Psalms of God's Compassion 90-92; 98-99

The following material is adopted from James’s Montgomery Boice’s 3 volume commentary on Psalms. Additional material from MacArthur Bible Studies, Psalms: Hymns for God’s People. Introductory material from Psalms of Grace, Philip Webb, editor. Additional material taken from sources listed at the end

In this lesson we will explore several songs from Book IV of the Psalms, which covers Psalms 90-106. Each of these psalms focus on the theme of God’s compassion. In Hebrew, the word translated “compassion” is derived from the Hebrew word for “womb.” The term thus conveys the intense feelings that a mother has to love, protect, and nurture her child, as in Isaiah 49:15: “Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb?”

But the term also describes the compassion that a father has for his child and, by extension, the compassion that the Heavenly Father has toward His children: “As a father pities his children, so the LORD pities those who fear Him” (Psalm 103:13). The Lord instructed His people to model the compassion that He had shown them in their relationships with one another (Zech 7:9-10). They were to especially have compassion on the poor: “He who has pity on the poor lends to the LORD, and He will pay back what he has given” (Prov 19:17).

Many of the psalms included in Book IV are unattributed to specific authors. One notable exception is Psalm 90, which was written by Moses, making it the oldest known song in the Psalter. Jewish tradition attributes Psalm 91 to Moses, though that is unconfirmed. The authors of the remaining psalms we will explore in this lesson are all unknown.

Psalm 90

This psalm is a prayer of Moses, that acknowledges the transient nature of life and prays for Yahweh’s favor. The psalmist confesses the eternal nature of God and the truth that man is made from dust. Life is brought to an end by God alone — His wrath will cause our days to pass away. Moses then prays that God would teach Israel, that they may be wise. He asks that the steadfast love of Yahweh would be satisfying each morning, and that the favor of God would be upon them.

A Somber “Song of Moses”

— This is the only psalm attributed to Moses

— But it is not the only piece of poetry that Moses wrote

— He wrote the song after the Jews were delivered from Egypt and Pharaoh’s army drowned in the Red Sea (Ex 15:1-18)

— The other was the song he sang as he ascended Mount Nebo where he died (Duet 32:1-43)

— This is one of three psalms in book four attributed to an author

— Psalm 90 by Moses

— Psalm 101 and 103 by David

— Most of the psalms are anonymous

— This psalm has given us one our best loved hymns, “Our God, Our Help in Ages Past,” by Isaac Watts

Our God, our Help in ages past,

Our Hope for years to come,

Our Shelter from the stormy blast,

And our eternal Home.

The Deaths of Miriam and Aaron

— Numbers 20 is the background of this psalm

— Miriam and Aaron have died

— Moses is prevented from entering the promised land because of his sin

— This psalm is probably a reflection of those circumstances

1. The death of Miriam

— Miriam death is reported in a single verse and six words in the English language (Num 20:1)

— She and Aaron led the rebellion against Moses (Num 12)

— By this point Moses, Aaron, Miriam, Caleb and Joshua were the only survivors of the generation that came out of Egypt

— Her death was a stark reminder of the judgment on that generation

2. Moses’ sin in striking the rock

— Moses struck the rock and sinned against the Lord (Num 20:2-13)

— We can sympathize with Moses, even to the point of thinking that God’s judgment was unfair

— He was almost 120 years old at this time and for 38 years he looked forward to the promised land

— God always takes sin seriously, no sin is unimportant

3. The death of Aaron

— The third incident is the death of his brother Aaron (Num 20:22-29)

— This must have been a terrible loss for Moses, he had worked with Aaron for forty years

— Aaron was the last of his father’s family

The Eternal Grandeur of God

— This psalm is a reflection on human morality and the brevity of life

— This psalm is probably the greatest passage in the Bible contrasting the grandeur of God with man’s frailty

— Moses begins with a reflection on God being a sure eternal refuge for his people (vv. 1-2)

Here we have no fixed home, but like Moses, Abraham, and the other Old Testament patriarchs, we look “forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (Heb 11:10). Do you look forward to such a dwelling? Or are you putting your hope and all your earthly efforts into perishable things that will soon pass away? Paul said, “We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Cor 4:18)

The Frailty of Man

— Moses directs our attention to the weakness of man and to the brevity of his earthly life (vv. 3-6)

— Later Moses speaks of “the length of our days” being “seventy years - or eighty, if we have strength” (v. 10)

