Psalm 99: Who is your King?

Who is your King?

This is a simple question that we have to ask ourselves some time. Who is our King?

A King is a mere man who rules over his subjects and controls the interests of his people. Throughout history if we look at Kings we see lots of examples of corrupt and horrible Kings. There are also examples of good Kings but it always seems like Kings fail. Today we live in a country that doesn’t have a Monarch anymore but I would argue we still have a King in our lives.

In the United States we have made our country our King. We Exalt our King above a lot of things in our lives. At times if we are really honest we can be in danger of placing our country above our faith. I know that this is hard for many of us to hear sometimes but it is a truth that we have to recognize.

Who is our King? The scriptures give us a clear answer on this. Let’s look tonight at the Psalm we will be studying tonight.

Psalm 99 NIV

1 The Lord reigns, let the nations tremble; he sits enthroned between the cherubim, let the earth shake. 2 Great is the Lord in Zion; he is exalted over all the nations. 3 Let them praise your great and awesome name— he is holy. 4 The King is mighty, he loves justice— you have established equity; in Jacob you have done what is just and right. 5 Exalt the Lord our God and worship at his footstool; he is holy. 6 Moses and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel was among those who called on his name; they called on the Lord and he answered them. 7 He spoke to them from the pillar of cloud; they kept his statutes and the decrees he gave them. 8 Lord our God, you answered them; you were to Israel a forgiving God, though you punished their misdeeds. 9 Exalt the Lord our God and worship at his holy mountain, for the Lord our God is holy.

The Breakdown of the Psalm

The Psalm is broken down into three main parts.

V. 1-3 Praise the Holy God who reigns over the Nations

v. 4-5 Worship the Holy God

v. 6-9 Worship the Holy God who forgave the sins of Israel

God Reigns over all

We opened talking about the idea of who is our King. I shared a hard truth that sometimes we place things over God’s reign. To be honest I do think that we are in danger sometimes when we place our country and our patriotism over our faith. However, if I am honest there are a lot of things that we place above God and make Kings in our lives. This could be our jobs. Our hobbies. Sports. The Past. Current trends. The list goes on and on.

The truth that this psalm reminds us though in the first three verses is that God reigns over all.

Psalm 99:2 NIV

2 Great is the Lord in Zion; he is exalted over all the nations.

He is lord over all. We must submit ourselves to his kingship and rule if we are to live a life that is focused on him. It is challenging. It is hard to place our other wants and desires under his authority. IT requires us to sacrifice and to give up of ourselves to focus on God’s Kingdom.

Not only are we to submit but this authority merits an attitude of praise. We are to sing and shout praises to Him because we know he is holy.

Called to Worship the Holy God

Psalm 99:5 NIV

5 Exalt the Lord our God and worship at his footstool; he is holy.

I was thinking after this mornings message about the transfiguration and the fact that Jesus shone brightly and when the voice of God spoke they disciples grew afraid. IT was a reminder that we often lose a sign of respect for God. We don’t always remember that he is a God of Justice.

God as a God of justice and righteousness is not founded on our human standards though. It is founded on his standards. In reality our standards are a poor reflection of God’s standards. He wants to provide justice for his people. He wants to see his people to become righteous and to be upright. IT is in his holiness that we hope to pursue that.

It is his holiness that we are called thought o worship and to bow before that and recognize that we are lowly compared to him. Yet, the beauty is that he lifts us from that place of lowlyness and helps us to be more than we ever though we could be.

An example of this. When i was in high school before God really got a hold on my life. Let’s just say i used a lot more “colorful” Language. It was the cool thing to do. My friends and I often would say these words because well we could and you couldn’t stop us.

I remember when God got a hold of me again in my last two years of high school. I realized that my tongue was out of control. I had read the Book of James and something stood out to me.

James 3:9–12 NIV

9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. 11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12 My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

It was when i read passages like this that I challenged myself to think about what I say and to work to change it.

This was because he is Holy and i Worship him with the same tongue that i would say foul language about others. That was a problem. He is Holy and I must worship and i must work to change and draw closer to that holiness.

Worship the Holy God who forgives

Psalm 99:8–9 NIV

8 Lord our God, you answered them; you were to Israel a forgiving God, though you punished their misdeeds. 9 Exalt the Lord our God and worship at his holy mountain, for the Lord our God is holy.

When i read this passage i was reminded of how much he forgives us.

Imagine for a moment treating God how much of the world does and yet, he does not punish us to the level we deserve. I fear the punishment that we would deserve if we did not have a gracious and forgiving God.

It is interesting to me how people will read the Old testament and even parts of the New Testament and think that God is cruel because he is a God of Justice. His blessings poor out around us and we forget about those blessings because we attach to the negative. We see stories like Moses and Aron and their failures (yes they failed) and we think how could God Punish them.

Moses did all kinds of good and God kept him from the promise land. He did this because Moses chose to follow his own thoughts and deeds instead of heading the instruction of God.

WE can not succumb to cheap grace. We can not give into the idea that his grace does not have a price or that we don’t have responsibilities in it.

WE are to live out the truth of verse 9

Psalm 99:9 NIV

9 Exalt the Lord our God and worship at his holy mountain, for the Lord our God is holy.

WE are to Worship because he is Holy. We are to Praise because he is forgiving. We can’t ever forget what he does for us and that his love for us is deep. That he is our King and we are to place him above all other things. This is our spiritual act of worship. This our recognition of his authority and rule in our lives.

Let’s Pray