Psalms 99:4
in Psalms 99The mighty King loves justice. You have established equity; You have exercised justice and righteousness in Jacob.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The king’s strength also loveth justice; Thou dost establish equity; Thou executest justice and righteousness in Jacob.
KJV
The king’s strength also loveth judgment; thou dost establish equity, thou executest judgment and righteousness in Jacob.
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This verse in Psalms 99
Commentary
9 notes on this verseAnd the king's honor loves judgment. Whoever is a sinner fears the judgment of God: for he does not want to know a judge, but a merciful one. But whoever is holy, and hears God, and glorifies him in his body, this man does not fear the judge, but loves him. For example, if some most severe judge should come, and is said to be cruel and as it were drinking blood—if anyone is a murderer, he fears such a judge as this.
This site's exposition
The mighty King loves justice
on Psalms 99:4-5
The King's might and His love of justice stand together. In Jacob He established equity and carried out justice and righteousness, the nation called by the patriarch's own name. Worship comes at His footstool, the same footstool named at Psalm 132:7 and Lamentations 2:1.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Judgment - Though his dominion be absolute, and his power irresistible, yet he manages it with righteousness. The king's strength is by a known Hebraism put for the strong, or powerful king.
He is strong; all his strength he has from God; and his strength is not abused for the support of any wrong, as the power of great princes often is, but it loves judgment. He does justice with his power, and does it with delight; and herein he was a type of Christ, to whom God would give the throne of his father David, to do judgment and justice.
The King's strength also loveth judgment,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
The king's strength also loveth judgment. God is the king, the mercy-seat is his throne, and the sceptre which he sways is holy like himself. His power never exerts itself tyrannically; he is a sovereign, and he is absolute in his government, but his might delights in right, his force is used for just purposes only. Men in these days are continually arranging the Lord's government, and setting up to judge whether he does right or not; but saintly men in the olden time were of another mind, they were sure that what the Lord did was just, and instead of calling him to account they humbly submitted themselves to his will, rejoicing in the firm persuasion that with his whole omnipotence God was pledged to promote righteousness, and work justice among all his creatures. Thou dost establish equity. Not a court of equity merely, but equity itself thou dost set up, and that not for a time or upon an occasion, but as an established institution, stable as thy throne. Not even for the sake of mercy does the Lord remove or injure the equity of his moral government: both in providence and in grace he is careful to conserve the immaculate purity of his justice. Most kingdoms have an establishment of some kind, and generally it is inequitable; here we have an establishment which is equity itself. The Lord our God demolishes every system of injustice, and right alone is made to stand. Thou executest judgment and righteousness in Jacob. Justice is not merely established, but executed in God's kingdom; the laws are carried out, the executive is as righteous as the legislative. Herein let all the oppressed, yea, and all who love that which is right, find large occasion for praise.
The king's strength also loveth judgment. God is the king, the mercy-seat is his throne, and the sceptre which he sways is holy like himself. His power never exerts itself tyrannically; he is a sovereign, and he is absolute in his government, but his might delights in right, his force is used for just purposes only.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
The king’s strength - If this Psalm were written by David, he must mean by it that he was God’s vicegerent or deputy, and that, even as king, God was his strength, and the pattern according to which equity, judgment, and righteousness should be executed in Jacob.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The king’s strength - The word king here undoubtedly refers to God as a king, Psa 99:1. The word rendered “strength,” means power, force; and the reference here is to what constitutes the main strength or power of his character and government. It is rendered in the Septuagint, τιμή timē - “honor.” So in the Latin Vulgate - ”honor.” DeWette renders it, “The praise of the king who loves judgment.” So Rosenmuller, “Let them praise the strength - the power - of the king who loves judgment.” But perhaps our common version best expresses the sense, that whatever there is in the character of the “king,” that is God, which constitutes strength, or gives power to his administration, is favorable to justice, or will be exerted in the cause of right. God’s essential character; all the acts of his power; all the demonstrations of his authority, will be in favor of justice, and may be relied on as sustaining the righteous cause. It is not the “mere” exertion of power - it is power that is always exercised in favor of right; and this lays the foundation of praise. We could not praise a being of “mere” power, or one who was merely “almighty,” without respect to his moral character. It is only when the character is such that power will be exerted in favor of that which is right and just that it becomes the proper subject of praise. Loveth judgment - Is always on the side of justice and right. He so loves justice that his power will be put forth only in behalf of that which is right. God shows this by his law, and by all the acts of his administration. Thou dost establish equity - That which is equal and just; alike by thy law, and by thine interpositions. All that thou doest, and all that thou dost appoint, is in favor of that which is equal and just. Thou executest judgment and righteousness in Jacob - That which is just; that which ought to be done. […]
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
and the might of the King Who loves judgment This refers back to the preceding verse.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
They will acknowledge Your name They will acknowledge the might of the King Who loves judgment.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְעֹ֥ז | veoz | and [the] strength of | H5797 → | 92 times |
| מֶלֶךְ֮ | melekh | a king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| מִשְׁפָּ֪ט | mishpat | justice | H4941 → | 422 times |
| אָ֫הֵ֥ב | ʾahev | he loves | H157 → | 211 times |
| אַ֭תָּה | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| כּוֹנַ֣נְתָּ | konanta | you have established | H3559 → | 217 times |
| מֵישָׁרִ֑ים | meisharim | uprightness<es> | H4339 → | 19 times |
| מִשְׁפָּ֥ט | mishpat | justice | H4941 → | 422 times |
| וּ֝צְדָקָ֗ה | utzedakah | and righteousness | H6666 → | 157 times |
| בְּיַעֲקֹ֤ב׀ | beyaako | in Jacob | H3290 → | 350 times |
| אַתָּ֬ה | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| עָשִֽׂיתָ׃ | ʾasita | you have done | H6213 → | 2628 times |
וְעֹ֥זand [the] strength of
veozH5797 →92 times
מֶלֶךְ֮a king
melekhH4428 →2525 times
מִשְׁפָּ֪טjustice
mishpatH4941 →422 times
אָ֫הֵ֥בhe loves
ʾahevH157 →211 times
אַ֭תָּהyou
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
כּוֹנַ֣נְתָּyou have established
konantaH3559 →217 times
מֵישָׁרִ֑יםuprightness<es>
meisharimH4339 →19 times
מִשְׁפָּ֥טjustice
mishpatH4941 →422 times
וּ֝צְדָקָ֗הand righteousness
utzedakahH6666 →157 times
בְּיַעֲקֹ֤ב׀in Jacob
beyaakoH3290 →350 times
אַתָּ֬הyou
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
עָשִֽׂיתָ׃you have done
ʾasitaH6213 →2628 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Jeremiah 23:5Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and He will reign wisely as King and will administer justice and righteousness in the land.
it leads to
- Isaiah 4:2
On that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of Israel’s survivors.
- Luke 1:32–33
He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David,
- Isaiah 52:13
Behold, My Servant will prosper; He will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.
- Isaiah 9:7
Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness…
- Zechariah 6:12–13
And you are to tell him that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Here is a man whose name is the Branch, and He will branch out from His place and build…
- Isaiah 4:2
Through
Psalms 11:7For the LORD is righteous; He loves justice. The upright will see His face.
it leads to
- Revelation 22:4
They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.
- Psalms 17:15
As for me, I will behold Your face in righteousness; when I awake, I will be satisfied in Your presence.
- 1 Peter 3:12
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are inclined to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
- Revelation 22:4
About Psalms
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 4; Jerome, Homily 26, on Psalm 98; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.