Psalms 99 commentary

God governs the world by his providence, governs the church by his grace, and both by his Son. The inhabitants of the earth have cause to tremble, but the Redeemer still waits to be gracious. Let all who hear, take warning, and seek his mercy. The more we humble ourselves before God, the more we exalt him; and let us be thus reverent, for he is holy.

The happiness of Israel is made out by referring to the most useful governors of that people. They in every thing made God's word and law their rule, knowing that they could not else expect that their prayers should be answered. They all wonderfully prevailed with God in prayer; miracles were wrought at their request. They pleaded for the people, and obtained answers of peace. Our Prophet and High Priest, of infinitely greater dignity than Moses, Aaron, or Samuel, has received and declared to us the will of the Father. Let us not only exalt the Lord with our lips, but give him the throne in our heart; and while we worship him upon his mercy-seat, let us never forget that he is holy.

PSALM 99

This psalm differs from those which precede it in one respect, that it speaks of the kingdom of God, and the blessings consequent upon it, as confined within Judea; and rather calls upon the posterity of Abraham, in distinction from the surrounding nations, to praise God for the privilege of their adoption.

Psalm 99:1-4

1. Jehovah reigns; let the people tremble: he dwells between the cherubim; let the earth be moved. 2. Jehovah is great in Zion; and he is high above all nations. 3. They shall acknowledge thy great and terrible name; it is holy. 4. The king’s strength “The king’s strength seems here put for the king himself.” — Merrick Street removes the original word for strength to the end of the preceding verse, reading holy and mighty; and renders the first part of this verse thus: “Thou art a king that lovest judgment;” observing, that, in the Hebrew it is מלך, melech, not המלך, hamelech, that the word אהב, aheb, that lovest, is a participle here, and that the pronoun אתה, atah, thou, belongs to the first clause. “According to the translation of the English Bible,” says he, “there is a great want of connection. ‘The king’s strength also loveth judgment: thou dost establish equity,’ etc. There had been no king spoken of before except Jehovah, and the Psalmist is here addressing him in the second person, not speaking of him in the third.” also loves judgment; thou hast established equity, thou hast done judgment and righteousness in Jacob.

1 Jehovah reigns The people, who were formerly called upon to rejoice, are now commanded to tremble. For as the Jews were encompassed by enemies, it was of the utmost importance that God’s power should be magnified among them, that they might know that, while under his guardianship, they would be constantly and completely safe from the hatred and fury of every foe. The Hebrew word רגז, ragaz, as we have elsewhere seen, sometimes signifies to tremble, at other times, to be angry, and, in short, denotes any strong emotion arising either from anger or fear. רגז, ragaz, “denoting commotion either of the body or mind, imports in the latter acceptation particularly two things, fear and anger, those two principal emotions of the mind. In the sense of anger we have it in Genesis 45:24, where we render it falling out or quarrelling, and in 2 Kings 19:27, 28, where we render it rage So, Proverbs 29:9, and in Genesis 41:10, the Hebrew קצף, (affirmed of Pharaoh, viz., that) he was wroth, is by the Chaldee rendered רגז. And this is much the more frequent acceptation of the word in the Old Testament.” — Hammond’s note on Psalm 4:4. On the text before us, after observing that Abu Walid explains this root as signifying in the Arabic trembling and commotion, arising sometimes from anger, sometimes from fear, and other causes, the same critic says, “Here the context may seem to direct the taking it in the notion of commotion simply, as that signifies ἀκαταστασία, sedition or tumult of rebels or other adversaries. And then the sense will be thus: ‘The Lord reigneth, let the people be moved,’ i e., Now God hath set up David in his throne, and peaceably settled the kingdom in him, in spite of all the commotions of the people. The LXX. render it to this sense, as Psalm 4:4, ὀργιζέσθωσαν, ‘let the people be angry or regret it as much as they will.’” The verb here, and the concluding verb of the verse, may be read in the future tense: “The people or nations shall tremble, and the earth shall be moved,” just as at the giving of the Law, “the people trembled,” and “the earth shook.” Thus the passage may be regarded as a prediction of the subjection of the heathen world to the dominion of Christ. Accordingly, the prophet here intends that God, in the emancipation of his chosen people, should give such a palpable display of his power, as would strike all the nations with dismay, and make them feel how madly they had rushed upon their own destruction. For it is with regard to men that God is said to reign, when he exalts himself by the magnificent displays which he gives of his power; because, while the aid which he gives to them remains invisible, unbelievers act a more presumptuous part, just as if there were no God.

PSALM 99

Psa 99:1-9. God's government is especially exercised in and for His Church, which should praise Him for His gracious dealings.

1. sitteth ... cherubim--(compare 1Sa 4:4; Psa 80:1).

tremble ... be moved--inspired with fear by His judgments on the wicked.

2. great in Zion--where He dwells (Psa 9:11).

3. thy ... name--perfections of justice, power, &c.

great and terrible name--producing dread (De 10:17), and to be praised by those over whom He is exalted (Psa 97:9).

it is holy--or, "He is holy" (Psa 99:5, 9; Is 6:3).

4-5. To His wise and righteous government all nations should render honor.

king's ... judgment--His power is combined with justice.

he is holy--(compare Psa 22:3).

6-8. The experience of these servants of God is cited for encouragement.

among ... priests, among ... upon the Lord [and] He spake ... pillar--may be referred to all three (compare Ex 18:19; Le 8:15; De 5:5; 1Sa 9:13).

The Lord reigneth - See the note on Psa 97:1.

Let the people tremble - He will establish his kingdom in spite of his enemies; let those who oppose him tremble for the consequences.

He sitteth between the cherubims - This is in reference to the ark, at each end of which was a cherub of glory; and the shechinah, or symbol of the Divine Presence, appeared on the lid of the ark, called also the mercy-seat, between the cherubim. Sitting between the cherubim implies God's graciousness and mercy. While then, in his reign, he was terrible to sinners, he is on the throne of grace to all who fear love, and obey him. Though this symbol were not in the second temple, yet the Divine Being might very well be thus denominated, because it had become one of his titles, he having thus appeared under the tabernacle and first temple.

The Lord is great in Zion - It is among his own worshippers that he has manifested his power and glory in an especial manner. There he is known, and there he is worthily magnified.

Let them praise thy great and terrible name - Let them confess thee to be great and terrible: let them tremble before thee.

For it is holy - קדוש הוא kadosh hu. As this not only ends this verse but the fifth also, and in effect the ninth, it seems to be a species of chorus which was sung in a very solemn manner at the conclusion of each of these parts. His holiness - the immaculate purity of his nature, was the reason why he should be exalted, praised, and worshipped.

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.

Worship at his footstool - Probably meaning the ark on which the Divine glory was manifested. Sometimes the earth is called God's footstool, Mat 5:35; Isa 66:1; sometimes Jerusalem; sometimes the temple, Lam 2:1; sometimes the tabernacle, Psa 32:7; and sometimes the ark, 1Chr 28:2. The Israelites, when they worshipped, turned their faces toward the ark, because that was the place where was the symbol of the Divine Presence.

For he is holy - The burden chanted by the chorus.

Moses and Aaron - As Moses and Aaron among the priests, and as Samuel among the prophets, worshipped God in humility, gratitude, and the spirit of obedience, and received the strongest tokens of the Divine favor; so worship ye the Lord, that he may bless, support, and save you. Moses was properly the priest of the Hebrews before Aaron and his family were appointed to that office.

He spake unto them in the cloudy pillar - That is, he directed all their operations, marchings, and encampments by this cloudy pillar. See Exo 33:9.

They kept his testimonies - Do ye the same, and God will be your portion as he was theirs.

Thou - forgavest them - When the people had sinned, and wrath was about to descend on them, Moses and Aaron interceded for them, and they were not destroyed.

Tookest vengeance of their inventions - God spared them, but showed his displeasure at their misdoings. He chastised, but did not consume them. This is amply proved in the history of this people.

Worship at his holy hill - Worship him publicly in the temple.

For the Lord our God is holy - The words of the chorus; as in the third and fifth verses.

People - Such as are enemies to God and his people. Sitteth - Upon the ark. He is present with his people. Earth - The people of the earth. Moved - With fear and trembling.

Them - All people.

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. Equity - In all thy proceedings.

Foot - stool - Before the ark, which is so called, 1Chron 28:2. Holy - It is consecrated to be a pledge of God's presence.

Moses - Moses before the institution of the priesthood executed that office, Exod 24:6. That call - Who used frequently and solemnly to intercede with God on the behalf of the people.

Spake - To some of them: to Moses and Aaron, Exod 19:24 33:9 - 11 1Sam 7:9, &c.

Them - The intercessors before mentioned. Forgavest - The people for whom they prayed, so far as not to inflict that total destruction upon them which they deserved;

1 THE LORD reigneth, let the people tremble: he sitteth between the cheruhims , let the earth be moved .

To wit, such as are Enemies to God and to his people.

Upon the Ark. See 1 Sam. 4. 4. He is present with his people to protect them and to punish their Enemies.

The people of the Earth, by comparing this clause with the former.

To wit, with fear and trembling, as in the former clause.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word] ▪ 93. 1.; [illegible: 1 word] ▪ 80. 1.; [illegible: 1 word] ▪ [illegible: 1+ letters]gger.

