Deeper Commentary
Psa 99:1
Yahweh reigns! Let the nations tremble-
This appears to be a Psalm rejoicing at the prospect of the
restoration of the exiles; the Gentiles were to tremble in repentance, so
that they too could join in this program. The ideas are very similar to
those in Ps. 97. The emphasis upon the kingship and reigning of
God is very relevant to the exiles and returnees; for they no longer had
any visible king. But the assurance is that Yahweh still reigns, and that
reign over His people will finally extend to the whole planet. He was no
longer visibly present between the cherubim over the ark; the ark was
lost, and the shekinah glory was no longer in the temple. But in Heaven,
"He sits enthroned between the cherubim". This is a powerful word of
encouragement to those (like the exiles) who feel "church" is devoid of
God's presence, and that the world and life around them is apparently
spinning radically out of control. God is in fact still reigning and is
still between the cherubim, in Heaven.
This is Is. 64:2 "as when fire kindles the brushwood, and the fire causes the waters to boil; to make Your name known to Your adversaries, that the nations may tremble at Your presence!". In the final fulfilment, this will be the earthquake of Zech. 14 at the Lord's return. LXX "Let the people rage" would be a similar scenario to that of Psalm 2, where God is enthroned in the midst of angry but futile opposition.
He sits enthroned
between the cherubim: let the earth be moved-
There was envisaged a dramatic theophany which would be associated
with the fall of Babylon and the restoration of God's exiled people. The
cherubim which Ezekiel had seen departing from Zion would return. But this
isn't what happened; Judah in exile didn't really repent, and those
relatively few who did return were clearly motivated by the hope of
personal benefit rather than the glory of God. Babylon didn't dramatically
fall as envisaged in the prophets, there was no theophany; so much
potential was wasted. But these things are rescheduled and reapplied to
the final restoration of God's people at the last day.
The commands concerning the tabernacle were given to Moses by the
Angel- do phrases like "Let them make Me a sanctuary; that I may dwell
among them" (Ex. 25:8) have primary reference to the Angel speaking the
words? In the same way, does Psalm 99:1 refer also to the physical
presence of an Angel between the cherubim? Similarly "Give ear, O Shepherd
of Israel (the Angel- so Isaiah 63 describes the wilderness Angel), thou
that leadest Joseph like a flock (the Angel lead them through the
wilderness); thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth" (Ps.
80:1 AV). And again in Ps. 20:1,2 "The God of Jacob (i.e. the Angel who
Jacob recognized had been so much in his life) defend thee; send thee help
from the sanctuary... ", as if it was in the sanctuary (Holy Place) that
the Angel was located.
The four cherubim covered the ark, over which dwelt an Angel; Ps. 99:1,7 therefore describes the Angel as dwelling between the cherubim: "The Lord reigneth... He sitteth between the cherubims...
He spake unto them in the cloudy pillar: they kept His testimonies, and
the ordinance that He gave them". These latter things were all done by the
Angel. Also relevant is Ps. 68:17,18: "The chariots of God are...
thousands of Angels; the Lord is among them, as in... the Holy place". One Angel, which dwelt in the Holy Place, was therefore central to those thousands of others. See too Is. 37:16,17 on this. Similarly, Isaiah saw "the King, the Lord of Hosts (Angels) sitting between the cherubim" (Is. 6:5). The phrase 'living God' may mean 'the God of the living ones', and would therefore describe this mighty Angel- it is linked with "the Lord of Hosts" (Angels) in Jer. 23:36 and the Angel that dwelt in the temple (Ps. 42:2).
Psa 99:2
Yahweh is great in Zion, He is high above all the peoples- Because of God's grace to Jacob / Israel (:4), an undefined group are bidden come to Zion, to the very cherubim (:1; in the Most Holy Place) to exalt and praise God at His footstool. This group, in line with the preceding Psalms, are surely the Gentile world. "Let them praise Your great Name" (Ps. 99:3) would surely make most sense if it referred to the Gentiles, seeing that David or the Psalmist was Israelite. See on Ps. 96:7.
God being so high above the peoples is Is. 57:15 "For thus says
the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell
in the high and holy place, with him also who is of a broken and humble
spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble". The holiness of His Name is
therefore referenced in :3, "He is Holy".
Psa 99:3
Let them praise Your great and awesome name: He is Holy!-
The holiness and righteousness of God is what we praise. We
love Him because of His moral perfection. And because we realize how far
short of it we are. Such praise is only for the spiritually minded, those
who appreciate righteousness. The "them" are the Gentile "peoples" of :2. Perhaps the triple
command to 'Sing to the Lord' in the opening verses of Ps. 96 alludes to
Israel's three feasts, as does the triple, repetitive verses of Ps. 99:1-3,
4,5, 6-9; which likewise bid the Gentile world to come to Israel's
worship. See on Ps. 96:7.
