Psalm 99 – Our God is a Holy God

Psalm 99 obviously talks about the Holy God, our Lord. He is enthroned far above all thrones and from there He manifests His holiness. His Holiness is one of the more prominent attributes of God. And He is said to be over the cherubim. God had three cherubim: Gabriel, Michael and Satan, or previously called Lucifer, who had rebelled and fallen. The Psalmist tells us that this God is higher than all of them. Furthermore, He is also above all the people of the earth. In this Psalm we are made aware not only of God’s greatness but also His justice and forgiveness.  

How should God’s creation respond to His holiness? Verse 1 says that the people should tremble. And the earth should bow before Him. Verse 3 says that all people should praise His great and awesome name. Verse 4 speaks about the holiness manifested in His coming judgment. He will promote righteous judgment with equity on the earth. Hence a proper response to Him is seen in verse 5.  Everyone, beginning from Israel, His chosen people and all the other people on earth must revel in the Lord, and come humbly to worship Him at His footstool. Truly, this Holy God is worthy of everyone’s worship.  

His holiness was revealed in His past dealings with Israel. He answered the prayers of Moses, Aaron and Samuel. Although they paid for their grave sins, Israel was forgiven. God dealt with them so that they could keep the testimonies and statutes He gave to them. He is a forgiving God. Verse 9 then tell us what we should do in response to His holiness. Israel, together with us His new community founded in Christ, must humble ourselves before Him to worship Him. His holy hills speaks of His presence. And as we come into His presence, we must resolve to worship Him and Him alone. The New Testament exhorts us to be like Him, to be holy even as He is holy. This is the condition set so that the holy God will then answer our prayers.