2 The LORD is great in Zion , and he is high above all people .

In the Hebrew Text the words lie in this order, The Lord in Zion (i. e. which dwelleth in Zion, as is said Psal. 9. 11. Isa. 8. 18. Ioel 3. 21.) is great.

Above all the people of the Earth, of whom he spake v. 1. who shall exalt themselves against him.

3 Let them praise thy great and terrible name: for it is holy .

To wit, all people last mentioned

For it is not onely great but holy, and therefore most praise-worthy.

4 The kings strength also loveth judgment : thou dost establish equity , thou executest judgment and righteousness in Jacob .

Though his Dominion be absolute and uncontroulable and his power irresistible, yet he doth not abuse it to tyranny and oppression, as the Princes of the World commonly do, but tempers and manageth it with righteousness, and not onely doth judge justly, but, which is more, loves to do so. The Kings strength is by a known Hebraism put for the strong, or powerful King.

To wit, in all thy proceedings. Equity is thy constant and stable course.

Amongst thine own people; whom, when they do amiss, he punisheth no less than other people, as he notes below v. 8. whereby he sheweth that he is no respecter of persons, but a righteous and impartial Judge to all sorts of men.

Marginal references: Psal. 98. 6.

5 Exalt ye the LORD our God, and worship at his foot-stool : for he is holy .

Before the Ark; which is so called 1 Chron. 28. 2. Psal. 132. 7.

Or rather, for it (to wit, the Ark) is holy: it is consecrated to be a pledge of Gods presence and the onely place of Gods publick worship.

Marginal references: Or, it is holy.

6 Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among them that call upon his name : they called upon the LORD, and he answered them .

He presseth them to perform the duty of praising and worshipping God by the examples of three eminent persons who practised this duty, and that with happy success. He reckoneth Moses among the Priests not without cause, partly because before the institution of the Priesthood he executed that office, Exod. 24. 6. Numb. 7. and partly because he oft interceded to God for the people; which was a very considerable part of the Priests work. See Numb. 6. 23, &c. Ioel 2. 17.

Who used frequently and solemnly to intercede with God on the behalf of the people. So the general expression is here used synecdochically for this particular kind of prayer: such Synecdoche's being very frequent in Scripture.

Moses, Exod. 32. and elsewhere; Aaron, Numb. 16. Samuel, 1 Sam. 7. 19. and 12. 19. Compare Ier. 15. 1.

7 He spake unto them in the cloudy pillar: they kept his testimonies, and the ordinance that he gave them .

i. e. To some of them; for the expression is only indefinite and therefore doth not necessarily reach to all of them: to Moses frequently; to Aaron, Exod. 19. 24. and 33. 9, 10, 11. Numb. 12. 5. And for Samuel, he answered him if not by words yet really and by his actions, thundering against the Philistins, 1 Sam. 7. 9, &c. which supposeth a Cloud, if not a Cloudy Pillar.

This is added not onely for their commendation but for the instruction of the Israelites to teach them that God will not hear the Prayers of them who do not keep his Commandments.

8 Thou answerdest them , O LORD our God: thou wast a God that forgavest them a, though thou tookest vengeance of their inventions .

The intercessours beforementioned. Either 1. Moses and Aaron, who did sin, and whose sins God did pardon, yet so as that he did punish them with exclusion from the land of Canaan; of which see Numb. 20. 12. Deut. 32. 50, 51. Or rather 2. the people for whom they prayed; which though not expressed may be easily understood from the following words and from the Histories to which these words relate. For this forgiving was evidently the effect of Gods answering the Prayers of the persons above mentioned. And therefore as their Prayers recorded in Scripture were not for the pardon of their own sins, but for the pardon of the peoples sins, so this forgiveness granted was for the sins of the people. And whereas the people are not here mentioned; it must be remembred that in Scripture the relative is frequently put without the antecedent, as it is Numb. 7. 89. and 114. 2. Prov. 14. 26.

This clause limits and explains the former. Thou didst forgive the sins of the people not absolutely and universally, for thou didst punish them severely, but so far as not to inflict that total and final destruction upon them which they deserved, and thou hadst threatned. See Exod. 32. 10, 14, 34.

9 Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at his holy hill : for the LORD our God is holy.

Either in Zion: or in his Church typified by it, and oft called Zion.

Song of Praise in Honour of the Thrice Holy One

This is the third of the Psalms (Psa 93:1-5, Psa 97:1-12, Psa 99:1-9) which begin with the watchword מלך ה. It falls into three parts, of which the first (Psa 99:1-3) closes with קדושׁ הוּא, the second (Psa 99:4, Psa 99:5) with קדושׁ הוּא, and the third, more full-toned, with אלחנוּ קדושׁ ה - an earthly echo of the trisagion of the seraphim. The first two Sanctuses are two hexastichs; and two hexastichs form the third, according to the very same law by which the third and the sixth days of creation each consists of two creative works. This artistic form bears witness against Olshausen in favour of the integrity of the text; but the clare-obscure of the language and expression makes no small demands upon the reader.

Bengel has seen deepest into the internal character of this Psalm. He says, “The 99th Psalm has three parts, in which the Lord is celebrated as He who is to come, as He who is, and as He who was, and each part is closed with the ascription of praise: He is holy.” The Psalm is laid out accordingly by Oettinger, Burk, and C. H. Rieger.

Psa 99:1-3

The three futures express facts of the time to come, which are the inevitable result of Jahve’s kingly dominion bearing sway from heaven, and here below from Zion, over the world; they therefore declare what must and will happen. The participle insidens cherubis (Psa 80:2, cf. Psa 18:11) is a definition of the manner (Olshausen): He reigns, sitting enthroned above the cherubim. נוּט, like Arab. nwd, is a further formation of the root na, nu, to bend, nod. What is meant is not a trembling that is the absolute opposite of joy, but a trembling that leads on to salvation. The Breviarium in Psalterium, which bears the name of Jerome, observes: Terra quamdiu immota fuerit, sanari non potest; quando vero mota fuerit et intremuerit, tunc recipiet sanitatem. In Psa 99:3 declaration passes over into invocation. One can feel how the hope that the “great and fearful Name” (Deu 10:17) will be universally acknowledged, and therefore that the religion of Israel will become the religion of the world, moves and elates the poet. The fact that the expression notwithstanding is not קדושׁ אתּה, but קדושׁ הוּא, is explained from the close connection with the seraphic trisagion in Isa 6:3. הוּא refers to Jahve; He and His Name are notions that easily glide over into one another.

Psa 99:4-5

The second Sanctus celebrates Jahve with respect to His continuous righteous rule in Israel. The majority of expositors construe it: “And (they shall praise) the might of the king, who loves right;” but this joining of the clause on to יודוּ over the refrain that stands in the way is hazardous. Neither can ועז מלך משׁפּט אהב, however, be an independent clause, since אהב cannot be said of עז, but only of its possessor. And the dividing of the verse at אהב, adopted by the lxx, will therefore not hold good. משפט אהב is an attributive clause to מלך in the same position as in Psa 11:7; and עז, with what appertains to it, is the object to כּוננתּ placed first, which has the king’s throne as its object elsewhere (Psa 9:8, 2Sa 7:13; 1Ch 17:12), just as it here has the might of the king, which, however, here at the same time in מישׁרים takes another and permutative object (cf. the permutative subject in Psa 72:17), as Hitzig observes; or rather, since מישׁרים is most generally used as an adverbial notion, this מישׁרים (Psa 58:2; Psa 75:3; Psa 9:9, and frequently), usually as a definition of the mode of the judging and reigning, is subordinated: and the might of a king who loves the right, i.e., of one who governs not according to dynastic caprice but moral precepts, hast Thou established in spirit and aim (directed to righteousness and equity). What is meant is the theocratic kingship, and Psa 11:4 says what Jahve has constantly accomplished by means of this kingship: He has thus maintained right and righteousness (cf. e.g., 2Sa 8:15; 1Ch 18:14; 1Ki 10:9; Isa 16:5) among His people. Out of this manifestation of God’s righteousness, which is more conspicuous, and can be better estimated, within the nation of the history of redemption than elsewhere, grows the call to highly exalt Jahve the God of Israel, and to bow one’s self very low at His footstool. להדם רגליו, as in Psa 132:7, is not a statement of the object (for Isa 45:14 is of another kind), but (like אל in other instances) of the place in which, or of the direction (cf. Psa 7:14) in which the προσκύνησις is to take place. The temple is called Jahve’s footstool (1Ch 28:2, cf. Lam 2:1; Isa 60:13) with reference to the ark, the capporeth of which corresponds to the transparent sapphire (Exo 24:10) and to the crystal-like firmament of the mercaba (Eze 1:22, cf. 1Ch 28:18).

