Scripture Daily

Context No. 54 of 4322 · Psalms

Context · Reflection

Psalms 99:1-9: in context

1The LORD reigns! Let the peoples tremble. He sits enthroned among the cherubim. Let the earth be moved. 2The LORD is great in Zion. He is high above all the peoples. 3Let them praise your great and awesome name. He is Holy! 4The King’s strength also loves justice. You establish equity. You execute justice and righteousness in Jacob. 5Exalt the LORD our God. Worship at his footstool. He is Holy! 6Moses and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel was among those who call on his name. They called on the LORD, and he answered them. 7He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud. They kept his testimonies, the statute that he gave them. 8You answered them, LORD our God. You are a God who forgave them, although you took vengeance for their doings. 9Exalt the LORD, our God. Worship at his holy hill, for the LORD, our God, is holy!

Psalm 99 belongs to a run of psalms proclaiming that the LORD reigns. It is built around a refrain, repeated three times, each time landing on the same two words: he is holy. The structure moves from God's throne, to his justice, to a memory of three particular people.

The middle section keeps holiness and justice in one frame. The King is mighty and loves justice, establishing equity, executing righteousness in Jacob. Holiness here is not remoteness. It shows up as fair dealing on the ground. Then the psalm names Moses, Aaron, and Samuel, three men who called on God and got an answer, who were spoken to from the pillar of cloud, and who kept what he gave them.

The last lines about them are the surprising part. You answered them, you were a forgiving God to them, and you took vengeance on their wrongdoings. The same sentence holds both. These are the great intercessors of Israel, and the psalm remembers that they were forgiven and that they still bore consequences. Moses prayed for a people he would not enter the land with. Do I expect forgiveness to mean the consequences disappear, and what would change if I stopped expecting that?

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