Psalm 99 Part 1

Three declarations that the LORD is holy define the structure of the psalm. Verses 1-3 conclude, “Holy is he!” Vs4-5 also concludes, “Holy is he!” Vs6-9 completes the entire psalm with “for the LORD our God is holy.” The meaning of the thrice-repeated word holy is; ‘apart’ or ‘separate.’ A place where the Lord appeared is called ‘holy ground’ (Exodus 3:5). The temple is holy because He once appeared there. This stresses the separateness of God. Isaiah saw the Lord and heard the angels singing, “Holy, holy, holy” (Isa6:3). According to the Bible, the Lord has not cut off contact with humans but is active among them. Hosea put it this way, “I am God and no mortal, the Holy One in your midst” (Hosea11:9). The fourth Gospel speaks the same way, “And the Word became flesh and lived among us” (John1:14)

Psalm 99 is another enthronement psalm. There are two types of psalms associated with kingship in ancient Israel. The royal psalms are associated with events in the life of Israel’s king, such as a royal wedding (Ps45) or the installation of a new king (Psalms 2,72,101,110).
There are seven psalms that speak of the Lord being acclaimed king at some sort of festival. These are called the enthronement psalms and include Psalms 47, 93, 95-99. Like the royal psalms, these enthronement psalms have to do with a king. However, in the royal psalms, the king is the king. But in the enthronement psalms, Yahweh – the Lord-  is King.

I am struck by the simple statement in v6. After citing instances of the Lord’s dealings with Moses, Aaron, and Samuel, the psalmist says simply, “They cried to the Lord, and he answered them.”  A bit later, the psalmist makes it more personal, now addressing God as “you”: “O Lord our God, you answered them…” (v8) I like the contrast of these words with 1Kings18:26. 450 prophets of Baal called on him from morning till noon, crying, “Baal, answer us!”, but the text says, “there was no voice and no answer.” God answered our plea in Jesus with hope not just beyond tomorrow but for eternity.