Psa 99:6-9

The vision of the third Sanctus looks into the history of the olden time prior to the kings. In support of the statement that Jahve is a living God, and a God who proves Himself in mercy and in judgment, the poet appeals to three heroes of the olden time, and the events recorded of them. The expression certainly sounds as though it had reference to something belonging to the present time; and Hitzig therefore believes that it must be explained of the three as heavenly intercessors, after the manner of Onias and Jeremiah in the vision 2 Macc. 15:12-14. But apart from this presupposing an active manifestation of life on the part of those who have fallen happily asleep, which is at variance with the ideas of the latest as well as of the earliest Psalms concerning the other world, this interpretation founders upon Psa 99:7, according to which a celestial discourse of God with the three “in the pillar of cloud” ought also to be supposed. The substantival clauses Psa 99:6 bear sufficient evident in themselves of being a retrospect, by which the futures that follow are stamped as being the expression of the contemporaneous past. The distribution of the predicates to the three is well conceived. Moses was also a mighty man in prayer, for with his hands uplifted for prayer he obtained the victory for his people over Amalek (Exo 17:11.), and on another occasion placed himself in the breach, and rescued them from the wrath of God and from destruction (Psa 106:23; Exo 32:30-32; cf. also Num 12:13); and Samuel, it is true, is only a Levite by descent, but by office in a time of urgent need a priest (cohen), for he sacrifices independently in places where, by reason of the absence of the holy tabernacle with the ark of the covenant, it was not lawful, according to the letter of the law, to offer sacrifices, he builds an altar in Ramah, his residence as judge, and has, in connection with the divine services on the high place (Bama) there, a more than high-priestly position, inasmuch as the people do not begin the sacrificial repasts before he has blessed the sacrifice (1Sa 9:13). But the character of a mighty man in prayer is outweighed in the case of Moses by the character of the priest; for he is, so to speak, the proto-priest of Israel, inasmuch as he twice performed priestly acts which laid as it were a foundation for all times to come, viz., the sprinkling of the blood at the ratification of the covenant under Sinai (Ex. 24), and the whole ritual which was a model for the consecrated priesthood, at the consecration of the priests (Lev. 8). It was he, too, who performed the service in the sanctuary prior to the consecration of the priests: he set the shew-bread in order, prepared the candlestick, and burnt incense upon the golden altar (Exo 40:22-27). In the case of Samuel, on the other hand, the character of the mediator in the religious services is outweighed by that of the man mighty in prayer: by prayer he obtained Israel the victory of Ebenezer over the Philistines (1Sa 7:8.), and confirmed his words of warning with the miraculous sign, that at his calling upon God it would thunder and rain in the midst of a cloudless season (1Sa 12:16, cf. Sir. 46:16f.).

The poet designedly says: Moses and Aaron were among His priests, and Samuel among His praying ones. This third twelve-line strophe holds good, not only of the three in particular, but of the twelve-tribe nation of priests and praying ones to which they belong. For Psa 99:7 cannot be meant of the three, since, with the exception of a single instance (Num 12:5), it is always Moses only, not Aaron, much less Samuel, with whom God negotiates in such a manner. אליהם refers to the whole people, which is proved by their interest in the divine revelation given by the hand of Moses out of the cloudy pillar (Exo 33:7.). Nor can Psa 99:6 therefore be understood of the three exclusively, since there is nothing to indicate the transition from them to the people: crying (קראים, syncopated like חטאים,    1Sa 24:11) to Jahve, i.e., as often as they (these priests and praying ones, to whom a Moses, Aaron, and Samuel belong) cried unto Jahve, He answered them-He revealed Himself to this people who had such leaders (choragi), in the cloudy pillar, to those who kept His testimonies and the law which He gave them. A glance at Psa 99:8 shows that in Israel itself the good and the bad, good and evil, are distinguished. God answered those who could pray to Him with a claim to be answered. Psa 99:7, is, virtually at least, a relative clause, declaring the prerequisite of a prayer that may be granted. In Psa 99:8 is added the thought that the history of Israel, in the time of its redemption out of Egypt, is not less a mirror of the righteousness of God than of the pardoning grace of God. If Psa 99:7-8 are referred entirely to the three, then עלילות and נקם, referred to their sins of infirmity, appear to be too strong expressions. But to take the suffix of עלילותם objectively (ea quae in eos sunt moliti Core et socii ejus), with Symmachus (καὶ ἔκδικος ἐπὶ ταῖς ἐπηρείναις αὐτῶν) and Kimchi, as the ulciscens in omnes adinventiones eorum of the Vulgate is interpreted,Vid., Raemdonck in his David propheta cet. 1800: in omnes injurias ipsis illatas, uti patuit in Core cet. is to do violence to it. The reference to the people explains it all without any constraint, and even the flight of prayer that comes in here (cf. Mic 7:18). The calling to mind of the generation of the desert, which fell short of the promise, is an earnest admonition for the generation of the present time. The God of Israel is holy in love and in wrath, as He Himself unfolds His Name in Exo 34:6-7. Hence the poet calls upon his fellow-countrymen to exalt this God, whom they may with pride call their own, i.e., to acknowledge and confess His majesty, and to fall down and worship at (ל cf. אל, Psa 5:8) the mountain of His holiness, the place of His choice and of His presence.

The Dominion of God.

1 The Lord reigneth; let the people tremble: he sitteth between the cherubims; let the earth be moved. 2 The Lord is great in Zion; and he is high above all the people. 3 Let them praise thy great and terrible name; for it is holy. 4 The king's strength also loveth judgment; thou dost establish equity, thou executest judgment and righteousness in Jacob. 5 Exalt ye the Lord our God, and worship at his footstool; for he is holy.

The foundation of all religion is laid in this truth, That the Lord reigns. God governs the world by his providence, governs the church by his grace, and both by his Son. We are to believe not only that the Lord lives, but that the Lord reigns. This is the triumph of the Christian church, and here it was the triumph of the Jewish church, that Jehovah was their King; and hence it is inferred, Let the people tremble, that is, 1. Let even the subjects of this kingdom tremble; for the Old-Testament dispensation had much of terror in it. At Mount Sinai Israel, and even Moses himself, did exceedingly fear and quake; and then God was terrible in his holy places. Even when he appeared in his people's behalf, he did terrible things. But we are not now come to that mount that burned with fire, Heb. xii. 18. Now that the Lord reigns let the earth rejoice. Then he ruled more by the power of holy fear; now he rules by the power of holy love. 2. Much more let the enemies of this kingdom tremble; for he will either bring them into obedience to his golden sceptre or crush them with his iron rod. The Lord reigns, though the people be stirred with indignation at it; though they fret away all their spirits, their rage is all in vain. He will set his King upon his holy hill of Zion in spite of them (Ps. ii. 1-6); first, or last, he will make them tremble, Rev. vi. 15, &c. The Lord reigns, let the earth be moved. Those that submit to him shall be established, and not moved (Ps. xcvi. 10); but those that oppose him will be moved. Heaven and earth shall be shaken, and all nations; but the kingdom of Christ is what cannot be moved; the things which cannot be shaken shall remain, Heb. xii. 27. In these is continuance, Isa. lxiv. 5.

God's kingdom, set up in Israel, is here made the subject of the psalmist's praise.

I. Two things the psalmist affirms:—1. God presided in the affairs of religion: He sitteth between the cherubim (v. 1), as on his throne, to give law by the oracles thence delivered—as on the mercy-seat, to receive petitions. This was the honour of Israel, that they had among them the Shechinah, or special presence of God, attended by the holy angels; the temple was the royal palace, and the Holy of holies was the presence-chamber. The Lord is great in Zion (v. 2); there he is known and praised (Ps. lxxvi. 1, 2); there he is served as great, more than any where else. He is high there above all people; as that which is high is exposed to view, and looked up to, so in Zion the perfections of the divine nature appear more conspicuous and more illustrious than any where else. Therefore let those that dwell in Zion, and worship there, praise thy great and terrible name, and give thee the glory due unto it, for it is holy. The holiness of God's name makes it truly great to his friends and terrible to his enemies, v. 3. This is that which those above adore—Holy, holy, holy. 2. He was all in all in their civil government, v. 4. As in Jerusalem was the testimony of Israel, whither the tribes went up, so there were set thrones of judgment, Ps. cxxii. 4, 5. Their government was a theocracy. God raised up David to rule over them (and some think this psalm was penned upon occasion of his quiet and happy settlement in the throne) and he is the king whose strength loves judgment. 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. He has power to crush, but his strength loves judgment; he does not rule with rigour, but with moderation, with wisdom, and with tenderness. The people of Israel had a good king; but they are here taught to look up to God as he by whom their king reigns: Thou dost establish equity (that is, God gave them those excellent laws by which they were governed), and thou executest judgment and righteousness in Jacob; he not only by his immediate providences often executed and enforced his own laws, but took care for the administration of justice among them by civil magistrates, who reigned by him and by him did decree justice. Their judges judged for God, and their judgment was his, 2 Chron. xix. 6.

II. Putting these two things together, we see what was the happiness of Israel above any other people, as Moses had described it (Deut. iv. 7, 8), that they had God so nigh unto them, sitting between the cherubim, and that they had statutes and judgments so righteous, by which equity was established, and God himself ruled in Jacob, from which he infers this command to that happy people (v. 5): "Exalt you the Lord our God, and worship at his footstool; give him the glory of the good government you are under, as it is now established, both in church and state." Note, 1. The greater the public mercies are which we have a share in the more we are obliged to bear a part in the public homage paid to God: the setting up of the kingdom of Christ, especially, ought to be the matter of our praise. 2. When we draw night to God, to worship him, our hearts must be filled with high thoughts of him, and he must be exalted in our souls. 3. The more we abase ourselves, and the more prostrate we are before God, the more we exalt him. We must worship at his footstool, at his ark, which was as the footstool to the mercy-seat between the cherubim; or we must cast ourselves down upon the pavement of his courts; and good reason we have to be thus reverent, for he is holy, and his holiness should strike an awe upon us, as it does on the angels themselves, Isa. vi. 2, 3.

