Psalm 99 - He is Holy

Psalm 99:1-9 NIV

The Lord reigns, let the nations tremble; he sits enthroned between the cherubim,

 let the earth shake. Great is the Lord in Zion; he is exalted over all the nations. 

Let them praise your great and awesome name— he is holy.

The King is mighty, he loves justice— you have established equity;

 in Jacob you have done what is just and right. 

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

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. 

He spoke to them from the pillar of cloud;

 they kept his statutes and the decrees he gave them. 

Lord our God, you answered them;

 you were to Israel a forgiving God, though you punished their misdeeds. 

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

Psalm 99 is another call to worship. The psalm boasts that Yahweh reigns. The Lord reigns in Jerusalem from His earthly throne at the temple. The Lord reigns over all the nations. The earth and the nations are called to honor the greatness of the Lord with fear and trembling.

The psalm speaks to God directly at times and then returns to directing communication to worshipers. God is just and is to be exalted above all others.

The psalm refers to Israel's history, to Moses and Aaron, the great prophet and his brother, Israel's first high priest. They led Israel from captivity in Egypt through the wilderness wandering years. Both died before they reached the promised land. The psalm mentions Samuel the last of the judges and a prophet who anointed both Saul, Israel's first and failed king, and David, Israel's greatest king. These prophets and priests kept the law of God and God answered their intercession on behalf of Israel. God forgave Israel but not without Israel facing some consequence.

Three times the psalm makes the point that God is holy. Webster defines holy in these ways:

1. exalted or worthy of complete devotion as one perfect in goodness and righteousness.

2. relating to God: supremely good :superb

But what did the Hebrews think when they used the word holy? The Hebrew word is qadowsh, which is related to qadash. These words mean, "to be set apart as sacred or special." To be holy is to be hallowed, honored and treated with special care.

God is holy and therefore everything pertaining to God should be handled with the utmost reverence. We call the Bible holy. We partake in holy communion. The bread and wine are holy. I saw a pun yesterday about holy water.

How do you make holy water? You boil the hell out of it.

While that's funny it doesn't show reverence for the things pertaining to God. God's name is holy and the Ten Commandments restrict using the Lord's name in vain. Because God is holy, I tend to capitalize words pertaining to His person.

The best definition I've heard to define the word holy is "wholly other". God is like no other. He is set apart from all other beings. While we are mortal, God is immortal. While we are simply creatures, God is creator. While we are limited in time and space and understanding, God is eternal, omnipresent, and all knowing. Time has no real hold on God. He can exist in every time and every conceivable timeline. God lives in the past, present and future. All that was or ever will be is known by God. All possibilities are understood and he chooses the best course according to His will. There is no other who has such abilities. With God all things are possible.

Some have said God is our highest thought. He's way more than we can dream. And yet God is not beyond our reach. He sends prophets, priests and messengers to guide His people. God hears our prayers because we now have a high priest, Jesus Christ the Son of God, who intercedes for us at the right hand of God. That means that God listens to the requests made by His Son. And through the Holy Spirit, both God the Father and God the Son dwells in those who have faith.

Jesus died for us. He willingly laid down His life so that we might gain eternal life, a love filled vitality that cannot be extinguished. We can trust His prayers for us are for our good, in harmony with God's purposes.

So exalt the Lord. Lift Him high above all others in your heart. When Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son Isaac because he beloved God demanded it, that act of sheer obedience reveals that Abraham revered God as holy. There was nothing God could not ask of him, even something as unconscionable as the sacrifice of his son.

God will not ask you to offer up your children in blood sacrifice, for God gave His only begotten as a sacrifice once for all. Yet is there anything you would not do for the Lord? How are you keeping God holy in your heart and life?