Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
This automated analysis scores the text on the likely presence of emotional, language, and social tones. There are no right or wrong scores; this is just an indication of tones readers or listeners may pick up from the text.
A score of 0.5 or higher indicates the tone is likely present.
Emotion Tone
Anger
0.12UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.07UNLIKELY
Fear
0.11UNLIKELY
Joy
0.65LIKELY
Sadness
0.14UNLIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.55LIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.25UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.95LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.87LIKELY
Extraversion
0.14UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.64LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.84LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
Psalm 99
The Lord Reigns!
Psalm 99 is a song that is part of a group of psalms that proclaim the reign of God as King.
The structure of the psalm contains three sections of lines divided by the phrase, “Holy is he!”
As we study this psalm, we will see how God’s holiness is connected to His reign over all things.
The psalm gives us three reasons why we should worship God:
1. Worship the Holy God because he reigns.
2. Worship the Holy God because he loves justice.
3. Worship the Holy God because He responds to his people.
Psalm 99 is part of a set of a group of songs that focus on the adoration of God as king.
The structure of the psalm contains three sections of lines divided by a marker phrase declaring, “Holy is he!” Like three other psalms (Psalm 93, 96, 97), it contains the key phrase, “the LORD reigns”.
The psalm invokes the sacred name of God seven times.
Because we are reading an English translation, we may overlook the word “LORD” written in all caps.
Translators do this to indicate the divine name of God.
When asked by Moses what name he should tell the people, God indicated that He is the God of their forefathers, the God of the promised covenant, but most importantly, the God whose name is I AM.
Exodus 3:14
The sacred name was written as YHWH (also known later as the Tetragrammaton “four” letters”) The name was considered so sacred as to never be pronounced except by the high priest on the Great Day of Atonement.
Today, it is customary when the Bible is read in Hebrew to not pronounce the word but substitute the Hebrew term “Adonai” (Lord) instead.
Some have attempted to add vowel sounds to the 4 consonants to make it pronounceable in English, thus ending up with the word YaHWeH and JeHoVaH.
Worship because He reigns as King
The psalm directs our attention to God’s enthronement upon the cherubim.
It is a reference to the Ark of the Covenant.
God commanded Moses to build this wooden box covered in gold to hold sacred items.
The outside of the Ark was covered in gold and the top cover adorned with cherubim figures (angelic creatures).
Their faces were turned down, and their wings spread toward the other.
The space between them is called the Mercy Seat.
It was the sacred place where God dealt with the sins of the nations.
Leviticus 16.
Once a year, the High priest would enter the Holy of Holies and offer the atoning sacrifice for the nation's sins between the cherubim.
And the Mercy Seat was the place where Moses met to hear God.
Exodus 25:21-22
To speak of God enthroned upon the cherubim is to bring to mind the removal of sin that keeps a holy God separated from people.
God reigns because he deals with sin so that it no longer estranges us from God. God draws us close to his holiness through the Mercy Seat.
God reigns in his mercy and salvation from sin.
But God reigns beyond the Holy of Holies.
He reigns in Zion (a name often used to refer to the city of Jerusalem, the city of the King).
And further still, God reigns over all things.
He commands all peoples of the earth to recognize His authority.
Therefore, all people should approach God with caution, reverence, sincerity, and great awe.
The Psalm writer recognizes God’s power to save people from their sins and to speak commands that they are to obey.
We have the privilege through Christ’s sacrifice upon the cross to receive mercy for the forgiveness of our sins.
Hebrews 9:12 God reigns because He is a Holy God who saves unholy people.
Worship because He loves justice
God forewarned Israel about wanting a king like the other nations. 1 Samuel 8:10-18.
The human king would eventually become unbearable.
Israel had a history of kings who lived justly and some evil.
Ultimately every human king would prove to be inconsistent.
History proves that power corrupts humans, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
It is not until we see Jesus as King (Christ and Messiah) do we get a sense of true justice.
Jesus, a Son of David, a descendant of the King of Israel, fulfilled what the human kings should have been.
He was sinless, and all his actions pure and holy.
Of course, only God could fulfill that role.
Jesus took on human flesh to save us from our sins, but after he went to the cross, to the grave, he resurrected and ascended into heaven and sits enthroned as the True King. 1 Peter 3:22
If God reigns and is holy, and Christ has come and conquered sin, why do we still have this problem today?
We all long for justice, but we seem to only catch it in bits and pieces.
1.
If God is (all-good, holy, just), He would destroy evil.
2. If God is all powerful, He could destroy evil.
3. Evil is still around (not destroyed).
4. Therefore, there is no such God.
How do we answer those who reject the notion of God as the King who reigns when evil is prevalent?
Norman Geisler offers this explanation.
First, evil cannot be destroyed without destroying freedom.
Freedom is how we can come to choose to love OR do evil.
Fallen people who have freedom are the source of evil choices.
So, if we remove freedom in order to destroy evil, we end up creating more evil and removing the ability to choose love.
He argues that the destruction of evil is not the goal but its defeat.
If God is (all-good, holy, just) He will defeat evil.
If God is all-powerful, He can defeat evil.
Evil is not yet defeated
Therefore, God can and will one day defeat evil.
“Just because evil is not destroyed now, does not imply that that God has not done anything today, nor make it complete in the future....God isn’t finished yet.
The final chapter has not been written.
Apparently, God would rather wrestle with our rebellious wills...”
We worship God as King because we know that evil is defeated through Jesus Christ.
Sin and death are no longer our only destiny.
And we have a deposit of security that God will make all things just and righteous in His time.
He is holy because He is just and will deal with sin and evil according to His plan.
God loves justice and has made sinners into children through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
And we will see the end of injustice as we look toward the second coming of King Jesus.
Worship because He responds to us
The psalm mentions three individuals who served as mediators and priests.
Moses was God’s leader in the Exodus who heard from God and spoke it to the people.
Aaron was the first priest for Israel that offered atoning sacrifices to God for the people.
And Samuel was the prophet who guided Israel and served in the transition to the first King.
All these men prayed to God.
They “called upon his name”.
They did not pray to an unknown deity.
They knew His name and identity as the One True God.
They called God, and He answered.
God answered them through the pillar of the cloud, a reference to the Exodus story where God guided Israel through a visible pillar-shaped cloud by day and a pillar-shaped fire by night.
It was a spectacular reminder of God’s leading presence.
Exodus 13:21-22 The cloud also represented God’s presence when speaking with Moses.
Exodus 33:9
God told Aaron as well that He would meet him in the Holy of Holies over the mercy seat (the top of the ark of the covenant between the cherubim).
Exodus 16:2 God would hear the prayer of the priest.
This reminds us that prayer is a sacred activity.
When we pray, we have the opportunity to address a Holy God.
And because of Christ, we have the same intimate access to God as occurred in the Holy of Holies and the Mercy Seat.
The name by which we have access is the name of Jesus, whose name means “God Saves”.
He is the reason that we approach God in prayer.
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9