February 9
Reading: Psalm 99
1 The LORD reigns; let the peoples tremble!
He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!
2 The LORD is great in Zion;
he is exalted over all the peoples.
3 Let them praise your great and awesome name!
Holy is he!
4 The King in his might loves justice.
You have established equity;
you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.
5 Exalt the LORD our God;
worship at his footstool!
Holy is he!
6 Moses and Aaron were among his priests,
Samuel also was among those who called upon his name.
They called to the LORD, and he answered them.
7 In the pillar of the cloud he spoke to them;
they kept his testimonies
and the statute that he gave them.
8 O LORD our God, you answered them;
you were a forgiving God to them,
but an avenger of their wrongdoings.
9 Exalt the LORD our God,
and worship at his holy mountain;
for the LORD our God is holy!
Psalm 99 is a song of exaltation to Yahweh because He reigns in holiness. The call to exalt the Lord shows up in verses 2, 5, and 9. We read that the Lord is holy in verses 3, 5, and 9.
What does it mean that God is holy? For us, the word suggests religious things, angels, cathedrals, choirs singing in Latin. But the word “holy” is not an especially religious word. It means different, set apart, special. To say that God is holy is to say that He is special, in an entirely different category from everything else.
In this song we are invited to recognize that the Lord is holy in three different ways. First, verses 1-3, He is holy in that He is enthroned above the cherubim. The peoples tremble. The earth shakes. This brings to mind the awesome vision of the Lord enthroned over the expanse above the living beings in Ezekiel 1. It recalls the Lord “sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted” in Isaiah 6. The Lord in unlike all His creation in that He reigns over it all in glory.
Second, verses 4-5, He is holy in that He upholds equity, justice, and righteousness in a way that no one else does in all His creation. We look around the world and see so much injustice, unfairness, and wickedness. But this is not true of the Lord. He is uncorrupted and incorruptible. His justice surpasses even our flawed ideals of justice.
Third, in verses 6-9, He is holy in how He chooses, saves, leads, answers, forgives, and protects His people. The Lord perfectly engages in loving relationships with His people. Over the centuries He has proved that He can save any kind of person from any and every situation. No one rescues like God rescues. No one relates like God relates. No one speaks like God speaks. No one avenges like God avenges. No one is like God. He is holy.