Divine Justice and Mercy.

6 Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among them that call upon his name; they called upon the Lord , and he answered them. 7 He spake unto them in the cloudy pillar: they kept his testimonies, and the ordinance that he gave them. 8 Thou answeredst them, O Lord our God: thou wast a God that forgavest them, though thou tookest vengeance of their inventions. 9 Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at his holy hill; for the Lord our God is holy.

The happiness of Israel in God's government is here further made out by some particular instances of his administration, especially with reference to those that were, in their day, the prime leaders and most active useful governors of that people—Moses, Aaron, and Samuel, in the two former of whom the theocracy or divine government began (for they were employed to form Israel into a people) and in the last of whom that form of government, in a great measure, ended; for when the people rejected Samuel, and urged him to resign, they are said to reject God himself, that he should not be so immediately their king as he had been (1 Sam. viii. 7), for now they would have a king, like all the nations. Moses, as well as Aaron, is said to be among his priests, for he executed the priest's office till Aaron was settled in it and he consecrated Aaron and his sons; therefore the Jews call him the priest of the priests. Now concerning these three chief rulers observe,

I. The intimate communion they had with God, and the wonderful favour to which he admitted them. None of all the nations of the earth could produce three such men as these, that had such an intercourse with Heaven, and whom God knew by name, Exod. xxxiii. 17. Here is, 1. Their gracious observance of God. No kingdom had men that honoured God as these three men of the kingdom of Israel did. They honoured him, (1.) By their prayers. Samuel, though not among his priests, yet was among those that called on his name; and for this they were all famous, They called upon the Lord; they relied not on their own wisdom or virtue, but in every emergency had recourse to God, towards him was their desire, and on him their dependence. (2.) By their obedience: They kept his testimonies, and the ordinances that he gave them; they made conscience of their duty, and in every thing made God's word and law their rule, as knowing that unless they did so they could not expect their prayers should be answered, Prov. xxviii. 9. Moses did all according to the pattern shown him; it is often repeated, According to all that God commanded Moses, so did he. Aaron and Samuel did likewise. Those were the greatest men and most honourable that were most eminent for keeping God's testimonies and conforming to the rule of his word. 2. God's gracious acceptance of them: He answered them, and granted them the things which they called upon him for. They all wonderfully prevailed with God in prayer; miracles were wrought at their special instance and request; nay, he not only condescended to do that for them which they desired, as a prince for a petitioner, but he communed with them as one friend familiarly converses with another (v. 7): He spoke unto them in the cloudy pillar. He often spoke to Samuel; from his childhood the word of the Lord came to him, and, probably, sometimes he spoke to him by a bright cloud overshadowing him: however, to Moses and Aaron he often spoke out of the famous cloudy pillar, Exod. xvi. 10; Num. xii. 5. Israel are now reminded of this, for the confirming of their faith, that though they had not every day such sensible tokens of God's presence as the cloudy pillar was, yet to those that were their first founders, and to him that was their great reformer, God was pleased thus to manifest himself.

II. The good offices they did to Israel. They interceded for the people, and for them also they obtained many an answer of peace. Moses stood in the gap, and Aaron between the living and the dead; and, when Israel was in distress, Samuel cried unto the Lord for them, 1 Sam. vii. 9. This is here referred to (v. 8): "Thou answeredst them, O Lord our God! and, at their prayer, thou wast a God that forgavest the people they prayed for; and, though thou tookest vengeance of their inventions, yet thou didst not cut them off from being a people, as their sin deserved." "Thou wast a God that wast propitious for them (so Dr. Hammond), for their sakes, and sparedst the people at their request, even when thou wast about to take vengeance of their inventions, that is, when thy wrath was so highly provoked against them that it was just ready to break in upon them, to their utter overthrow." These were some of the many remarkable instances of God's dominion in Israel, more than in any other nation, for which the people are again called upon to praise God (v. 9): "Exalt the Lord our God, on account of what he has done for us formerly, as well as of late, and worship at his holy hill of Zion, on which he has now set his temple and will shortly set his King (Ps. ii. 6), the former a type of the latter; there, as the centre of unity, let all God's Israel meet, with their adorations, for the Lord our God is holy, and appears so, not only in his holy law, but in his holy gospel."

PSAL. XCIX.

IEhovah reigneth, the peoples are stirred: he sitteth on the Cherubims, the earth is moved. Iehovah is great in Sion, and high he is above all the peoples. Let thē confesse thy name, great and fearefull, holy it is. And the strength of the King loveth judgement: thou hast stablished righteousnesses, thou hast done in Iakob judgement and justice. Exalt yee Iehovah our God, and bow downe your selves at the footstoole of his feet, holy he is. Moses and Aaron, with his Priests, and Samuel, with them that call on his name: they called upon Iehovah, and hee answered them. In the pillar of a cloud hee spake unto them; they kept his testimonies, & the decree he gave them. Iehovah our God, thou answeredst them, a God forgiving thou wast unto them, and taking vengeance on their practises. Exalt yee Iehovah our God, and bow downe your selves at the mountaine of his holinesse, for Iehovah our God is holy.

Annotations. ARestirred] or, though they be stirred, to wit, with anger; as the Greeke translateth, be angry: see Psal. 4. 5. This is opened in Rev. 11. 17, 18. thou (Lord) reignest, and the nations are angry. Thus the wicked are affected, but the godly doe rejoyce, Psal. 97. 1. he sitteth] or, even hee that sitteth on the Cherubims, reigneth: see Psal. 80. 2. is moved] with indignation, stirred up to resist, as Act. 17. 13. Vers. 4. the strength] this is joyned with Gods wrath, Ezr. 8. 22. and here seemeth to have like meaning, that God is strong to punish in judgement the rebellious, and defend his people. V. 5. at the footstoole] or toward it, meaning the Sanctuary and Arke there, Esa. 60. 13. 1 Chron. 28. 2. Lam. 2. 1. Psal. 132. 7. Ezek. 43. 7. he is] as is expressed, vers. 8. or it (the temple) is holy. V. 6. with his Priests] or, among his principall officers; see the like phrase in Ps. 54. 6. The Hebrew Cohén, wch we call a Priest. or Saerificer, is the name of the kings chiefe officer, as in 2 Sa. 8. 18. Davids sons were Cohéns (chiefe Rulers, Aularchai as the Greek termeth them) which is expounded in 1 Chro. 18. 17. to be the first (or Chiefe) at the Kings hand. It hath the name of ministration, Esa. 61. 6. 10. & was a title specially given to Aaron and his sonnes, that ministred unto God in the Sanctuary, Exod. 28. 3, 4, 41. called] or were calling, that is, prayed for the people, as Exod. 32. 11, &c. Numb. 14 17, 19. and 16. 22, 46. 1 Sam. 7. 9. and 12. 19, 23. Hereupon Moses and Samuel were noted for chiefe intercessours with God, Ier. 15. 1. So the Chaldee here expounds it, his Priests which gave their lives for the Lords people; and Samuel prayed to the Lord for them, as the fathers of old, which prayed in his name. V. 7. of a cloud] as Exod. 33. 9. Num. 16. 42. and this noteth Gods favour, but with some obscurity; and so is inferiour to the mediation of Christ, who hath without clouds or shadowes obtained eternall redemption for us, that we may goe boldly to the throne of grace, for to receive mercy & finde grace to helpe in time of need, Heb. 4. 14, 16. and 7. 25. and 9. 11, 12. Vers. 8. a God for giving] a mighty God that pardonedst or tookest away, to wit, the punishment of their sin: see Psal. 25. 18. and taking] or though thou tookest vengeance. on their practises] theirs, that is, the peoples, for whom Moses prayed, as Num. 14. 20, 21, 23. Exod. 32. 14, 34, 35. or theirs, that is, Moses and Aarons sinnes, which God punished, and would not be intreated, as Num. 20. 12. Deut. 3. 23, 24, 25, 26.

PSAL. XCIX.

VErſ. 1. The Lord reigneth] Even the Lord Chriſt, as Pſal. 97.1.

Let the people tremble] Let them ſerve the Lord with fear, and rejoyce with trembling; by the people ſome underſtand the Jews, and by the Earth all other Nations; let there bee a general ſubjection yeelded to the Scepter of his Kingdom.

Verſ. 2. The Lord is great in Zion] In his Church he giveth many great teſtimonies of his power and preſence, and is therefore magnified by his people.

And he is high above all people] In the things wherein they deal proudly he is above them, Exod. 18.11.

Verſ. 3. Let them praiſe thy great and terrible Name] Nomen illud Majeſtativum; Some hereby underſtand the name Jehovah, of which Joſh. 7. What wilt thou do to thy great Name? And Jer. 44. I have ſworn by my great Name. But Gods Name is uſually put for Gods ſelf.

For it is Holy] And therefore to be ſanctified in righteouſneſs, Iſa. 5.16.

Verſ. 4. The Kings ſtrength alſo loveth judgement] i.e. abeſt à Tyrannide. God abuſeth not his Kingly power to Tyranny, but Joyneth it with his Juſtice and Uprightneſe. Regiment without Righteouſneſs is but robbery with authority. The Ara bick hath it, Magnificentia Regis eſt, ut diligat aequitatem.

Verſ. 5. Exalt the Lord our God] Have high apprehenſions of him, and anſwerable expreſſions: Set him up, and ſet him forth to the utmoſt.