Man’s Sin and God’s Wrath

— The third section of the psalm (vv. 7-12) recognizes that man’s greatest problem is that he is a sinner and subject to the wrath of God

— In fact, it is sin that is the cause of his death and misery

— Moses must have been thinking of the fall of Adam and Eve when he wrote this section as well as his own sin (vv. 7-8, 11)

— Not only has Moses set the weakness of man and the shortness of his life against the grandeur and eternity of God

— He has also traced man’s mortality to its roots, seeing death as a judgment for sin

— We might have contrasted our sin to God’s holiness

— But Moses is showing that death is linked to sin and is caused by it

— We die because Adam sinned (Rom 5:12-21), and because we sin ourselves

Man’s Need of God’s Grace

— The fourth section is an appeal to God an grace (vv. 13-17)

— He appeals that our work might endure as something of lasting value even though we pass away quickly

— We find three petitions in verse 12:

1. Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom (v. 12)

— This is a prayer that God will help us live holy lives, which is the path of true wisdom

— How do we make each day count for God?

2. “Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days” (v. 14)

— Alexander Maclaren said, “The only thing that will secure life-long gladness is a heart satisfied with the experience of God’s love”

— There is nothing that will satisfy the heart ultimately except God

— Forget about finding happiness in things

— Saint Augustine prayed, “You made us for yourself, and our hearts find no peace until they find rest in you”

3. “Establish the work our our hands for us — yes, establish the work of our hands” (v. 17)

— Moses appeals to God to make what he has been trying to do for God worthwhile

— God is able to establish the work of our hands, making what we do for God count eternally

Do you want God to do that? Do you want your life here and what you do here have meaning? Do you want to be a blessing to others? The only way that can happen is if God establishes your work. May he do that so that others who come after you will be blessed because of you, and so, when you die and appear before God the Father, you will hear him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” (Matt 25:21, 23)

Exploring the Meaning

God is eternal and unchanging

Psalm 90 is a prayer of Moses. It was likely expressed and recorded while the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness, which was a stressful and dangerous time for God’s people. Moses began his prayer by proclaiming God’s eternality and unchanging nature. “Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations,” he declared. “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God” (vv 1-2). Moses emphasized God’s timelessness and compared God’s eternal nature with the fleeting lives of humanity: “For all our days have passed in Your wrath; we finish our years like a sigh” (v. 9). God’s eternal nature makes Him entirely unlike anything we have experienced as human beings. He is completely separate from us and far above us. He needs nothing from us and receives nothing from us — yet we are entirely dependent on Him. Incredibly, despite the gulf between us, God deals with us mercifully. As Moses understood, God treats us with love, which is our only hope.

Without God’s compassion, we are lost

In many ways, Moses’ prayer in Psalm 90 is a foreshadowing of the gospel. Specifically, Moses understood our inability to deal with our own sin. As Paul wrote in Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Because of this understanding, the final portions of Moses’ prayer are laser-focused on God’s mercy and compassion. “Have compassion on Your servants,” he prayed. “Oh satisfy us early with your mercy, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days! (vv. 13-14). His concluding plea is both poignant and passionate: “And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands for us; yes, establish the work of our hands” (v. 17). Scripture makes it clear that we are helpless to solve the problem of our sin. We are dead in our trespasses, and the wages of our sin is death — both physically and spiritually. Like Moses, we must appeal to God’s compassion for salvation. Yet the wonderful news of the gospel is that salvation has already been accomplished, and it is applied to those who believe it through repenting of their sin and placing their faith in Christ.

Psalm 91

Psalm 91 is a psalm of wisdom that exhorts the reader to put his trust in God. For those who dwell in the shelter of the Most High, they find in Him a refuge and fortress. God delivers those who trust in Him — His faithfulness protects and assures. Though many will fall, the Most High preserves the life of His people. Indeed, He commands His angels concerning His servant. The one who trusts in God will be safe and satisfied.

Under the Shadow of God’s Wings

— All of the psalms are wonderful

— But some have commended themselves to God’s people as especially comforting and this is one of them

— Charles Haddon Spurgeon was not overstating the case when he wrote

In the whole collection of psalms there is not a more cheering psalm; its tone is elevated and sustained throughout, faith is at its best and speaks nobly.

The Psalmist’s Personal Faith in God

— The first verse sets the theme of the psalm

Psalm 91:1 “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.”

