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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Psalms XCIX].</TITLE>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1710)
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<CENTER>
<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>P S A L M S</B></FONT>
<BR>
<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>PSALM XCIX.</FONT>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
Still we are celebrating the glories of the kingdom of God among men,
and are called upon to praise him, as in the foregoing psalms; but
those psalms looked forward to the times of the gospel, and prophesied
of the graces and comforts of those times; this psalm seems to dwell
more upon the Old-Testament dispensation and the manifestation of God's
glory and grace in that. The Jews were not, in expectation of the
Messiah's kingdom and the evangelical worship, to neglect the divine
regimen they were then under, and the ordinances that were then given
them, but in them to see God reigning, and to worship before him
according to the law of Moses. Prophecies of good things to come must
not lessen our esteem of good things present. To Israel indeed
pertained the promises, which they were bound to believe; but to them
pertained also the giving of the law, and the service of God, which
they were also bound dutifully and conscientiously to attend to,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+9:4">Rom. ix. 4</A>.
And this they are called to do in this psalm, where yet there is much
of Christ, for the government of the church was in the hands of the
eternal Word before he was incarnate; and, besides, the ceremonial
services were types and figures of evangelical worship. The people of
Israel are here required to praise and exalt God, and to worship before
him, in consideration of these two things:--
I. The happy constitution of the government they were under, both in
sacred and civil things,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+99:1-5">ver. 1-5</A>.
II. Some instances of the happy administration of it,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+99:6-9">ver. 6-9</A>.
In singing this psalm we must set ourselves to exalt the name of God,
as it is made known to us in the gospel, which we have much more reason
to do than those had who lived under the law.</P>
</FONT>
<A NAME="Ps99_1"> </A>
<A NAME="Ps99_2"> </A>
<A NAME="Ps99_3"> </A>
<A NAME="Ps99_4"> </A>
<A NAME="Ps99_5"> </A>
<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Dominion of God.</I></FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
</TABLE>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<FONT SIZE=+1>1 The L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> reigneth; let the people tremble: he sitteth
<I>between</I> the cherubims; let the earth be moved.
&nbsp; 2 The L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> <I>is</I> great in Zion; and he <I>is</I> high above all the
people.
&nbsp; 3 Let them praise thy great and terrible name; <I>for</I> it <I>is</I>
holy.
&nbsp; 4 The king's strength also loveth judgment; thou dost establish
equity, thou executest judgment and righteousness in Jacob.
&nbsp; 5 Exalt ye the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> our God, and worship at his footstool;
<I>for</I> he <I>is</I> holy.
</FONT></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
The foundation of all religion is laid in this truth, That <I>the Lord
reigns.</I> 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
<I>the Lord lives,</I> but that <I>the Lord reigns.</I> 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,
<I>Let the people tremble,</I> 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 <I>exceedingly fear and quake;</I> and then God was
<I>terrible in his holy places.</I> Even when he appeared in his
people's behalf, he did terrible things. But we are not now come to
<I>that mount that burned with fire,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+12:18">Heb. xii. 18</A>.
Now that <I>the Lord reigns let the earth rejoice.</I> 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. <I>The Lord reigns, though the people be stirred
with indignation</I> 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
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+2:1-6">Ps. ii. 1-6</A>);
first, or last, he will make them <I>tremble,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+6:15">Rev. vi. 15</A>,
&c. <I>The Lord reigns, let the
earth be moved.</I> Those that submit to him shall be established, and
not <I>moved</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+96:10">Ps. xcvi. 10</A>);
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 <I>things which cannot be shaken shall remain,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+12:27">Heb. xii. 27</A>.
<I>In these is continuance,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+64:5">Isa. lxiv. 5</A>.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
God's kingdom, set up in Israel, is here made the subject of the
psalmist's praise.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
I. Two things the psalmist affirms:--
1. God presided in the affairs of religion: <I>He sitteth between the
cherubim</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+99:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>),
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. <I>The Lord is great in
Zion</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+99:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>);
there he is known and praised
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+76:1,2">Ps. lxxvi. 1, 2</A>);
there he is served as great, more than any where else. <I>He is
high</I> there <I>above all people;</I> 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 <I>let those</I> that dwell in Zion, and worship
there, <I>praise thy great and terrible name,</I> and give thee the
glory due unto it, <I>for it is holy.</I> The holiness of God's name
makes it truly great to his friends and terrible to his enemies,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+99:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
This is that which those above adore--<I>Holy, holy, holy.</I>
2. He was all in all in their civil government,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+99:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
As in Jerusalem was the testimony of Israel, whither the tribes went
up, so <I>there were set thrones of judgment,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+122:4,5">Ps. cxxii. 4, 5</A>.