And worſhip at his footſtool] i.e. At his Temple, ſaith the Chaldee: At the Ark of the Covenant, ſay the Rabbins, Auſtin interpreteth it of Chriſts humanity; which although of it ſelf, it is not to be adored, becauſe it is a creature, yet as it is received into unity of perſon with the Divinity, and hath a Partner-agency with the God-head according to its meaſure in the works of Redemption and Mediation, 1 Tim. 2.5. it is to be worſhipped. But how hard driven was that ſecond Synod of Ni[illegible: 1 letter]e, when they abuſed this Text, among many others, to prove the worſhipping of Images and Pictures?

Verſ. 6. Moſes and Aaron among his Prieſts] or chief Officers, as 1 Chron. 18.17. Moſes was, if not a Prieſt, yet a continual Interceſſor for the people, and a type of Chriſt the great Mediator of his Church. Aben-Ezra calleth him Cohen bacco[illegible: 1 letter]ani[illegible: 2 letters], the Prieſt of Prieſts; And Philo writing his life, concludeth, This was the life and death of Moſes the King, the Lawgiver, the prophet, and the chief Prieſt.

And Samuel] A man that could do much with God like wiſe, Jer 15.1. and is therefore (as ſome conceive) called Pethuel, that is, a perſwader of God, Joel. 1.1.Alſted.

Verſ. 7. They kept his teſtimonies] And ſo ſhewed that they called upon God with a true heart, in full aſſurance of faith, Heb. 10.22.

Verſ. 8. Thou waſt a God, &c.] A ſin pardoning God, Neb. 5[illegible: 1 letter].17. So thou waſt to them under the Law, ſo thou wilt be to thoſe under the Goſpel.

Though thou tookeſt, &c.] Though Moſes might no[illegible: 1 letter] enter for his unbeleef, and Samuel ſmarted for indulging his ſon[illegible: 1 letter].

Verſ. 9. Exalt the Lord] Verſus amaelaus. See Verſ. 5.

The Lord reigneth. One of the most joyous utterances which ever leaped from mortal lip. The overthrow of the reign of evil and the setting up of Jehovah's kingdom of goodness, justice, and truth, is worthy to be hymned again and again, as we have it here for the third time in the psalms. Let the people tremble. Let the chosen people feel a solemn yet joyful awe, which shall thrill their whole manhood. Saints quiver with devout emotion, and sinners quiver with terror when the rule of Jehovah is fully perceived and felt. It is not a light or trifling matter, it is a truth which, above all others, should stir the depths of our nature. He sitteth between the cherubims. In grandeur of sublime glory, yet in nearness of mediatorial condescension, Jehovah revealed himself above the mercyseat, whereon stood the likeness of those flaming ones who gaze upon his glory, and for ever cry, "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts." The Lord reigning on that throne of grace which is sprinkled with atoning blood, and veiled with the covering wings of mediatorial love, is above all other revelations wonderful, and fitted to excite emotion among all mankind, hence it is added, Let the earth be moved. Not merely "the people, "but the whole earth should feel a movement of adoring awe when it is known that on the mercyseat God sits as universal monarch. The pomp of heaven surrounds him, and is symbolised by the outstretched wings of waiting cherubs; let not the earth be less moved to adoration, rather let all her tribes bow before his infinite majesty, yea, let the solid earth itself with reverent tremor acknowledge his presence.

The Lord is great in Zion. Of old the temple's sacred hill was the centre of the worship of the great King, and the place where his grandeur was most clearly beheld: his church is now his favoured palace, where his greatness is displayed, acknowledged, and adored. He there unveils his attributes and commands the lowliest homage; the ignorant forget him, the wicked despise him, the atheistical oppose him, but among his own chosen he is great beyond comparison. He is great in the esteem of the gracious, great in his acts of mercy, and really great in himself: great in mercy, power, wisdom, justice, and glory. And he is high above all the people; towering above their highest thoughts and loftiest conceptions. The highest are not high to him, yet, blessed be his name, the lowliest are not despised by him. In such a God we rejoice, his greatness and loftiness are exceedingly delightful in our esteem; the more he is honoured and exalted in the hearts of men, the more exultant are his people. If Israel delighted in Saul because he was head and shoulders above the people, how much more should we exult in our God and King, Who is as high above us as the heavens are above the earth.

Let them praise thy great and terrible name: let all the dwellers in Zion and all the nations upon the earth praise the Lord, or "acknowledge thankfully" the goodness of his divine nature, albeit that there is so much in it which must inspire their awe. Under the most terrible aspect the Lord is still to be praised. Many profess to admire the milder beams of the sun of righteousness, but burn with rebellion against its more flaming radiance: so it ought not to be: we are bound to praise a terrible, God and worship him who casts the wicked down to hell. Did not Israel praise him "who overthrew Pharaoh and his hosts in the Red Sea, for his mercy endureth for ever." The terrible Avenger is to be praised, as well as the loving Redeemer. Against this the sympathy of man's evil heart with sin rebels; it cries out for an effeminate God in whom pity has strangled justice. The well-instructed servants of Jehovah praise him in all the aspects of his character, whether terrible or tender. Grace streaming from the mercy-seat can alone work in us this admirable frame of mind. For it is holy, or He is holy. In him is no flaw or fault, excess or deficiency, error or iniquity. He is wholly excellent, and is therefore called holy. In his words, thoughts, acts, and revelations as well as in himself, he is perfection itself. O come let us worship and bow down before him.

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. Other nations under their despots were the victims and the perpetrators of grievous wrong, but when the tribes were faithful to the Lord they enjoyed an upright government within their own borders, and acted with integrity towards their neighbours. That kingcraft which delights in cunning, favouritism, and brute force is as opposite to the divine Kingship as darkness to light. The palace of Jehovah is no robber's fortress nor despot's castle, built on dungeons, with stones carved by slaves, and cemented with the blood of toiling serfs. The annals of most human governments have been written in the tears of the downtrodden, and the curses of the oppressed: the chronicles of the Lord's kingdom are of another sort, truth shines in each line, goodness in every syllable, and justice in every letter. Glory be to the name of the King, whose gentle glory beams from between the cherubic wings.

Exalt ye the LORD our God. If no others adore him, let his own people render to him the most ardent worship. Infinite condescension makes him stoop to be called our God, and truth and faithfulness bind him to maintain that covenant relationship; and surely we, to whom by grace he so lovingly gives himself, should exalt him with all our hearts. He shines upon us from under the veiling wings of cherubim, and above the seat of mercy, therefore let us come and worship at his footstool. When he reveals himself in Christ Jesus, as our reconciled God, who allows us to approach even to his throne, it becomes us to unite earnestness and humility, joy and adoration, and, while we exalt him, prostrate ourselves in the dust before him. Do we need to be thus excited to worship? How much ought we to blush for such backwardness! It ought to be our daily delight to magnify so good and great a God. For he is holy. A second time the note rings out, and as the ark, which was the divine footstool, has just been mentioned, the voice seems to sound forth from the cherubim where the Lord sitteth, who continually do cry, "Holy, Holy, Holy. Lord God of Sabaoth!" Holiness is the harmony of all the virtues. The Lord has not one glorious attribute alone, or in excess, but all glories are in him as a whole; this is the crown of his honour and the honour of his crown. His power is not his choicest jewel, nor his sovereignty, but his holiness. In this all comprehensive moral excellence he would have his creatures take delight, and when they do so their delight is evidence that their hearts have been renewed, and they themselves have been made partakers of his holiness. The gods of the heathen were, according to their own votaries, lustful, cruel, and brutish; their only claim to reverence lay in their supposed potency over human destinies: who would not far rather adore Jehovah, whose character is unsullied purity, unswerving justice, unbending truth, unbounded love, in a word, perfect holiness?

Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among them that call upon his name. Though not ordained to the typical priesthood, Moses was a true priest, even as Melchizedek had been before him. God has ever had a priesthood beside and above that of the law. The three holy men here mentioned all stood in his courts, and saw his holiness, each one after his own order. Moses saw the Lord in flaming fire revealing each perfect law, Aaron full often watched the sacred fire devour the sin-offering, and Samuel witnessed the judgment of the Lord on Eli's house, because of the error of his way. These each one stood in the gap when the wrath of God broke forth, because his holiness had been insulted; and acting as intercessors, they screened the nation from the great and terrible God, who otherwise would in a dreadful manner have executed judgment in Jacob. Let these men, or such as these, lead us in our worship, and let us approach the Lord at the mercy-seat as they did, for he is as accessible to us as to them. They made it their life's business to call upon him in prayer, and by so doing brought down innumerable blessings upon themselves and others. Does not the Lord call us also to come up into the mount with Moses, and to enter the most holy place with Aaron? Do we not hear him call us by our name as he did Samuel? And do we not answer, "Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth"? They called upon the Lord, and he answered them. Not in vain were their prayers; but being a holy God he was true to his promises, and hearkened to them from off the mercy-seat. Here is reason for praise, for answers to the petitions of some are proofs of God's readiness to hear others. These three men asked large things, they pleaded for a whole nation, and they stayed great plagues and turned away fiery wrath; who would not exercise himself in adoring so great and merciful a God? If he were unholy he would be false to his word and refuse his people's cries; this, then, is recorded for our joy and for his glory, that holy men of old were not suffered to pray in vain.