— But as soon as the psalmist makes this statement he confesses his own faith

— “I will say of the LORD, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust” (v. 2)

— This is equivalent to the apostle Thomas’s confession of faith after seeing the risen Lord, “My Lord and my God!” (Jn 20:28)

— So here is the first application

— Is Jesus Christ your Lord and your God?

— Is the God of the Bible your refuge in times of trouble?

— The psalms promises are for you only if he is

Trust in God Commended

— The psalmist tells us six thing that God will do for the one who trusts him

— What is most striking is the use of you throughout, which is a way of saying that these truths are for each person individually

— God will save the trusting soul from two types of danger (v. 3)

— First, the subtle snares of enemies which are described as traps to catch birds

— Second, death by disease or pestilence

Lord Craven, a Christian, was a nobleman who was living in London when plague ravaged the city in the fifteenth century. In order to escape the spreading pestilence Craven determined to leave the city for his country home, as many of his social standing did. He ordered his coach and baggage made ready. But as he was walking down one of the halls of his home about to enter his carriage, he overheard one of his servants say to another, “I suppose by my Lord’s quitting London to avoid the plague that his God lives in the country and not in town.” It was a straightforward and apparently innocent remark. But it struck Lord Craven so deeply that he canceled his journey, saying, “My God lives everywhere and can preserve me in town as well as in the country. I will stay where I am. So he stayed in London. He helped the plague victims, and did not catch the disease himself.

There is a similar story from the life of Charles Haddon Spurgeon. In 1854, when he had been in London only twelve months, the area of the city in which the young preacher lived was visited by Asiatic cholera. Many in Spurgeon’s congregation were affected, and there was hardly a family in which someone did not get sick, and many died. The young pastor spent most of every day visiting the sick, and there was hardly a day when he did not have to accompany some family to the graveyard.

Spurgeon became physically and emotionally exhausted and sick at heart. He was ready to sink under this heavy load of pastoral care. But as God would have it, one day he was returning home sadly from a funeral when he noticed a sign in the shoemaker’s shop on Dover Road. It was in the owner’s own handwriting, and it bore the words: “Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the Most High, my habitation, there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh they dwelling,” a quotation from Psalm 91:9-10 (KJV).

Spurgeon was deeply and immediately encouraged. He wrote, “The effect upon my heart was immediate. Faith appropriated the passage as her own. I felt secure, refreshed, girt with immortality. I went on with my visitation of the dying in a calm and peaceful spirit; I felt no fear of evil, and I suffered no hard. The providence which moved the tradesman to put those verses in his window I gratefully acknowledge, and in the remembrance of its marvelous power I adore the Lord my God.”

In verse 4 we see two images of God’s protection

— A mother sheltering her young with her wings

— Jesus would have saved and sheltered Jerusalem but they were not willing (Matt 23:37)

— They would not “dwell” in the shelter of the most high

— Second, a warrior’s armor

— Abraham returned from his battle with the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah

— They had carried off his nephew Lot and his family

— When Abraham was in danger of retaliation God said, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, you very great reward” (Gen 15:1)

Q: What is it exactly to say that God is our shield?

— The King James Version renders this verse as “His truth will be your shield and buckler” (v. 4)

— The Hebrew word means more than truth, it means his entire character described as faithfulness

— The Hebrew word is based on the word truth and what is involved here is God’s faithfulness to His promises — that is, to His Word

—It is when believe God’s Word and act upon it that we find him to be faithful and we learn that He is in truth our shield from danger

— Verse 7-8 describe those who die as punishment for sin by God

— We will not suffer for our sin like those who do not have Christ

Protection from Dangers: The Condition

— The third stanza continues the theme (vv. 9-11)

— “no hard will befall us” and “no disaster will come near your tent” (v. 10)

— But this is conditional

— It is not to those who merely believe in God or come to Him occasionally when feeling threatened

— It is to those who rest continually in God and trust Him at all times

— Verse 11 is the verse quoted by Satan when he tempted Christ (Matt 4:1-11; Lk 4:1-13)

— It is the only verse Satan ever quoted recorded in Scripture

— The Lord’s trust in his Father also resulted in Satan’s defeat, another part of the psalm the devil omitted (v. 13)

God’s Promises for Those Who Trust Him

— In the last three verses God speaks in the first person and adds his seal to what the psalmist has said (vv. 14-16)

