Tremble and Quake
Psalms 98 and 100 are
both joyful and glad songs expressing thanksgiving to Yahweh for His love and
faithfulness. In stark contrast to these two songs (and sandwiched right between
them) is Psalm 99 which emphasizes Yahweh’s holiness and demands that we tremble
in His holy presence.
Psalm 99 begins with,
“The Lord reigns; let the peoples tremble!” The Hebrew word for tremble used
here is a verb which means to be agitated,
quiver, quake, disturbed. In our present day lingo, we might say "shaking in his boots" to reflect the literal quivering and trembling presented here. Because our God is holy and omnipotent, it would be a
grave mistake for people to take Him lightly or casually. The very presence of
God should cause a great disturbance in peoples’ spirits as they come to
understand how unholy and unworthy they are to even stand before Him. He sits
on the throne of eternity and He alone has the fate of every person in His hand.
The
Psalm falls into three parts, each one concluding with a declaration of God’s
holiness. Verses 1-3 emphasize Yahweh’s future position when He returns to earth
– He reigns over all the earth. He sits on his throne between the cherubim.
The Lord sits
in majesty in Jerusalem, exalted above all the nations. Because of His
position, the people must praise His great and awesome name. His name is holy!
He is the King of kings and Lord of lords!
Verses 4-6 emphasize
Yahweh’s justice and fairness. He has acted with justice and righteousness
throughout Israel. He makes no mistakes in His judgments, but acts with uncontaminated
integrity. Because of this untainted righteousness and justice, the people must
exalt the Lord our God! Bow
low before his feet, for he is holy!
Verses 7-9 emphasize Yahweh’s
punishment for sin and His forgiveness available to all who come to Him. To
those who go wrong and reject His lovingkindness, God’s punishment awaits. Alternatively,
He is an infinitely forgiving God to those who choose to follow Him. Because of
this, people must not take Him lightly or casually, but must come before Him in
deep awe of His greatness and holiness. Tremble in His presence. Shake in your boots at the very thought of how unholy you are compared to His flawless holiness and purity.
Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at his holy
mountain; for the Lord our
God is holy!
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