"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!"
Psalm 99
The AV rendering of 1 obscures the statement of cause and effect that the verse contains. It should read 'The Lord reigneth - the people tremble...'. It is a description of the effect the glory of God has on the creation. With the best will in the world, we must surely own to a feeling of awe and fear when we see the real God intervening in human affairs. In 2, 3 it is His greatness in Zion that is in view. It is by His deeds in Israel that God's exaltation is made known. He has manifested Himself among His people in acts. This is the ground of praising His great Name. In 4, 5 this theme is continued: God's reign is based on righteousness, and He manifests righteous judgment. He governs His world in integrity. How reassuring all this is! He means that His creation will take Him seriously, and His demands for righteousness are meant to be obeyed. This is the source of our peace in face of the evil in the world. Men break His laws at their peril. In 6-9, the 'lovingness' of the living God is once again underlined, and illustrated from the ancient history of His people. The clear implication is that what He was to them in olden times He is prepared to be to us today. Three lessons are drawn from the Old Testament history for our instruction, in 6ff, the first (6) being that God is the Hearer of prayer: Moses, Aaron and Samuel called upon the Lord, and He answered them. This is one of the things that the sovereignty and enthronement of the Lord means and implies. And, as Kidner says, 'By naming the great men of verse 6 as among the priests and among the men of prayer, it refuses to place them in a class apart. We can be in their company'.