Come and Worship the Holy God
Psalm 99,
The Lord reigns; let the peoples tremble!
He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!
2 The Lord is great in Zion;
he is exalted over all the peoples.
3 Let them praise your great and awesome name!
Holy is he!
4 The King in his might loves justice.
You have established equity;
you have executed justice
and righteousness in Jacob.
5 Exalt the Lord our God;
worship at his footstool!
Holy is he!6 Moses and Aaron were among his priests,
Samuel also was among those who called upon his name.
They called to the Lord, and he answered them.
7 In the pillar of the cloud he spoke to them;
they kept his testimonies
and the statute that he gave them.8 O Lord our God, you answered them;
you were a forgiving God to them,
but an avenger of their wrongdoings.
9 Exalt the Lord our God,
and worship at his holy mountain;
for the Lord our God is holy!
This morning we sang one of the greatest hymns of the Christian faith, “Holy, Holy, Holy.” It was written by a man named Reginald Heber, who was an Anglican bishop and missionary to India.
One source tells us that as Heber wrote this hymn, he was at a loss to come up with words that adequately described the character of God. That even as a gifted poet, he could not improve upon the simple phrase “holy, holy, holy,” the same words that the angels sing to God in heaven right now.
Reginald Heber knew that God’s holiness was simply beyond what words could describe. And that’s what this psalm and this sermon is all about: describing the indescribable holiness of God.
Psalm 99 is a call to worship the holy King of the universe. And it concludes a group of “kingship psalms” from 93-100 all celebrating the reign of the Lord.
This psalm neatly divides into three parts, and as we work through it, it’ll be like examining a diamond, as we look at God’s holy character from three different angles with each part concluding with a call to worship the holy God…
Verses 1-3 call us to worship God for his holy reign.
Verses 4-5 call us to worship God for his holy justice.
Verses 6-9 call us to worship God for his holy forgiveness.
And we desperately need Psalm 99 today…
God’s holiness might be the aspect of his character that us fallen sinners understand the least. Many of the biggest problems people have with Christianity today at root, involve a failure to grasp the holiness of God…
The problem of hell: how could a good God send anyone to hell? This question rests on the false assumption that people are basically good, that sin is not a big deal, and God should really just get over it.
The problem of pluralism: Is there really only one way to God? Can’t people just practice whatever religion they want? This question implies that the one true God is not in fact worthy of the worship of all of his creatures.
The problem of God’s law: The reality that God puts boundaries on our behavior. This is ok. This is not ok. And many respond today, “Nobody can dictate how I live my life except me.”
All of these objections to Christianity fail to grasp the reality of God’s holiness. And so my prayer for this sermon is that God would awaken in all of us a joyful trembling at the holiness of God. That our hearts would be in tune with the angels in heaven right now who day and night never cease to say,
“holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”
1. Worship God for his holy reign.
That’s what verses 1-3 are saying…
The Lord reigns; let the peoples tremble!
He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!
2 The Lord is great in Zion;
he is exalted over all the peoples.
3 Let them praise your great and awesome name!
Holy is he!
The psalmist paints a picture for us here of all peoples and all creation in awestruck wonder before God’s majesty. And he uses OT imagery here… He says God “sits enthroned upon the cherubim.”
We know from the OT that cherubim functioned as guards of God’s holy presence. After Adam and Eve sinned and were banished from the garden, a cherubim with a flaming sword guarded the entrance to God’s presence. In the tabernacle and the temple, cherubim were over the mercy seat, symbolizing this same guarding of God’s presence.
The psalmist reminds us of this image to call to mind the holiness of God…
Theologian Steve Wellum says that God’s holiness is “an overarching way of describing God’s sheer God-ness, which also entails all of his other divine perfections.”
God’s holiness is not really one attribute among many, but the aspect of God’s character that pervades all of his attributes. So God’s love is a holy love. His justice is a holy justice.
God’s holiness speaks to his utter uniqueness, his absolute transcendence, his infinite value, his perfect moral purity, his incomprehensible glory, and his unrivaled beauty. His “sheer God-ness.”