— God promises three things to those who trust Him

1. Protection for the one who is in danger (v. 14)

— God will rescue and protect his people from many dangers

— This is for those who trust Him

2. An answer for the one who is in trouble and prays to God about it (v. 15)

— He will hear and answer us

— He will be with the believer “in trouble,” which is a way of saying that He will not always lift us out of trouble

— Paul reminds us that we acquire hope, develop character, and learn perseverance from what we suffer (Rom 5:3-4)

— When we go through such times God goes through them with us

3. Long life and salvation for the one who seeks God’s satisfaction (v. 16)

— Long life is a blessing frequently promised to the righteous in the Old Testament (Ex 20:12; Deut 30:20; Pss 21:4; 23:6; Prov 3:2, 16)

— It is not necessarily for days but rather a complete and full life

— These blessing are for those who trust and love God (v. 14)

— They call upon his name (v. 15)

— They seek satisfaction in him alone

Psalm 92

This psalm is a hymn of praise, honoring God for who He is and what He has done. The psalmist praises Yahweh because of His faithfulness and the works of His hands. Though mankind is ignorant, the thoughts of God are profound. Therefore, those who set themselves against Him are destined for destruction. The psalmist declares that Yahweh is his rock, who has exalted Him and will cause the righteous to flourish.

A Psalm for the Sabbath

— This is the only psalm specifically designated “for the Sabbath”

— It is for us to “praise the LORD”

Q: How do you approach the Sabbath?

— Is it a trail or treat?

— Is it a delight or deadly duty?

It is Good to Praise God

— The first verse establishes the theme which is to praise God

Psalm 92:1 “It is good to give thanks to the Lord And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;”

— Praising God is good because it “makes me [us] glad” (v. 4)

And Enjoy Him Forever

— Praising God is why we were created

— The Westminster Shorter Catechism asks as its first question;

— What is the chief end of man?

— answer: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever”

Q: What should we praise God for?

— The psalmist suggests two things

— First, the steadfast love of God (v. 2)

— Second, God’s faithfulness

Q: How should we praise God?

— Joyfully (v. 4)

— With instruments (v. 3)

The Silence of the Senseless

— There are two things wrong with those who do not know or praise God (vv. 5-9)

1. They are like brute beasts

— They are literally “the senseless man”

— It is man’s calling to look up to God and become like God (Ps 8)

— But he will not look up but rather down at the beasts

— “God made man a little lower than the angels, and he has been trying to get lower ever since”

2. They are wicked in their beast like behavior

— They do not praise God because they are wicked (vv 7, 9)

— There is a willing blindness

— They are blind because they choose not to see

— They actually hate God

The Psalmist’s Final Testimony

— The destiny of the wicked

— A contrast between the wicked and the righteous (vv. 10-15)

— Three things about those who truly know God

1. They will flourish like a palm tree and grow strong like a cedar of Lebanon (vv. 12-13)

— This is true of Moses who lived to be 120 years old

— “yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone” (Deut 34:7)

— Not all are blessed with strength in later years

— David was feeble but that is not what the verse is talking about

— It is “spiritual strength” in the Lord

— Paul talked about this:

“Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.” (2 Cor 4:16)

2. They will be fruitful even into old age

— They will be fruitful too (v. 14)

— When we are young we are caught up in the world’s concerns

— When we are strong we focus our strength to make our work count for him

3. Their testimony will remain firm to the very end of their lives

— The righteous will maintain their testimony to the very end

— Moses finished his last book of the Pentateuch with a song and a sermon (Deut 32-33)

— Joseph spoke of God’s sovereignty, telling his brothers, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good” (Gen 50:20)

— John wrote Revelation when he was a very old man

— What will your experience be assuming God allows you to live that long?

Psalm 98

Psalm 98 is a psalm of praise that rejoices in the work of Yahweh. The psalmist exhorts his audience to sing a new song because His deeds are marvelous. He has revealed his salvation and acted faithfully. Indeed, all the ends of the earth have seen His redemption. Thus, we should rejoice with melody. The psalmist even commends nature to respond, anticipating that Yahweh will come to judge the earth.