He spake unto them in the cloudy pillar. We have had mention of the ark and the shekinah, and now of the fiery cloudy pillar, which was another visible token of the presence of God in the midst of Israel. Responses came to Moses and Aaron out of that glorious overshadowing cloud, and though Samuel saw it not, yet to him also came the mystic voice which was wont to thunder forth from that divine canopy. Men have had converse with God, let men therefore speak to God in return. He has told us things to come, let us in return confess the sins which are past; he has revealed his mind to us, let us then pour out our hearts before him. They kept his testimonies. When others turned aside they were faithful; in their hearts they laid up his word, and in their lives they obeyed it. When he spake to them they observed his will, and therefore when they spake to him he yielded to their desires. This keeping of the divine testimonies is a virtue all too rare in these our days; men run after their own views and opinions, and make light of the truth of God; hence it is that they fail in prayer, and scoffers have even dared to say that prayer avails not at all. May the good Lord bring back his people to reverence his word, and then will he also have respect unto the voice of their cry. And the ordinance that he gave them. His practical precept they observed as well as his doctrinal instruction. Ordinances are not to be trifled with, or testimonies will also be despised; and the converse is also true, a light estimate of inspired dogma is sure to end in neglect of moral virtues. To Moses, Aaron, and Samuel special and personal charges were committed, and they were all true to their trust, for they stood in awe of the Lord, their God, and worshipped him with their whole souls. They were very different men, and had each one a work to do peculiar to himself, yet because each was a man of prayer they were all preserved in their integrity, fulfilled their office, and blessed their generation. Lord, teach us like Moses to hold up our hands in prayer and conquer Amalek, like Aaron to wave the censer between the living and the dead till the plague is stayed, and like Samuel to say to a guilty people, "God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you; "if thou wilt make us mighty with thee in prayer, we shall also be kept faithful before thee in the service which thou hast laid upon us.

Thou answeredst them, 0 LORD our God. A sweet title and a cheering fact. Our covenant God in a very special manner heard his three servants when they pleaded for the people. Thou wast a God that forgavest them, though thou tookest vengeance of their inventions. He forgave the sinners, but he slew their sins. Some apply this verse to Moses, Aaron, and Samuel, and remind us that each of these fell into a fault and received chastisement. Of Samuel they assert that, for having set up his sons as his successors, he was compelled to submit to the anointing of Saul as king, which was a great grief to him: this is to our mind a very doubtful statement, and leads us to abandon the interpretation altogether. We believe that the passage refers to the nation which was spared through the intercession of these three holy men, but yet was severely chastened for its transgressions. In answer to the cry of Moses the tribes lived on, but the then existing generation could not enter Canaan: Aaron's golden calf was broken, though the fire of the Lord did not consume the people; and Israel smarted under the harsh government of Saul, though at Samuel's request its murmurings against the theocratic rule of their fathers' God was not visited with pestilence or famine. So to forgive sin as at the same time to express abhorrence of it, is the peculiar glory of God, and is best seen in the atonement of our Lord Jesus. Reader, are you a believer? Then your sin is forgiven you; but so surely as you are a child of God the rod of paternal discipline will be laid upon you if your walk be not close with God. "You only have I known of all the nations of the earth, therefore I will punish you for your iniquities."

Exalt the LORD our God. A second time the delightful title of Jehovah our God is used, and it is quickly followed by a third. The Psalm is Trinitarian in its whole structure. In each of his sacred persons the Lord is the God of his people; the Father is ours, the Son is ours, and the Holy Spirit is ours: let us exalt him with all our ransomed powers. And worship at his holy hill. Where he appoints his temple let us resort. No spot of ground is now fenced about as peculiarly holy, or to be regarded as more sacred than another; yet his visible church is his chosen hill, and there would we be found, numbered with his people, and unite with them in worship. For the LORD our God is holy. Again this devout description is repeated, and made the climax of the song. Oh for hearts made pure within, so that we may rightly perceive and worthily praise the infinite perfection of the Triune Lord.

Whole Psalm. This psalm has three parts, in which the Lord is celebrated as He who is to come, as He who is, and as he who was. John Albert Bengel, 1687-1752.

Whole Psalm. In each of the three strophes Jehovah is acknowledged in his peculiar covenant relation to his people. In the first he is "great in Zion"(Ps 99:2); in the second, he has "executed righteousness in Jacob"(Ps 99:4); and he is "Jehovah our God" (Ps 99:5); in the third, the great examples of this covenant relationship are cited from Israel's ancient history; and again God is twice claimed as "Jehovah our God" (Ps 99:8-9). J.J.S. Perowne.

Whole Psalm. There are three psalms which begin with the words, "The Lord (JEHOVAH) reigneth." (Psalms 93, 97, 99.) This is the third and last of these Psalms; and it is remarkable that in this Psalm the words He is holy are repeated three times (Ps 99:3,5,9). Thus this Psalm is one of the links in the chain which connects the first revelation of God in Genesis with the full manifestation of the doctrine of the blessed Trinity, which is revealed in the commission of the risen Saviour to his apostles: "Go ye, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, "and which prepares the faithful to join in the heavenly Hallelujah of the church glorified, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come." The other links in this chain in the Old Testament are, the Aaronic benediction, in Nu 6:24-27; and the Seraphic Trisagion, in Isa 6:1-3. Christopher Wordsworth.

Whole Psalm. Many of the preceding Psalms, in extolling the Dominion and Supremacy of the Messiah, have spoken of him solely as the object of triumph and rejoicing. He has been represented in all the bounteousness of his mercy, and the excess of his lovingkindness; and the ideas of might and majesty, with which he has been accompanied, seem chiefly to have been regarded as the means by which these gracious designs will be carried into a sure effect. There is always a great danger in such a feeling, lest our reciprocal covenant should be too much forgotten; and we should rest on our privileges to the exclusion of our practice. This was a constant error to the Jews. "We have Abraham to our Father, "was continually on their lips; as if the given promise to their nation had been inalienable for ever. Subsequent ages have shown the existence of the same false principle amongst the Gentiles. It is a part of the weakness of human nature; and hence was the prophet inspired to warn the world of the evil, and draw their minds to a just sense of the awfulness of the Redeemer's majesty. In this view, joined as it is throughout with assertions of his readiness at all times to listen to the believer and to grant his supplication, the Psalm is at once of great power and of an exceeding consolation. William Hill Tucker.

Let the people tremble... let the earth be moved. That fear which proceeds from simple reverence as well as that which arises from apprehension of evil, produces bodily shaking. Thus this exhortation may concern believing as well as unbelieving nations. Amyraldus.

Let the people tremble. He bids a defiance, as it were, to all his enemies, orgizesywsan, irascantur, commoveantur, fremant populi;let the people be angry, fret, and be unquiet, as Ps 2:1. Let the earth, that is, the tyrants of the earth, be moved at it; yet let them know that all their endeavours are but vain. William Nicholson.

Let the people tremble. Jarchi refers this to the war of Gog and Magog. John Gill.

Let the people tremble. Albeit the church be compassed about with enemies, as the lily among the thorns, yet because her Lord reigneth in the midst of her, she hath reason not only to comfort herself in him, but also hath ground of defying her enemies, and boasting against them: "The LORD reigneth; let the people tremble." The Lord's people do not worship an unknown God, they know who he is, and where to find him; to wit, in his ordinances, on the throne of grace, reconciling himself to the world in Christ: He sitteth between the cherubims. David Dickson.

The cherubims. These were figures, or representations of angels, inclining their faces one towards the other, and touching one another with their wings. Ex 25:18. The use of these was to cover or overshadow the mercyseat with their wings, Ex 25:20, and from this seat God used to speak unto Moses, Ex 25:22; Nu 7:8-9. Which may be applied unto Christ, whose mediation was signified by the mercyseat;whence it is said, that he is a propitiation or covering mercyseat, Ro 3:25 1Jo 2:2 4:10, because by his obedience all our unrighteousness is covered. Thomas Wilson(-1621), in "A Complete Christian Dictionary, "1678.

He sitteth between the cherubims. Our friend Mr. Charles Stanford, in his delicious work, "Symbols of Christ, "has beautifully brought out the connection between Mt 23:37 and Mt 23:38. The house was left desolate because Christ, who was set forth by the symbol of shelter, was rejected by them, and was not permitted to cover them with his wings. It was customary for the Jews to say of a proselyte, "He has taken refuge under the wings of the Shekinah." We now see that to take shelter under the wings of the Shekinah is to hide beneath the wings of Christ. Beneath that living shield which beats back the destroying stroke, and is broad enough to canopy a fugitive world, we take shelter, and there the promise is fulfilled, "He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust."

He sitteth between the cherubims. The cherubim is the seat of God, as the scripture sheweth us, a certain exalted heavenly throne, which we see not; but the word of God knoweth it, knoweth it as his own seat: and the word of God and the Spirit of God hath itself revealed to the servants of God where God sitteth. Not that God doth sit, as doth man, but thou, if thou dost wish that God sit in thee, if thou wilt be good, shalt be the seat of God; for thus is it written, "The soul of the righteous is the seat of wisdom" Septuagint translation]. For a throne is in our language called a seat. For some, conversant with the Hebrew tongue, have interpreted cherubim in the Latin language (for it is a Hebrew term) by the words fulness of knowledge. Therefore, because God surpasses all knowledge, he is said to sit above the fulness of knowledge. Let there be therefore in thee fulness of knowledge, and even thou shalt be the throne of God. Augustine.

