In John 17, what is known as Jesus’ high priestly prayer, Jesus prays, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:1-3). What’s interesting about that last sentence is that Jesus defines eternal life for us. He says, “And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God.”
Backing up a little more in the New Testament, in Matthew 22:36, Jesus is asked what is the greatest commandment in the law. Jesus answers in verse 37, saying, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”
Finally, if we walk back a little bit more in our Bibles, the book of Proverbs begins by telling us in Proverbs 1:7, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Thus, we cannot even begin to have knowledge (or a basis for knowing anything) without first fearing God, bowing our knee to him, and recognizing him as God.
Summarizing these truths, we could simply note that eternal life is found in knowing God, the greatest commandment is found in loving God, and knowledge is found in first fearing God. Or we might say that the blessing of eternal life, doing what we were made to do, and gaining knowing all force us to make God himself the object of our focus, affection, and devotion. And if God himself should be the object of our focus, affection, and devotion in these crucial and foundational issues, then it should not be surprising to open up our Bibles again and again and find that it tells us about and often speaks about God - who he is, what he’s like, and what he has done.
One place we find that taking place is in Psalm 99. Psalm 99 is one of those psalms that provides us no superscription, telling us about what events were taking place when this psalm was written. Nor is it a psalm that reveals details about the author of the psalm as we often find with lament psalms, as the author will describe what’s going on around him, the struggles and pains he’s facing, and how he feels about it. It is simply a psalm that talks to us about God. Most every verse of the psalm either declares something about God’s nature or action. It is simply a declaration of who our God is.
Now, it is part of a collection of psalms known as “enthronement psalms” but even that category of psalms has its name only because they are psalms that speak of God’s enthronement or his reigning over all things. We see two other examples of enthronement psalms in Psalm 93 and 97. Like Psalm 99, each of these psalms starts with the words, “The Lord reigns.” Therefore, these similar psalms are categorized as psalms that speak of God’s reign or enthronement and are called “enthronement psalms.”
Psalm 99 not only fits in this category of enthronement psalms, however, but it also has a specific focus concerning what it wants us to know about God. Specifically, Psalm 99 declares to us that our God is holy. In fact, there are three declarations of God’s holiness in this psalm that I think provide us an outline of the psalm. They are found in verses 3, 5, and 9, as we read, “Holy is he!,” “Holy is he!,” and “The LORD our God is holy!” in these verses. It is quite obvious, then, that the primary thing the psalmist wants to declare about God in these verses is that he is holy.
It should not be surprising that this is the central affirmation of God the psalmist wants to make because it’s is perhaps the central affirmation of God in all of Scripture. Now, it is true that the Scripture tells us that God is love or God is light, for example, but for some reason, it is only God’s holiness that is repeated in a three-fold way in the Bible. That is, the Bible tells us that God is holy, holy, holy. And it doesn’t do this once but twice. So, it is obviously important for us to recognize that God is holy, but what does it mean that he is holy?
Well, in one sense, it’s almost impossible to define. To be holy in the Bible is to be separated out or set apart to God. Thus, when the Lord set apart one day from the others, calling it the sabbath day, we are told that it was made a holy day. When the Lord set aside a piece of ground before Moses on which he would manifest himself, he told Moses that it was holy ground. Even when the Lord called out a people for himself on the earth for himself, they are called his holy ones. Similarly, then, it would seem best to say that when the Bible tells us that God is holy, we are to understand that he is set apart from us. He is different from us. He is completely other than anything else in all of creation. He is other than us, distinct from us. There is none like him. This is why John Frame says that holiness refers to God’s “uniqueness.”1 Similarly, John Piper has noted that to say God is holy is simply to say God is God.
He writes, “The word ‘holy’ is the little boat in which we reach the world's end in the ocean of language. The possibilities of language to carry the meaning of God eventually run out and spill over the edge of the world into a vast unknown. ‘Holiness’ carries us to the brink, and from there on the experience of God is beyond words. . . . The reason I say this is that every effort to define the holiness of God ultimately winds up by saying: God is holy means God is God. Let me illustrate. The root meaning of holy is probably to cut or separate. A holy thing is cut off from and separated from common (we would say secular) use. Earthly things and persons are holy as they are distinct from the world and devoted to God. . . . But notice what happens when this definition is applied to God himself. From what can you separate God to make him holy? The very god-ness of God means that he is separate from all that is not God. There is an infinite qualitative difference between Creator and creature. God is one of a kind. . . . In a class by himself. In that sense he is utterly holy. But then you have said no more than that he is God.”2
But Psalm 99 not only reminds us repeatedly that God is unique, transcendent, infinitely perfect in every way (i.e., that he is God); it also tells us some specific aspects of God’s character in addition to his holiness, three aspects of his nature. Each of these is found in each section of the psalm which concludes with a reminder of God’s holiness. The first is found in verses 1-3, where we see that . . .
Now, I know that there are a number of us here today who are recent converts, so I’ll not pretend that everyone knows what “sovereign” means. To say God is sovereign means that he has power over all things and directs and controls everything as he sees fit. That is to say that he reigns over everything. We see this in verses 1-3.
