flesh as in
the cloud.
4. That he should be their shelter, protector, guide.
5. That God manifest in the flesh should lead them to the
Promised Land—Heaven. C. D.
Verse 8. Mercy and judgment, or the sea of glass
mingled with fire. C. D.
Verse 8. Observe,
1. That God's vengeance for sin does not prevent his
forgiveness of sin; and,
2. That God's forgiveness of sin does not prevent his taking
vengeance. Stephen Bridge
Verse 9. The Lord our God. A very sweet topic
will be found in the consideration of the questions, "In
what respect is Jehovah ours? and in what relations does he
stand to his people?"
WORK UPON THE NINETY-NINTH PSALM
In "The Golden Diary of Heart Converse
with Jesus in the Book of Psalms." By the Rev. Dr.
EDERSHEIM, Tarquay. Arranged for every Sunday in the year.
Re-issue. 1873. There are expositions of Psalms 99, 101, and
102.