As 1 John 1 says,
“God is light. And in him is no darkness at all.”
Think pure, perfect, blinding light. Think of going out on a hot summer day and having a staring contest with the sun shining in full strength.
That’s a small glimpse of what holiness is. And as we consider the doctrine of God’s holiness, I think we’re called to respond in two ways…
First, tremble before him. Verse 1 says,
“let the peoples tremble!”
Likewise, Psalm 2:11 says
“serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling.”
Michael Reeves puts it this way,
“Trembling in wonder at God…is the key to true humility, which is not about trying to think less of yourself or trying to think of yourself less but about marveling more at him. A true and happy fear of God simply eclipses self.”
So when you read the Bible… remember who’s talking to you! Remember Isaiah 66:2, where God says,
“this is the one to whom I will look, he who is humble, and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.”
And when you pray… remember who you’re talking to! Remember Ecclesiastes 5:2, don’t “let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth.”
My friend Jacob Barwig, who will, Lord willing, be planting King’s Church with me, is someone that I would call a “pause-prayer.” A pause-prayer. Maybe some of you know what I mean.
Most of us, when we go to pray, we just get right to it… “Dear Lord, thank you for this day…” But not Jacob. When he prays, he begins with a good pause. And I appreciate that about him!
The last time we met I asked him like I usually do to close our time in prayer, thanking God for our meeting. And so we bowed our heads, and the pause began…
And I’m thinking to myself … You know I really appreciate how Jacob prays, how he approaches God with a humble silence and reverence …
And the pause kept going … and eventually Jacob looked up at me and said, “oh, did you want me to pray?”… That time, it was a miscommunication. But most of the time, Jacob helps me remember who I’m talking to when I pray!
The point is: our lives should be marked by a happy fear. A joyful trembling at the Holy King who reigns, who is great in Zion, who is exalted over all the peoples!
The second way we’re called to respond to God’s holiness: Be holy as he is holy.
1 Peter 1 says,
“As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct.”
What a high calling! Be holy as God is holy! Be like God!
And as we examine our own lives, it is easy to get discouraged by our lack of progress in the faith. It is easy to only see our failures to measure up. And paradoxically, the more we grow in our faith, the more we see just how holy God is, and how much we fall short of his glory!
But as Robert Murray Mc’Cheyne once said,
“For every one look at yourself, we must take ten looks to Christ.”
Remember what Christ has done for you. We don’t strive for holiness out of duty, but from a desire to please the One who loved us and gave himself for us! Let gratitude for the gospel drive you to holiness.
Let Jesus’s done be the fuel for your doing.
And be encouraged that your growth in holiness is not something you do on your own. This is a work that God is doing in you. And that he has promised to complete for those who are in Christ.
As we read in Romans 8, “those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.”
If you have trusted in Christ, if you belong to him. You are going to be like him one day. Blameless, spotless, holy. Let us remember that as we strive to be holy, even as God is holy.
And this brings us to point two…
2. Worship God for his holy justice.
Look with me at verses 4-5:
The King in his might loves justice.
You have established equity;
you have executed justice
and righteousness in Jacob.
5 Exalt the Lord our God;
worship at his footstool!
Holy is he!
As we turn the diamond of God’s holy character, the psalmist shows us that God’s holiness is demonstrated in his justice.
We have had countless rulers and kings throughout history. And much of that story can be described with the phrase might makes right. In other words, whoever is the biggest and the strongest gets to be king, regardless of whether they’re good or evil.
Not so with the Lord. For the Lord, as one commentator says,
“his is a might that loves what is right.”
It’s the King in his might who loves justice!
Recently, I’ve been reading through the story of David in 1 & 2 Samuel. It’s an absolutely epic narrative. But every time I read through it, I have the same roller-coaster experience …
I see David’s promising beginning as a humble shepherd boy, a man after God’s own heart, who defeats Goliath against all odds. Then we see David the virtuous warrior on the run, who shows mercy to Saul and who is victorious in every battle because the Lord is with him. Then we see David enthroned as King, subduing all enemies under his feet and expanding the kingdom of God’s reign … and we think … what could possibly go wrong? This is the guy! This is God’s holy King!