In the first two verses, the psalmist writes, “The LORD reigns; let the peoples tremble! He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake! The LORD is great in Zion; he is exalted over all the peoples.” Here we see much. First, as we’ve noted, the text reminds us that the Lord is the reigning king over all things. The note in verse 1 that he sits enthroned above the cherubim may have a two-fold reference. We’re probably first tempted to think of the ark of the covenant. You see, the Lord had the people design a dwelling place for him where he’d manifest his presence – the tabernacle or (later) temple. And there was a room called the most holy place where a box called the ark of the covenant was. It contained some special items in it, but it wasn’t special because of those items. Rather, it was the particular place where God’s presence was to have especially dwelt. On the top of that box was a covering, and on each end of that covering were cherubim – these angelic beings. Therefore, if the ark was the place where God would manifest his presence – kind of like a footstool for God’s presence – then to say that God is enthroned upon the cherubim would have reminded the reader that God is reigning from his temple.
However, we also know another story from the Scripture where Isaiah sees the Lord, sitting on his throne, “high and lifted up” (as we see “exalted in v. 2), and around him were some other angelic figures called “seraphim” who surrounded him and declared his holiness continually. So, the declaration that God is enthroned upon the cherubim may both tell us that he was reigning over his people Israel from the temple, but it also reminds us that God reigns over all people from heaven. We see that at the end of verse 2 as well, as the psalmist tells us that he is great in Zion but also adds that he is exalted over all peoples. God is not the reigning king over a certain group of people but over everyone.
And we’re reminded that because he reigns, the peoples of the earth should tremble before him. We should recognize that he reigns and bow to him, submit ourselves to him, and worship him. This is the reason that Jesus commanded us to go to all nations (or peoples) of the earth and declare to them the gospel so that they might bow the knee to the Lord, worship him, and be saved from his coming wrath. The reason we go to our neighbors and co-workers, declaring to them the gospel, and the reason we go all over the earth declaring the gospel is because God reigns as king, and if people do not bow the knee to him by repenting of their sins and trusting by faith in his Son who was crucified and risen, then they will be cast into hell on the final day as enemies of the exalted king whom they failed to acknowledge as king and glorify. This is why we evangelize and make disciples of Jesus Christ. We go to others because all men are expected to praise the great and awesome name of the holy God. That’s why this first section ends by declaring in verse 3, “Let them praise your great and awesome name! Holy is he!”
But the second stanza does more of the same, reminding us of another aspect of God’s nature and holiness. In addition to being sovereign, we see in verses 4-5 that . . .
After noting that God is the reigning king over all things, the psalmist adds in verse 4, “The King in his might loves justice. You have established equity; you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.”
To declare that God is righteous or just means that everything God does is right. But what is right? Is there some standard out there in the universe, some principle of rightness and wrongness, that God bows to so as to always do what is right? No. Rather, what is right in this world is that which accords with God’s perfectly righteous nature. The reason that it is right to care for someone in need, or for a husband to love his wife, or to love your neighbor as yourself is because each of these things perfectly accords with God’s righteous nature and character. Further, the reason that murder, rape, and stealing are wrong is because these things do not accord with God’s righteous nature and character. Therefore, when God commands us to do certain things, declaring them right, and forbids certain things, declaring them wrong or immoral, he is revealing to us a reflection of his own righteous character.
Because of this, it would be impossible for God to do anything other than what is right or just because God always acts in accord with his own perfect character. Thus, in verse 4, the psalmist first declares that God loves justice. Of course he does. God can do no other than love justice, for that is merely to describe to us God’s perfect character. He loves everything right.
But not only is he just and righteous in his nature, he also does these things as he reigns. This is why the psalmist moves from saying that God loves justice to showing us that he exercises justice, declaring, “You have established equity; you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob” (v. 4).
And it’s hard to read of God’s justice or righteousness without instantly being reminded that God is not only king but judge as well. Because God is over all things, perfectly exercising righteousness and justice, then that means that he must judge wickedness and righteousness as well. And we find that to be confirmed throughout the Scripture. In Exodus 34:6-7, after Moses had asked God to show him his glory, God said that he would pass by him and declare to Moses his name. That is, he was showing Moses who he was – proclaiming his very name. And as God passed by, he declared, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty.
You see, we get this correct image of a loving and merciful God, but he also reminds his people that he is a just and righteous judge, who will by no means clear the guilty. Why? Because just looking over one’s guilt without unleashing punishment is unrighteous. It is unjust. And we know it is, don’t we? When someone does something atrocious – like killing a child – and this person is declared not guilty in a court of law, don’t almost get sick at our stomachs. We know that what took place was unjust.
Well, God is not unjust. He is the perfectly righteous and just judge – without exception. This is why the Scripture tells us in Proverbs 17:15, “He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the LORD.” Aaron O’Kelley emailed me that verse when he found out that I was serving on jury duty a couple months ago. With friends like that, who needs enemies? He knew I would know he wasn’t being serious, adding pressure onto my situation. But in all seriousness, I think everyone who served on that jury with me wanted to see justice done. And that’s because we’re made in God’s image and have his law written on our hearts.