Let the earth be moved. Those that submit to him shall be established, and not "moved, "Ps 96:10; but they that oppose him will be moved. Heaven and earth shall be shaken, and all nations; but the kingdom of Christ cannot be moved. The "things which cannot be shaken shall remain, "Heb 12:27. Matthew Henry.

He is high above all the people. The metaphor is taken from such great objects as trees, animals, palaces, towers, which are the more valued, and are regarded as possessing the greater strength, the higher they rise above others. So De 1:28 2:10,21 9:2, Concerning the Canaanites and the giants. Martin Geier.

Let them praise thy great and terrible name, etc. Although the enemies of the Church of God are in a tumult, and the whole earth is moved, do you nevertheless with joyful spirit entrust your salvation to him, and acknowledge and diligently celebrate his power displayed in the defence of his people and the overthrow of his foes. Mollerus.

Thy great and terrible name; for it is holy. The FATHER'S name is "great, "for he is the source, the Creator, the Lord of all; the SON'S name is "terrible, "for he is to be our judge; the name of the HOLY GHOST is "holy, "for he it is who bestows hallowing and sanctification. The Hebrew commentators see here the mystic Tetragrammaton hwhy, whose true pronunciation was kept a profound secret by the Rabbins, owing to a feeling of awful reverence; while the Greeks are precise in bidding us take it of that name, which is "terrible" to God's enemies, "holy" to his friends, and "great" to both, the name of JESUS. Hugo Cardinalis, Genebrardus, and Balthazar Corderius, in Neale's Commentary.

Let them praise thy terrible name. What force the experience of a burdened conscience attaches to the expression, "Thy great and terrible name; for it is holy!" The misery of sin consists not merely in its consequences, but in its very nature, which is to separate between God and our souls, and to shut us out from God, and God from us. Yet the Spirit of God indicates, in the covenant of grace, a threefold practical influence of his holiness upon us, of which the issue is the opposite of despair. The various steps are marked as praise, exaltation, and worship (Ps 99:3, 5, 9). Of these the last seems by far the most difficult to realise. For it is in the nature of conscious sin to prevent even our approaches to God, to keep us from all comfortable fellowship with God, and to fill us with a heavy sense of our infinite and almost hopeless distance from him. Yet we will "praise thy great and terrible name; for it is holy." Great it is; most glorious and high; far above all human conceptions. Viewed in this light, even the fact otherwise so consoling, "The Lord reigneth, "leads only to the inference, "Let the people tremble; "and "He sitteth between the cherubim" (or manifesteth himself as the covenant God) to the conclusion, "Let the earth be moved, "or stagger. But his name is not only great and terrible in its manifestations, "it is holy, "and therefore we "praise" it. His greatness is all arrayed on the side of goodness, his power on that of righteousness and truth. Alfred Edersheim, in "The Golden Diary of Heart Converse with Jesus in the Book of Psalms, "1873.

Thy terrible name... holy. In acts of man's vindictive justice, there is something of impurity, perturbation, passion, some mixture of cruelty; but none of these fall upon God in the several acts of wrath. When God appears to Ezekiel in the resemblance of fire, to signify his anger against the house of Judah for their idolatry, "from his loins downward there was the appearance of fire, but from the loins upward the appearance of brightness, as the colour of amber." Eze 8:2. His heart is clean in his most terrible acts of vengeance; it is a pure flame wherewith he scorcheth and burns his enemies. He is holy in the most fiery appearance. Stephen Charnock.

It is holy. No attribute is sounded out so loftily, with such solenmity, and so frequently by angels that stand before his throne, as this. Where do you find any other attribute trebled in the praises of it as this? Isa 6:3: "Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory; "and Re 4:8: "The four living creatures rest not day and night saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, "&c. His power of sovereignty as Lord of hosts is but once mentioned, but with a ternal repetition of his holiness. Do you hear in any evangelical song any other perfection of the divine nature thrice repeated? Where do we read of the crying out, Eternal, eternal, eternal; or Faithful, faithful, faithful, Lord God of hosts! Whatsoever other attribute is left out, this God would have to fill the mouths of angels and blessed spirits for ever in heaven... As it seems to challenge an excellence above all his other perfections, so it is the glory of all the rest; as it is the glory of the Godhead, so it is the glory of every perfection in the Godhead; as his power is the strength of them, so his holiness is the beauty of them; as all would be weak without almightiness to back them, so all would be uncomely without holiness to adorn them: should this be sullied all the rest would lose their honour and their comfortable efficacy; as at the same instant that the sun should lose its light, it would lose its heat, its strength, its generative and quickening virtue. As sincerity is the lustre of every grace in a Christian, so is purity the splendour of every attribute in the Godhead. His justice is a holy justice, his wisdom a holy wisdom, his arm of power a "holy arm, " Ps 98:1; his truth or promise a "holy promise, "Ps 105:42. Holy and true go hand and hand, Re 6:10. "His name, " which signifies all his attributes in conjunction, "is holy." Stephen Charnock.

The king's strength. They will remember his strength with joy, because he loveth judgment, and there is no reason, therefore, to be afraid of him in consequence of his great strength, so long as they continue to walk in the good way. George Phillips.

Verses 4-5. Our King loveth righteousness:he will execute perfect justice, tempered with perfect mercy. He will judge every man according to his works, summing up and completing the unnoticed righteousness of his providence by an open manifestation to the universe of his holiness and equity. "We believe that he will come to be our judge, "therefore let us magnify and exalt him with our lips and hearts; and let us fall down and worship the man Christ Jesus, who took our nature, even his manhood, from the earth, which is his footstool, into the eternity of the Godhead, in which he is equal to the Father. As heaven, which is the throne of God, and earth, which is his footstool, form one universe, so is God and man one Christ, the everlasting Lord, "holy and true, "in whom we sinners may appeal from the throne of eternal justice to the footstool of eternal mercy. "Plain Commentary."

Verse 5 (second elause). Mark the peculiar expression, Worship at his footstool. What humility and subjection does it imply! It is the worship of one whose heart has been subdued by divine grace. W. Wilson.

Bishop Horsley thus renders this verse:

"Exalt ye Jehovah our God,

And make prostration before his foostool;

It is holy."

Thus he connects "hory" with Jehovah's footstool, mentioned in the preceding clause. There appears to me great propriety and beauty in this construction, which divides the poem into three members. Of these the first terminates with ascribing "holiness" to the name of Jehovah: the second, with ascribing the same property to his abode:and then, at the conclusion of the hymn, "holiness, " essential holiness, is ascribed to Jehovah himself. Our Bible marginal translation recognizes this construction of the 5th verse. Richard Mant.

Moses and Aaron among his priests, or chief officers; as in 1Ch 18:17. Moses was, if not a priest, yet a continual intercessor for the people, and a type of Christ the great Mediator of his church. Aben-Ezra called him Cohen haccohanim, the priest of priests; and Philo, writing his life, concludeth, This was the life and death of Moses the king, the lawgiver, the prophet, and the chief priest. John Trapp.

Moses twice performed acts essentially priestly (Ex 24:4-8 and Ex 40:22, compared with Le 8:1-36), at the ratification of the covenant, and at the consecration of the priests. For this reason he could the more readily be placed here among the priestly mediators. C. B. Moll.

Priests. The word cohen is not confined as a title to the priests of the Levitical order, it is applied to Melchizedek and others. Moses is included among God's priests in accordance with the true idea of a priest, as being the official exponent of the divine love and mercy —one who represented God though acting in the interests of man. Robert JBaker Girdlestone, in "Synonyms of the Old Testament."

His priests. At the foundation of this there is another spiritual idiom, that, namely, according to which all are called priests who possess what constitutes the essence of the ordinary priestly office (although not the externals), inward connection with God, free access to the throne of grace, and the gift and power of intercessory prayer. This figurative idiom occurs even in the law itself, compare Ex 19:6, where it is said to all Israel, "Ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation." F.W. Hengstenberg.

Priests. The word cohen, Priest, is from cahan, to plead a cause, as an intercessor, mediator, or advocate; hence the strict propriety of its use here in reference to Moses. C. H. S.

They that call upon his name. The Hebrew word which we translate to call upon God, notes a sort of men whose chief business or trade was to call upon or invocate the name of God, and in this instance it implies that it was the special calling of these men to call upon God. Joseph Caryl.

Verses 6-9. This third strophe is in reality a prophetical picture of the future holy worship of God, in which Moses, Aaron, and Samuel appear as the living representatives of the redeemed church, like the four and twenty elders in the more fully developed Apocalyptic scene of St. John. Revelation 5. Joseph Francis Thrupp.

They kept his testimonies. For this reason they were so promptly heard, even as the Lord himself says, "If a man love me he will keep my words, "and again, "If ye abide in me and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you." And the ordinance that he gave them. They not only observed the precepts which bind men in general, but the peculiar obligation of governing, directing, and teaching the people committed to them. Bellarmine.