An Exuberant Praise Song

— This psalm is wholly given to praise

— It begins and ends the same way as another psalm (Ps 98)

— Like Ecclesiastes says that there is a season for everything (Eccles 3:1, 4) — now is a time for joy

God the Savior

— Each of the three stanzas of this psalm calls on one part of creation to praise God

— In the first stanza this is Israel (vv. 1-3)

— “He [God] has remembered his love and his faithfulness to the house of Israel” (v. 3)

— The verb is in the past tense

— The psalmist was thinking of some great act of deliverance possibly the deliverance from the Babylonians but we have no way of knowing

— The word translated “salvation” in the first three verses includes the idea of “victory”

— We can think of victories that God has provided for us through Jesus Christ

1. Deliverance from sin

— Sin is the single greatest problem that we have

— It both separates and destroys

— It separates us from God

— It destroys relationships

Q: Who can save us from sin? Can the world save us? Can we save ourselves?

— The world is unable to solve its own problems and can’t save us

— If we look to ourselves we find no help there either

— If we could conquer sin we would do it

— The apostle Paul wrested with sin, crying, “When I want to do good, evil is right there with me…What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” (Rom 7:21, 24)

— Paul gives the answer in the next verse: “Thanks be to God — through Jesus Christ our Lord” (v. 25)

— How does God do it? He explains (Rom 8:1-4) it is in three parts

— Deliverance from sin’s penalty — no “no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”

— Deliverance from sin’s power — Jesus saved us so that now “the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us”

— Deliverance from sin’s presence — that we would be “glorified” (v.30)

2. Deliverance from death

— Death is a great enemy

— Because of Christ’s victory we no longer fear death and look forward to our resurrection (1 Cor 15)

— “Death has been swallowed up in victory” (1 Cor 15:54; cf. Isa 25:8)

— When we die we will be with Jesus (2 Cor 5:8)

3. Deliverance from Satan

— The third deliverance emphasized in the NT is deliverance from Satan and his power

— Christ was prophesied to come and defeat Satan (Gen 3:15)

— The atonement broke Satan’s power which was death

— Resist the devil and he will flee from you (James 4:7; Rev 15:2)

In The Treasury of David Charles Spurgeon tells of a little church in the county of Tyrone where a small, ragged boy came every Sunday, placing himself in the very center of the pews opposite the pulpit. The minister frequently tried to speak to him after the service because he seemed so attentive, but the boy always slipped away quietly and the minister was never able to find out who he was. The lad was missing for some weeks, and one day a man came to the church to see the minister. He wanted him to visit his son, who was dying. “I am really ashamed to ask you to go so far,” he said, indicating that his home was about six miles distant. “But he is an extraordinary boy, and he is refusing to see anyone but you. He talks about things I do not understand.”

The minister started out, trudging along the rural road in drenching rain, and at last came to the home, a poor hovel tucked into a desolate mountain valley. The man who had come for him was waiting at the door, and when the minister went in he found the boy lying in the corner on a straw mat. When he saw the minister he raised himself up, stretched out his frail arms and said, “His own right hand and his holy arm hath gotten him the victory” (from v. 1 of our psalm). Shortly afterward he died.

How great a victory has been achieved for us by Jesus! How great that it produces conquering faith even in a child.

God the King

— The second stanza praises God as King

— He is king of the whole earth and calls everyone to worship (vv. 4-6)

— The psalmist wants the worship to be joyful and loud

God the Judge

— In the first stanza the appeal was to Israel

— In the second stanza the appeal was to the nations of the earth

— The final stanza is an appeal to the entire creation to praise God

— The reason is because God is coming to “judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity” (v. 9)

— We know this as the day of the return of Jesus Christ

Psalm 99

Psalm 99 is an enthronement psalm which celebrates the reign of Yahweh. The psalmist instructs the people to tremble because the name of Yahweh is great and awesome. He is the King who loves justice and will judge rightly. In the past, He answered the prayers of Moses, Aaron, and Samuel, forgiving them of their failings. Therefore, the psalmist explains, we ought to worship God and esteem Him as holy.