But human judges and juries can make errors in judgment. God doesn’t. The wicked will by no means be cleared before the righteous judge of all the earth. He is the righteous and just God. Therefore, again, the psalmist reminds us that he is to be worshiped, concluding our second section, writing in verse 5, “Exalt the LORD our God; worship at his footstool! Holy is he!”
Finally, though, the psalmist reminds us of one more aspect of God’s perfectly holy nature.
In the Old Testament, not just everyone could approach the Lord. There were only a certain few who were his prophets or priests who would come and tell the people what God was saying to them or go and represent the people before God. Some of these were Moses, Aaron, and Samuel. So, the psalmist begins this last section of the psalm speaking of them and how the Lord related to them.
He writes, “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. In the pillar of the cloud he spoke to them; they kept his testimonies and the statute that he gave them” (vv. 6-7). Now, at this point we get a picture of God’s willingness to walk in relationship with people. He’s answering their prayers, speaking to them, and giving them commandments to obey. And, we get the image that he people – or at least these three – obey what he commanded them.
And, these generally did obey his commandments. But we are also reminded that they didn’t obey him all the time and all of his commandments. Aaron alone actually created a golden calf that the people who were only to worship the invisible God were supposed to worship, and it angered the Lord to such a degree that he told Moses he would no longer let his presence go with his people.
So, if the people – including Moses, Aaron, and Samuel – sinned, then how did they continually walk before the righteous judge of all the earth and not be punished as guilty sinners. After all, they were guilty sinners, weren’t they?
Well, we get part of the answer in verse 8, as the psalmist writes, “O LORD our God, you answered them; you were a forgiving God to them, but an avenger of their wrongdoings.”
They were able to walk before God because he was a forgiving God. If God weren’t a forgiving God, then they (and we) would all be hopeless. If Moses, Aaron, Samuel, and all of us stood before the righteous judge to be judged, we would all be found guilty. We need forgiveness. And God is gracious and merciful and willing to forgive, isn’t he?
But wait a second. Shouldn’t we be asking, “How?” How can a righteous judge who says he will by no means clear the guilty somehow forgive (or clear) the guilty – like Moses, Aaron, Samuel, and us?
Here’s what is so beautiful about the gospel. It shows us how God can be both the righteous and just judge and the forgiving God. In Romans 3:21-26, we find the answer. Paul begins, “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it – the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. [Okay, so at this point, we’re talking about God’s righteousness, he perfect moral character, and we’ve been looking at this, so hopefully we’re tracking so far. But let’s continue.] For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God [again, we know that to be true, and that includes Moses, Aaron, Samuel, and everyone who ever came from Adam. But let’s continue] and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, [now this is the sticky point isn’t it? How can the guilty be declared righteous or justified by God’s grace when God is a righteous judge. He explains] whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. [To say that Jesus was a propitiation means that he took God’s wrath or punishment for sin, so that God might justly judge sin (and sinners) in him. But why did God do that, allow his own Son to bear the wrath that should have come to guilty sinners? We see it at the end of verse 25-26.] This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins [we’d noted that, hadn’t we? The righteous judge had just “passed over” judging guilty sinners – including Moses, Aaron, and Samuel. But we’ll continue]. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
That is, God was not just ignoring sins and passing over his judgment of guilty sinners all those years. Rather, the wrath and punishment and judgment for sins was just being delayed until one day when God sent his own Son into the world, and Jesus Christ (on the cross) bore God’s wrath, judgment, and punishment for sin in the place of sinners. He died in the place of all who would believe in him, bowing the knee to the Lord as the king of all the earth. And as Jesus bore God’s wrath for guilty sinners, it showed that God is indeed a righteous judge who will by no means clear the guilty. But at the same time, since God the Son bears the punishment, it allows God to bless those of us whose sins have been punished in Jesus Christ. In fact, it allows God to declare us righteous, justifying us by allowing Jesus’ perfect righteousness to be credited to us. That is, it is because of the death of Christ for us that God shows himself to be just (punishing sin) and the justifier (declaring as righteous) those who have faith in his Son Jesus Christ.
Therefore, this morning, if you have no placed your faith in Jesus Christ, then you are presently under God’s judgment and will not escape punishment on that final day apart from trusting in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Therefore, please place your faith in Jesus Christ today and be saved from the coming wrath.
And, if you are a believer, what should be our response to this holy, sovereign, righteous, and gracious God? The last verse of the psalm reminds us again: “Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at his holy mountain; for the LORD our God is holy!” (v. 9). After Jesus came into the world he said that the Lord no longer required us to worship him on a specific mountain but sought people who would worship him in spirit and in truth. Therefore, this morning, let’s let this be our response. Let’s declare the Lord as our holy God, king, and savior. Let us come to the table and sing, exalting the Lord our God, for he is holy. Amen.