Psalm 99
1 Yahweh reigns; let the peoples tremble! He dwells between the cherubim; let the earth be moved! 2 Yahweh is great in Zion, and He is high above all the peoples. 3 Let them praise Your great and awesome name— He is holy.
““‘Yahweh reigns;’— even the Lord Christ — ‘let the peoples tremble! He dwells between the cherubim; let the earth be moved!’— Let them serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. By the people some understand the Jews, and by the earth all other nations; let there be a general subjection yielded to the sceptre of his kingdom.” (John Trapp) “”Let them praise Your great and awesome name— He is holy.’ “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.” (Adam Clarke) "And this perfection of Jehovah is held forth as the reason for universal homage and reverence. ‘Fear ye not me,’ saith Yahweh? ‘Will ye not tremble at my presence?’ Jeremiah 5:22." (Hawker's Poor Man's Comm)
"But, as if the Lord had a peculiar eye to the comfort of his Church, he adds, in the latter part of the verse, God's sitting between the cherubim, or on the mercy-seat, whence the Lord promised to speak to His people, Exodus 25:21-22. Reader! what a lovely representation is this of Jesus, our mercy-seat, and God's propitiatory! And are not all the sweet words of grace which we hear spoken to us, in and by Jesus? 1 Samuel 4:4; Numbers 7:89. ’Yahweh is great in Zion, and He is high above all the peoples.’ Still looking to Zion, the Psalmist in this verse praiseth the Lord's greatness, sovereignty, and grace. Reader! in how eminent a manner hath Jehovah manifested His greatness, goodness, and glory, in the person and work of his dear Son! ‘Let them praise Your great and awesome name,’ dear Jesus— ‘He is holy.’” (Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary)
4 The King’s strength also loves justice; You have established equity; You have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob. 5 Exalt Yahweh our God, and worship at His footstool— He is holy.
The King’s strength also loves justice - Is always on the side of justice and right. He so loves justice that His power will be put forth only in behalf of that which is right. God shows this by His law, and by all the acts of His administration. ‘You have established equity’ - That which is equal and just; alike by thy law, and by thine interpositions. All that thou doest, and all that thou dost appoint, is in favor of that which is equal and just. ‘You have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob’ - That which is just; that which ought to be done. Thou doest this among thy people...” (Albert Barnes)
“’Exalt Yahweh our God,’… Christ, who is Lord of all, and Immanuel, God with us, God in our nature, our Lord and our God; exalt Him in his person, as God over all, blessed for ever; in His offices of Prophet, Priest, and King, by hearkening to His word, by trusting in His blood, righteousness, and sacrifice, and by submitting to His ordinances, and obeying His commands; exalt Him in heart, thought, and affection, thinking highly of Him, and affectionately loving Him; exalt and extol Him in words, speak of His love and loveliness, and of the great things He has done; exalt Him in private and in public, in the family and in the house of God; make mention of Him everywhere, that His name be exalted:— ‘and worship Him;’ He who is the object of the adoration of angels, and ought to be of men; worship Him privately and publicly, internally and externally, in spirit and in truth; ‘at His footstool,’ on earth,… ‘for... it is holy’; the footstool, the ark, the human nature of Christ...” (Gill)
6 Moses and Aaron were among His priests, and Samuel was among those who called upon His name; they called upon the Lord, and He answered them. 7 He spoke to them in the cloudy pillar; they kept His testimonies and the ordinance He gave them. 8 You answered them, O Lord our God; You were to them God-Who-Forgives, though You took vengeance on their deeds. 9 Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at His holy hill; for the Lord our God is holy.
He "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 poet designedly says: Moses and Aaron were among His priests, and Samuel among His praying ones.” (Keil & Delitzsch)
“You answered them, O Lord our God; You were to them God-Who-Forgives,’ Oh, the blessed assurance that nothing can disturb our standing in the covenant — ‘though You took vengeance on their deeds.’ Answer and forgiveness are certain, though vengeance is taken of our inventions.” (Alfred Ederaheim) "So, in Psalms 99:8, it seems to be spoken of Moses himself" (John Collins)-- who died in the wilderness on Mount Nebo and was not permitted to come into the land of promise, that temporal land which was a type of heaven-- that God forgave him, yet took vengeance of his invention- the striking of the rock at Kadesh (Numbers 20:11). Likewise in David's day, in 2 Samuel 12:10-14, though He pardoned David "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." (John Collins) And "just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do, for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’ (Leviticus 19:2)” (1 Peter 1:15-16)
If we likewise seek holiness, “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.” (Alfred Ederaheim) But at this point in the psalms, the day of the Lord has come like a thief. So the lessen is over. The heavens have disappeared with a roar, the elements have dissolved in the fire, and the earth and its works are not found. ” (2 Peter 3:10) Our evil works will have come to naught. The old earth and its works have been destroyed.
“The happiness of Israel is made out by referring to the most useful governors of that people. They in everything made God's Word and Law [Commandments] 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.” (Matthew Henry) "Exalt Jesus our God, and worship at His holy hill."