Sermon for 2/27/22 14 Minutes "God Is Holy"

Psalm 99

This morning I'll be reading Psalm 99 verses 1 through 9. And I'll be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible. Psalm 99 My Book of Psalms commentary says that this is a companion to Psalms 93 and 97,,, and this psalm carries the same theme of acclaim to the true King of Israel,,, Jehovah God. Like them it seems to have been a vital part of the worship ritual in the temple. Psalm 99 (HCSB) — 1 The Lord reigns! Let the peoples tremble. He is enthroned above the cherubim. Let the earth quake. 2 Yahweh is great in Zion; He is exalted above all the peoples. 3 Let them praise Your great and awe-inspiring name. He is holy. 4 The mighty King loves justice. You have established fairness; You have administered justice and righteousness in Jacob. 5 Exalt the Lord our God; bow in worship at His footstool. He is holy. 6 Moses and Aaron were among His priests; Samuel also was among those calling on His name. They called to Yahweh and He answered them. 7 He spoke to them in a pillar of cloud; they kept His decrees and the statutes He gave them. 8 Lord our God, You answered them. You were a forgiving God to them, an avenger of their sinful actions. 9 Exalt the Lord our God; bow in worship at His holy mountain, for the Lord our God is holy. God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning. The word of God,,, for the people of God,,, Let us pray: Dear Lord,,, as we begin this morning,,, with everyone here today and all that are listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen. ----------------------------------------------------------- In light of all that has happened this week,,, all of the tragedy and hurt that has been experienced and is still being felt,,, we need to pay attention to this Psalm today and allow God’s word to help us in our walk with God.

And,,, it’s during times of hurt and despair that we need to keep God in our sight because so much goes on in our world today that is so hard to understand.

We wonder how and why these terrible tragedies occur or,,, to be honest,,, we really wonder,,, how and why,,, God allows these things to happen.

And as I’ve said in the past,,, we just have to keep our faith in God,,, trust Him through whatever we are facing,,, and keep moving forward.

These tragedies don’t catch God off guard like they do us,,, He knows that they are going to happen,,, but we just can’t see the “why” in it all,,, and that is something that we can’t understand.

The best way that I can explain it,,, is that we live in a sinful world,,, a world that will have terrible things to happen each and every day,,, until Jesus comes again to fix the mess that sin has made in the world as we know it today.

So we trust God,,, we keep our faith in God,,, and we keep our relationship with God,,, because that’s all that we can do,,, without Him,,, we will never make it on our own.

Last Sunday we looked at Luke 6:27-38,,, and the way that we can “Love, With God’s Help”.

We can’t do the things that are required without it.

So we must keep that relationship with God going to help us do the impossible,,, to love our enemies,,, care for those that are in need,,, because without God’s help,,, these are impossible to do on our own,,, and that’s the same way that we get through the tragedies in our life,,, and in the world today,,, and that’s with God’s help.

This morning,,, we will look at these verses in Psalm 99,,, and lets see how they help us in our walk with God this week.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verse 1 says: 1 The Lord reigns! Let the peoples tremble. He is enthroned above the cherubim. Let the earth quake.

The psalmist encouraged everyone to exalt the Lord with praise for two reasons: because He is holy and because He mercifully answers His people’s prayers.

And he offered praise to the holy LORD who reigns.

The common theocratic expression that has been used in previous psalms,,, again begins this psalm: The LORD reigns,,, Therefore everyone should tremble. (cf. Psalm 47:8; 93:1; 96:10; 97:1; and it’s also used in Psalm 146:10).

God is described as sitting enthroned between the gold-covered cherubim (cf. 80:1) over the ark of the covenant (cf. 1 Kings 6:23–28). And,,, If you go back to look at these verses,,, in verse 28 you will see that the cherubim were overlaid with gold.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verses 2 and 3 say: 2 Yahweh is great in Zion; He is exalted above all the peoples. 3 Let them praise Your great and awe-inspiring name. He is holy.

So the psalmist says,,, God is great in Zion,,,and Zion is used as another name for Jerusalem,,, which of course is where the temple was located.