The construction of the verse seems to be this: "O Lord our God, thou didst hear or answer them, "that is, the aforementioned typical mediators, Moses, Aaron, and Samuel: "thou becamest a forbearing God for them, "or, at their intercession; and that "even when punishing, "or, when thou hadst begun to punish "the wicked deeds of them, "that is, not of Moses, Aaron, and Samuel, but of the people, who had transgressed, and for whom they interceded. This was the case when Moses interceded for the idolaters, Ex 22:32, Aaron for the schismatics, Nu 16:47, and Samuel for the whole nation, 1Sa 7:9. George Horne.

Thou answeredst them... forgavest them. Oh, the blessed assurance that nothing can disturb our standing in the covenant. Answer and forgiveness are certain, though vengeance is taken of our inventions. How every word and expression here seems to go right to our hearts! The very designation of our sins and punishments is so true. Yet, withal, we are not shut out from God. We are able to speak to, and to hear him; we receive what we need, and much more; and, above all, we have the sweet, abiding sense of forgiveness, notwithstanding "our inventions." When we smart under chastisements or disappointments, we know that it is the fire which burns up the hay, wood, and stubble —a Father's dealings in compassion and mercy. We willingly, we gladly take these chastisements, which now are to us fresh pledges of our safety. For safe, eternally safe, remains the foundation, and unclosed the way of access. O surely with all our heart do we accord: "Exalt Jehovah our God, and worship at his holy hill; for Jehovah our God is holy." Alfred Ederaheim.

The words of this verse have in them three remarkable particulars.

1. The behaviour of the men it speaks of, which is partly good, and partly evil. The former verse saith, "They kept God's testimonies, and the ordinance that he gave them; "this insinuates (what was also expressed, Ps 99:6) that they used to call upon God; all this was very good. But withal they did sometimes some things amiss, they had some inventions, by-paths, and steps awry, which, as they needed pardon, so they occasionally incensed him so much against them that he would not let them escape altogether, without taking some vengeance for such untowardness.

2. God's graciousness in a double respect: 1, in answering them, granting their suits and supplications ordinarily. 2. In forgiving them, pardoning their failings and faults evermore; never dealing with them altogether according to their sins, but in the midst of any offence of theirs, or judgment of his, remembering mercy.

3. His holy justice, notwithstanding, taking vengeance on their inventions; chastening them for some faults sometimes, and not letting them always go unpunished, how faithful soever they were generally, or how gracious soever he was eternally. Herbert Palmer (1601-1647), in a Sermon entitled "The Glass of God's Providence." 1644.

Thou wast a God that forgavest them, literally "for them; "on account of their intercessions. God did not destroy those for whom his devoted servants pleaded, in the day of threatened vengeance. Their sins, indeed, he visited with the rod of divine chastisement; but thcir forfeited lives he spared in answer to prayer. John Morison.

Thou... forgavest them, though thou tookest vengeance of their inventions. Because he loves the person, and hates only the sin; therefore he preserves the one, destroys only the other. This is all the fruit, to take away his sin. The covenant that is made with us in Christ is not a covenant made with works, but with persons; and therefore, though the works be often hateful, yet he goes on to love the persons; and that he may continue to love them, destroys out of them what he hates, but cutteth not them off. A member that is leprous or ulcerous, a man loves it as it is "his own flesh, "Eph 5:29, though he loathes the corruption and putrefaction that is in it; and therefore he doth not presently cut it off, but purgeth it daily, lays plasters to it to eat the corruption out: whereas a wart or even a wen that grows to a man's body, a man gets it cut off, for he doth not reckon it as his flesh. Thomas Goodwin.

Thou tookest veageance of their inventions. It is not a light punishment, but a "vengeance, ""he takes on their inventions; "to manifest that he hates sin as sin, and not because the worst persons commit it. Perhaps, had a profane man touched the ark, the hand of God had not so suddenly reached him. But when Uzzah, a man zealous for him, as may be supposed by his care for the support of the tottering ark, would step out of his place, he strikes him down for his disobedient action, by the side of the ark, which he would indirectly (as not being a Levite) sustain, 2Sa 6:7. Nor did our Saviour so sharply reprove the Pharisees, and turn so short from them as he did from Peter, when he gave a carnal advice, and contrary to that wherein was to be the greatest manifestation of God's holiness, viz, the death of Christ, Mt 16:23. He calls him Satan, a name sharper than the title of the devil's children, wherewith he marked the Pharisees, and given (besides him) to none but Judas, who made a profession of love to him, and was outwardly ranked in the number of his disciples. A gardener hates a weed the more for being in the bed with the most precious flowers. Stephen Charnock.

Thou tookest vengeance. Sometimes the sins of a people may be such, that God will not pardon them as to temporal punishments; nay, not the godly themselves. Even they may have been partakers with others in their sins, or may have so provoked God themselves, and sinned in such a way as to cause his name to be blasphemed; so that he is concerned in honour to bring some exemplary punishment upon them. So it was with David (2Sa 12:10-14.): though he pardoned him as to the guilt of eternal death, saved his soul, and spared his life, which was forfeited to divine justice for the murder of Uriah; yet the prophet announced that sharp afflictions must come on him, the sword must never "depart front his house, "and the child begotten in adultery must die, and his wives must be given to his neighbours. So, in Ps 99:8, it seems to be spoken of Moses himself, and other godly among the Israelites who died in the wilderness, and were not permitted to come into the land of promise, that "God forgave them, "yet "took vengeance of their inventions, " John Collins (1687) in the Morning Exercises.

Vengeance of their inventions. It is remarkable, that in the preceding verses mention is made of Moses, and Aaron, and Samuel in a way which seems to imply that they were upon the psalmist's mind when he uttered the declaration of the text. These three persons, all eminent for their piety, were also conspicuous for having suffered the Divine displeasure on account of their failings. Moses angered the Lord at the waters of strife, and he is not suffered to enter the promised land; Aaron provoked the Divine anger by making the golden calf, and would have been destroyed, had not Moses by fervent intercession turned away the anger of the Lord lest he should destroy him; so Samuel placed his sons over Israel, who walked not in his ways, and therefore God gave Israel a king, whose crimes caused the prophet to go down with sorrow to the grave. Stephen Bridge, 1852.

1. The doctrine of divine sovereignty enunciated.

2. The apprehension of divine sovereignty demanded. It ought to be spiritually apprehended. God wants to be King in the hearts of men. All mortals must tremble before the Immortal; especially the wicked.

3. The accessories of divine sovereignty hinted at. Sovereignty never forsakes the mercyseat. Angels are represented on the mercyseat, the ministers of sovereignty,

4. The effect of divine sovereignty described. Men should be "moved" to fear and obey the King before whom angels bow. Men should be moved to seek the mercy which angels study. William Durban.

He sitteth between the cherubims, etc.

1. Statement made; where God dwells, on the mercyseat. To hear prayer, and confession, and to grant salvation.

2. Effect produced —"Earth moved; "to admiration, to prayer, to sorrowful contrition, to draw near, etc. E. G. Gange.

1. God is great in Zion in Himself, all his perfections are here, which cannot be said of creation, or of his Law, or of the heaven of angels.

2. Great in his works of saving sinners, which he cannot do elsewhere.

3. Great in his glory as displayed in redemption through his Son.

4. Great in his love to his redeemed. G. R.

The Lord is great in Zion.

1. In the condescension he displays —Zion is his "habitation, "his "rest."

2. In the glory he manifests —power and glory are in the sanctuary, Ps 68:2.

3. In the assemblage he draws. "Every one in Zion appeareth before God, "Ps 84:7.

4. In the blessings he imparts.

5. In the authority he exerts. W. Jackson.

The terrors of the Lord, connected with holiness, and worthy of praise.

1. Trace the process of the working of right principles through three stages —Love, Establishment, Execution.

2. Illustrate from God's character and action.

3. Apply to national, and to daily, life. C. D.

Exalt the Lord your God.

1. Why? For what he is to you. For what he has done for you. For what he has told you.

2. How? In your affection. In your meditation. In your supplication. In your conversation. In your profession. In your consecration. In your co-operation. In your expectation. W. J.

1. The loyal enthusiasln of worship, it exalts the Lord.

2. The humble diffidence of worship, not aspiring to his exaltation it kneels at his footstool.

3. The good reason for worship. —"He is holy." C. D.

Verses 6-7.

1. Prayer offered. Moses the prophet, Aaron the priest, Samuel the ruler, "They called, "&c.

2. Prayer answered. "He answered them, ""he spake, "&c.

3. Prayer vindicated. They kept the other testimonies, &c. G. R.

(first clause). The revelation of the cloud, or what God foreshadowed to Israel in the cloudy pillar.

1. That God was willing to commune with man.

2. That sinful man could not see God and live.

3. That God should become incarnate, veiled in flesh as in the cloud.

4. That he should be their shelter, protector, guide.

5. That God manifest in the flesh should lead them to the Promised Land —Heaven. C. D.

Mercy and judgment, or the sea of glass mingled with fire. C. D.

Observe,

1. That God's vengeance for sin does not prevent his forgiveness of sin; and,

2. That God's forgiveness of sin does not prevent his taking vengeance. Stephen Bridge

The Lord our God. A very sweet topic will be found in the consideration of the questions, "In what respect is Jehovah ours? and in what relations does he stand to his people?"

WORK UPON THE NINETY-NINTH PSALM

In "The Golden Diary of Heart Converse with Jesus in the Book of Psalms." By the Rev. Dr. EDERSHEIM, Tarquay. Arranged for every Sunday in the year. Re-issue. 1873. There are expositions of Psalms 99, 101, and 102.