Psa 99:4
The King’s strength also loves justice; You establish equity, You
execute justice and righteousness in Jacob-
This is Is. 61:8 "For I, Yahweh, love justice". Again and
again, we see that these psalms had potential fulfilment at the
restoration. And yet that scenario was precluded by the exiles, and so
will be fulfilled in far greater and more glorious measure at the Lord's
return. This looks ahead to how things will be at the final judgment: "He
comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and
the peoples with equity". This is quoted in Acts 17:31 concerning the
final day of judgment at the Lord's return. But right now,
justice and righteousness were to be executed and to be the basis of the
restored Kingdom. For the essence of the Kingdom is now.
Psa 99:5
Exalt Yahweh our God, worship at His footstool. He is Holy!-
The ark is called both the throne of God and also
His footstool (Ps. 99:5; 132:7,8; 1 Chron. 28:2). Above or sitting upon
the cherubim, the pagan mind expected to see Israel's God. But there was
(to their eyes) an empty throne. Yahweh had to be believed in by faith.
And His supreme manifestation was through the blood of sacrifice. Cassuto
gives evidence that the Egyptians and Hittites placed their covenant
contracts in a box beneath the throne of their gods; and the tables of the
covenant were likewise placed beneath the throne of Yahweh. This
similarity begged the comparison yet stronger- Israel's God was not seated there. He had to be believed
in by faith. Such a concept of faith in an invisible god was quite foreign
to the pagan mind; and yet the whole tabernacle plan was designed to have
enough points of contact with the pagan tabernacles in order to elicit this
point in very powerful form: the one true God is invisible and must be
believed in.
Psa 99:6
Moses and Aaron were among His priests, Samuel among those who call
on His name; they called on Yahweh, and He answered them-
The Psalm invites the Gentiles to make Israel's God and history their
own. For :5 was an invitation to the Gentiles to accept Israel's God. The
Gentiles who chose to call upon Yahweh's Name (:3) would therefore be
identified with Samuel and the great heroes of Israel's history. This of
course was not what a proud and nationalistic Israel wanted to hear.
So we could render "A Moses and an Aaron are among His priests, and a
Samuel among those that call upon His name". The priestly role of Moses
was not in offering sacrifices; it was in his mediation for God's people.
Samuel likewise (1 Sam. 7:8,9; 12:16-20). We note Samuel acted as priest
in offering sacrifices and blessing them in places other than at the
sanctuary, building an altar at his home in Ramah- in the spirit of the
exiles, having to do their best to worship Yahweh without access to the
sanctuary.
The "answer" these men obtained was salvation for God's people; that answer is defined in :8 as forgiveness for the people. And this is to be the characteristic of all God's true people. Intercession for others, seeking their forgiveness, is to be our major characteristic, and that can be done by all of us, no matter how limited we feel ourselves to be in our more public ministry. We note how Jer. 15:1 speaks of both Moses and Samuel as intercessors: “Though Moses and Samuel stood before Me, yet My mind could not be toward this people”. Our intercession cannot force sinners to be saved. But so many people in our lives are not so much hardened sinners as simply weak, and our intercession for them is what may make the eternal difference for them.
Psa 99:7
He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud-
As God miraculously led Israel out of Egypt and to the promised land,
so He was willing to use miracle and power to lead His people out of
Babylonian exile and back to the promised land. But they were unwilling.
They kept His
testimonies, the statute that He gave them-
This was likewise required of the exiles. The "they" could refer to Moses, Aaron and Samuel- but the "them" in
the context is the "them" to whom God spoke in the pillar of cloud, who
were given God's law ("the statute that He gave them"). That group
didn't include Samuel, who lived centuries later. The "them" is the
group whose sinful works are to be judged by God, albeit in mercy (:8).
The "them" is surely Israel- and this is in line with God's imputation of
righteousness to His people, not beholding iniquity in Jacob, because He
so loved them (Num. 23:21). This is as big a problem for us to get our
heads around as are the NT references to our appearing [Gk. 'being
presented as'] faultless before the presence of His glory... without spot in His sight.
Psa 99:8
You answered them, Yahweh our God; You are a God who forgave them,
although You took vengeance for their doings-
This was to be true likewise of the exiles. Forgiveness would be
possible, but they had to accept that they were being punished for their
sins. Ezekiel records how they insisted they had been punished wrongly and
unfairly.
Psa 99:9
Exalt Yahweh our God. Worship at His holy hill, for Yahweh, our
God, is holy!-
This is an appeal of the repentant Jews to the Gentiles, to come to Zion
and worship our God. The Kingdom prophecies of the nations
flowing to Zion could have had some fulfilment at the restoration. But the
Jews weren't that devoted to Zion, and initially continued worshipping
Gentile idols; and became proud and xenophobic rather than acceptant and
welcoming to Gentiles.
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