Psalm 99
9 verses · BSBPsalms book hub →
Speaks with:Psalms 97×2Exodus 25×1Psalms 80×1Isaiah 14×1Psalms 50×1Isaiah 6×1
Summary
Chapter summary
'Jehovah reigneth; let the peoples tremble: he sitteth above the cherubim.' Great in Zion, high above all peoples: 'holy is he,' the refrain tolls three times. The King's strength loveth justice. Moses and Aaron among his priests, Samuel among them that call upon his name: 'they called upon Jehovah, and he answered them; he spake unto them in the pillar of cloud.' A forgiving God wast thou unto them, though thou tookest vengeance of their doings. 'Exalt ye Jehovah our God, and worship at his holy hill; for Jehovah our God is holy.'
Context
Poetry · David, Asaph, Sons of Korah, others — Psalms overview
The world behind this chapter
Psalms 99The history
He sitteth between the cherubim names a specific object. The ark's lid carried two winged figures facing each other with their wings spread, and God's throne was pictured above them. Thrones flanked by winged guardian creatures are found across the ancient Near East — an ivory carving from Megiddo shows a king seated on exactly that kind of throne — so Israel's hearers could picture the arrangement without any explanation.
Worship at his footstool follows the same logic. Ancient kings had real footstools, and carvings show defeated enemies pictured underneath them. Israel used the word for the ark and for the temple mount: the place where God's feet rest is the place where you bow.
Three intercessors are named — Moses among his priests, Aaron with him, and Samuel among those who called on his name. All three stood between God and a nation that deserved judgment, and all three are remembered for the times they talked God out of destroying it.
He spake unto them in the cloudy pillar. The pillar led Israel through the wilderness and stood at the door of the tent when God spoke with Moses; it was the visible sign that the conversation was real.
What it meant to them
Three times the psalm says he is holy, and it is the refrain that carries the point.
Every nation claimed a powerful god. What Israel claimed was a holy one — and the psalm holds both halves of that together in one line: thou wast a God that forgavest them, though thou tookest vengeance of their inventions.
Sources cited
- John H. Walton, Victor H. Matthews & Mark W. Chavalas, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament
- Alfred Edersheim, The Temple: Its Ministry and Services
The text of this chapter
This page carries no textual note on Psalms 99. Where this site has examined a place the manuscripts differ, the examination is in the manuscripts room. Every place this site examines →
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.