And,,, People everywhere should praise God.

His dwelling in Zion and His righteous reign,,, speak of His greatness and His holiness,,, which are the predominant reasons for praise mentioned in this psalm.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verses 4 and 5 say: 4 The mighty King loves justice. You have established fairness; You have administered justice and righteousness in Jacob. 5 Exalt the Lord our God; bow in worship at His footstool. He is holy.

The power and righteousness of the King (cf. 95:3; 98:6; and comments on 5:2) manifest His holiness,,, so the psalmist praised Him for these.

This King of power is also a lover of justice,,, a rare combination among earth’s rulers and great men.

In God’s kingdom,,, there will not ever be any kind of corruption or injustice,,, God will rule in all fairness.

In other Scriptures God’s footstool is variously defined as the ark of the covenant (1 Chronicles 28:2), the sanctuary (Psalm 132:7), Zion (Lamentations 2:1), the earth (Isaiah 66:1), or even God’s enemies (Psalm 110:1).

The reference here is probably to the sanctuary in Zion.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verses 6 through 8 say: 6 Moses and Aaron were among His priests; Samuel also was among those calling on His name. They called to Yahweh and He answered them. 7 He spoke to them in a pillar of cloud; they kept His decrees and the statutes He gave them. 8 Lord our God, You answered them. You were a forgiving God to them, an avenger of their sinful actions.

In these verses,,, the writer is speaking of the Lord’s merciful dealings with his ancestors in spite of Israel’s iniquities.

Moses … Aaron, and Samuel prayed and were answered.

God spoke to them (i.e., Israel) from the pillar of cloud (cf. Ex. 13:21) and they obeyed.

And,,, Even after Israel sinned and was punished,,, the LORD … still,,, answered their prayers and forgave them.

So praise is due to God,,, not only because of His holiness (Ps. 99:3, 5),,, but also because of His merciful dealings with His people.

God’s mercy prevents His own people,,, from being consumed by His righteous judgment.

We have these same chances today,,, because God shows us mercy even after we have sinned and fallen short of His expectations of us.

Just as these three men called upon the name of the Lord and were saved,,, whoever will call upon God today will be saved as well!

----------------------------------------------------------- Verse 9 says: 9 Exalt the Lord our God; bow in worship at His holy mountain, for the Lord our God is holy.

My Wesleyan Commentary says,,, The worshiping psalmist got the message,,, and with wonder,,, he acknowledged that God’s act of answering prayer is a truly great event,,, and is matched by His act of forgiveness,,, so,,, Surely God is “holy”.

----------------------------------------------------------- This psalm was written to help all realize that God is Holy and worthy of the praise,,, and we should realize that God is Holy and worthy of that same praise,,, all because of the love and mercy that He has for us!

Just as Moses,,, Aaron,,, and Samuel,,, each in their own way,,, made their own mistakes,,, God still forgave them,,, so we know that still today,,, when we make mistakes,,, God will forgive us as well.

And God is worthy of our praise,,, because there isn’t anything to compare God to,,, He is so far above us,,, so much better than us,,, and on and on,,, so much more than us,,, and yet,,, God still loves us,,, and wants the best for us,,, if we just take the time,,, to answer His call,,, that He makes to each one of us,,, every day if He has to,,, until we do,,, answer that call.

And it’s because of the holiness of God that we should continue to direct our praise upwards to Him,,, to help keep our eyes on the only one that knows the answers that we desire,,, even though we may not have all the answers during this lifetime,,, there may still be questions that we don’t have answers to until we get to heaven.

Just know,,, that no matter what type of hurt you are feeling,,, no matter what questions you may have,,, God knows about them,,, and He is right there with you during the pain and the questions,,, to help you get through it,,, some how,,, some way!

So we must do as the psalmist says,,, and acknowledge that God’s act of answering prayer is a truly great event and is matched by His act of forgiveness,,, so we know,,, just as they knew then,,, that God,,, truly is,,, holy!

----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- Hymn: 337 - Oakdale Hymn: 337 - Seminary Benediction ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------------