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 <I>the king</I> whose
<I>strength loves judgment.</I> He is strong; all his strength he has
from God; and <I>his strength</I> is not abused for the support of any
wrong, as the power of great princes often is, but it <I>loves
judgment.</I> He does justice with his power, and does it with delight;
and herein he was a type of Christ, to whom God would give <I>the
throne of his father David, to do judgment and justice.</I> He has
power to crush, but his <I>strength loves judgment;</I> 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: <I>Thou dost
establish equity</I> (that is, God gave them those excellent laws by
which they were governed), and <I>thou executest judgment and
righteousness in Jacob;</I> 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,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+19:6">2 Chron. xix. 6</A>.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
II. Putting these two things together, we see what was the happiness of
Israel above any other people, as Moses had described it
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+4:7,8">Deut. iv. 7, 8</A>),
that they had <I>God so night unto them,</I> sitting between the
cherubim, and that they had <I>statutes and judgments so righteous,</I>
by which equity was established, and God himself ruled in Jacob, from
which he infers this command to that happy people
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+99:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>):
"<I>Exalt you the Lord our God, and worship at his footstool;</I> 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 <I>worship at his footstool,</I> 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, <I>for he is
holy,</I> and his holiness should strike an awe upon us, as it does on
the angels themselves,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+6:2,3">Isa. vi. 2, 3</A>.</P>
<A NAME="Ps99_6"> </A>
<A NAME="Ps99_7"> </A>
<A NAME="Ps99_8"> </A>
<A NAME="Ps99_9"> </A>
<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Divine Justice and Mercy.</I></FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1> <! -- Date --> </FONT></TD></TR>
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
</TABLE>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<FONT SIZE=+1>6 Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among them that
call upon his name; they called upon the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and he answered
them.
&nbsp; 7 He spake unto them in the cloudy pillar: they kept his
testimonies, and the ordinance <I>that</I> he gave them.
&nbsp; 8 Thou answeredst them, O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> our God: thou wast a God that
forgavest them, though thou tookest vengeance of their
inventions.
&nbsp; 9 Exalt the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> our God, and worship at his holy hill; for the
L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> our God <I>is</I> holy.
</FONT></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
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
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+8:7">1 Sam. viii. 7</A>),
for now they would have a king, like all the nations. Moses, as well
as Aaron, is said to be <I>among his priests,</I> 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 <I>priest of the
priests.</I> Now concerning these three chief rulers observe,</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
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 <I>knew by name,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+33:17">Exod. xxxiii. 17</A>.
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
<I>among those that called on his name;</I> and for <I>this</I> they
were all famous, <I>They called upon the Lord;</I> 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: <I>They kept his testimonies, and the
ordinances that he gave them;</I> 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,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+28:9">Prov. xxviii. 9</A>.
Moses did all according to the pattern shown him; it is often repeated,
<I>According to all that God commanded Moses, so did he.</I> 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: <I>He answered them,</I> 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
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+99:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>):
<I>He spoke unto them in the cloudy pillar.</I> 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
<I>cloudy pillar,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+16:10,Nu+12:5">Exod. xvi. 10; Num. xii. 5</A>.
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.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
II. The good offices they did to Israel. They interceded for the
people, and for them also they obtained many an answer of peace.
<I>Moses stood in the gap,</I> and <I>Aaron between the living and the
dead;</I> and, when Israel was in distress, Samuel cried unto the Lord
for them,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+7:9">1 Sam. vii. 9</A>.
This is here referred to
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+99:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>):
"<I>Thou answeredst them, O Lord our God!</I> and, at their prayer,
<I>thou wast a God that forgavest</I> the people they prayed for; and,
<I>though thou tookest vengeance of their inventions,</I> yet thou
didst not cut them off from being a people, as their sin deserved."
"<I>Thou wast a God that wast propitious for them</I> (so Dr. Hammond),
for their sakes, and sparedst the people at their request, even when
thou wast about to <I>take vengeance of their inventions,</I> 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
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+99:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>):
"<I>Exalt the Lord our God,</I> on account of what he has done for us
formerly, as well as of late, <I>and worship at his holy hill</I> of
Zion, on which he has now set his temple and will shortly <I>set his
King</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+2:6">Ps. ii. 6</A>),
the former a type of the latter; there, as the centre of unity, let all
God's Israel meet, with their adorations, <I>for the Lord our God is
holy,</I> and appears so, not only in his holy law, but in his holy
gospel."</P>
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