Holy, Holy, Holy

— This psalm is about the holiness of God

— It is also about his kingly reign

— It is impossible to miss the emphasis that God is holy in this psalm

— “he is holy” (v. 3)

— “he is holy” (v. 5)

— “the LORD our God is holy” (v. 9)

— The ancients did not have our ways of emphasizing some point, either by capitalizing or printing in bold type

— They achieved emphasis with repetition

— Jesus did it when he prefaced many of his sayings by “verily, verily” or “truly, truly”

Holy is the Lord Almighty

— God is in heaven enthroned between the awe-inspiring cherubim (cf. Is 6:1-4)

— Holiness is the characteristic of God that sets him apart from his creation

— There are at least four elements

1. Majesty

— Majesty means “dignity,” “authority of sovereign power,” stateliness,” or “grandeur”

— Majesty links holiness to sovereignty, which is why in Psalm 99 the stanza that begins with a statement about God’s rule (“The LORD reigns”) ends with a reference to his holiness (“he is holy”)

2. Will

— Holiness is personal and active

— The will of God is primarily set on showing himself to be the “Wholly Other”

— His glory must not be tarnished by the wickedness of men

3. Wrath

— Wrath is part of holiness, because it is the natural and proper stance of the holy God against all that opposes him

4. Righteousness

— This is the matter mentioned earlier

— It is involved because it is what the Holy God wills in moral areas

— We know what is right because we can appeal to the character of God not some moral standard

— The experience of actually encountering God’s holiness is awe inspiring, even life threatening (Isa 6:5; Hab 3:16; Job 42:6; Lk 5:8)

— This is exactly what the psalmist is describing here (vv. 1-3)

Worshiping the Holy God

— The fourth element of holiness, the moral uprightness or righteousness of God, is developed in the second stanza (vv. 4-5)

— He is said to love justice, to have established equity, and to have done always what is just and right (v. 4)

— Therefore, we must exalt the LORD (v. 5)

Answered Prayer and Forgiveness

— The final stanza speaks about three past leaders of Israel (vv. 6-7)

— Moses, Aaron, and Samuel and the wilderness experience

— This reminds us that worship is not for the angels only but for those worship at his footstool (v. 5) or at his holy mountain (v. 9)

If we come to God on the basis of the shed blood of Jesus Christ, as God requires, we will discover two things. First, God answers prayer. Moses, Aaron, and Samuel “called on the LORD and he answered them” (v. 6). Second, God forgives our sins. “You were to Israel a forgiving God, though you punished their misdeeds.” (v. 8)

Be Holy, as God is Holy

— Our study of the holiness of God leads to three important consequences

1. If God is holy, we must be holy

— Peter wrote, “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy’” (1 Pet 1:15)

— Holiness is no option for a Christian

2. If we are not holly (and we are not), we must flee to Christ for forgiveness and cleansing

— Notice that at the end of the psalm “he is holy” is changed to “our God is holy” (v. 9)

— How does the holy God become our God since we are not holy?

— The answer is by atonement and forgiveness (v. 8)

— It is only the forgiven that can worship at God’s holy mountain

3. if we know God, we must worship him

— In the beginning of the psalm the nations were called to worship God

— They may or may not but that does not change our great God

Charles Haddon Spurgeon wrote

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 his mercy, power, wisdom, justice and glory

Exploring the Meaning

We worship the God-Who-Forgives

Psalm 99 is a brief expression of praise to God for His holiness. Yet there is an interesting moment near the end of this psalm that directly ties to the theme of compassion. The psalmist begins by praising God’s greatness and exalting Him because of His justice. He instructs his hearers to praise God’s “awesome name” because He is “holy” (v. 3). then, in verses 6-7, the psalmist looks back to the history of Israel and highlights three leaders who spoke to God as representatives of the people. The next line is key: “You answered them, O LORD our God; you were to them God-Who-Forgives” (v. 8). While it is true that God did punish the Israelites for their constant rebellion, His interactions with all people have been filled with and fueled by compassion. Specifically, the psalmist declared, “You were to them God-Who-Forgives,” meaning that forgiveness is an expression of God’s character. This is the same God we worship today — the same God, in the Person of the Son, who sacrificed Himself to provide atonement for sin. He is the “God-Who-Forgives.”

Additional Resources

Boice, J. M. (n.d.). Psalms. Vol 1: Psalms 1-41. Baker Books.

MacArthur, J. (2023). Psalms. Hymns for God’s People. Harper Christian Resources.

C. H. Spurgeon. The Treasury of David, Vol 2b, Psalms 88-110 ( Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1966).

Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy: The Inferno, trans. Dorothy L. Sayers (Harmondsworth, England: Penguin, 1951).

Webb, P. (Ed.). (2022). Psalms of grace. The Master's Seminary Press.

Alexander Maclaren, The Psalms, vol 3, Psalms 90-150 (New York: A.C. Armstrong and Son, 1894)

Saint Augustine, Confessions, trans R.S. Pine-Coffin (Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1961)