And then wham! 2 Samuel 11, where David sins spectacularly as he takes another man’s wife and kills a faithful soldier … and the slow downfall of his kingdom begins.
And after reading David’s life, we say, “Oh for the perfect King! Oh that we would have a King that does not sin, who is not corrupted by power!”
The Lord Jesus is that perfect, holy King. For us sinful human beings, power corrupts. Not so with Jesus. He is all-powerful and incorruptible. Perfect in power, perfect in love, perfect in purity.
And every ruler that disappoints, every pastor that falls, every leader that stumbles, should cause our hearts to long for the absolutely perfect reign of King Jesus.
Don’t we long for the return of our King? Don’t we long for him to right every wrong? To make all things new?
For when Christ comes to judge the living and the dead, he will come in holy justice. So we can take comfort. As we live in a world full of sin and injustices, that seemingly go unpunished. We know that on the last day there is not one wrong that will not be righted. Every sin will be accounted for and justly punished, either on the cross or in hell.
And we will worship God for this, just like the saints cry out in Revelation 19,
“Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for his judgments are true and just; for he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality, and has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”
In heaven, among the endless reasons we will have to praise God, we will praise him for his holy justice.
We see this in the life of Charles Spurgeon…
As his mother prayed for years for him to come to Christ, she said,
“Now, Lord, if my children go on in their sins, it will not be from ignorance that they perish, and my soul must bear a swift witness against them at the day of judgment if they lay not hold of Christ.”
She’s saying, I love you my dear son, but if you continue to reject Christ, I will fully agree with God’s just judgment against you on that day.
That is a heart that treasures the holy justice of God. And that’s what this psalm calls us to.
Psalm 99 calls us to worship God for his holy reign. To worship him for his holy justice. And lastly…
3. Worship God for his holy forgiveness.
Look at verses 6-9 with me:
Moses and Aaron were among his priests,
Samuel also was among those who called upon his name.
They called to the Lord, and he answered them.
7 In the pillar of the cloud he spoke to them;
they kept his testimonies
and the statute that he gave them.8 O Lord our God, you answered them;
you were a forgiving God to them,
but an avenger of their wrongdoings.
9 Exalt the Lord our God,
and worship at his holy mountain;
for the Lord our God is holy!
In these verses, Moses, Aaron, and Samuel stand for the priesthood, which was the provision made for sin under the Old Covenant.
When God’s people disobeyed, these men called upon God to have mercy. And God both graciously forgave and justly disciplined his people.
And of course, the daily sacrifices of bulls and goats, and the fallible priests of Moses, Aaron, and Samuel point us to the New Covenant, and our great High Priest, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us once and for all.
As Hebrews 9 puts it,
27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
The God of holy love who gave his one and only Son, that whoever would believe in him would not perish but would have eternal life.
If you’re not a Chistian, know that your days are numbered. Your death has already been determined by the sovereign God of the universe. And after death, comes judgment where you will stand face to face with your Maker.
Have you called upon him yet? Are you trusting in the Lord Jesus and his work on the cross for the forgiveness of your sins?
Psalm 99 tells us that God is a forgiving God. He does not forgive everyone. But he forgives every person who calls upon his name. So turn from your sin, and turn to Christ. And he will abundantly pardon you. He will cast your sins into the depths of the sea. He will separate your sins from you as far as the east is from the west. Call upon him today! Embrace his forgiveness today!
And if you are a believer here today: Cherish the forgiveness of God! That through the blood of Christ we get to draw near to the perfectly holy God. That all-consuming Fire! We get to come before his throne!
Before the throne of God above,
I have a strong and perfect plea
A great High Priest whose name is love,
who ever lives and pleads for me.
The more we understand the holiness of God, the more we will cherish his forgiveness. And the more we cherish his forgiveness, the more we will walk in joyful, trembling, awestruck obedience to our King.
As Psalm 130 says,
“If you O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.”
May we all cherish his forgiveness today.
Let’s pray…
