WHOLLY HOLEY HOLY
PSALM 99:1-9
INTRODUCTION.., Tony Evans Quote
Pastor and author Tony Evans says this about God: Holiness is the centerpiece of all of God’s attributes. Of all the things God is, at the center of His being, God is holy. Never in the Bible is God called, love, love, love, or eternal, eternal, eternal, or truth, truth, truth.? On this aspect of His character, God has laid the most stress! God is indeed called, Holy Holy Holy!
READ PSALM 99:1-9
Psalm 99 is a psalm all about the holiness of God. The statement: ’God is Holy’, I hope is a statement that you understand and have as one of the foundations of your faith. Our God is Holy. What exactly does that mean? What does that mean for us? We will answer those very questions today as we look at God’s word.
I. GOD IS THE DEFINITION OF HOLY
A. POWER (VERSES 1-3)
The very first words of this Psalm begin to direct the reader to the qualities of God that are so very important. The first three words speak volumes: ’The Lord reigns.’ I want you to look at these three words. I want you to notice that these three words are a complete thought.
¡°The Lord¡± = the idea is not about anything or anyone other than the One True God. The thoughts that follow are about the Lord Almighty, the Creator, the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob, the God who spoke to Moses from the burning bush and parted the Red Sea, the God who is the only God that is a reality.
¡°Reigns¡± = I want you to also note that there is nothing missing after the word: ’ reigns.’ ¡°The Lord reigns’ period. God reigns over all that was and is and could be and will be and should be and wants to be. God reigns over all. By saying it in this way, the psalm tells us that God simply reigns and there is nothing out of His sphere of influence. You see, part of the holiness of God is His absolute power. God is absolutely powerful and absolutely pure.
What is that old phrase by Lord Acton, ¡°power corrupts and absolute power absolutely corrupts¡±? There is wisdom in that saying except when it comes to God. God is all powerful. God is so powerful that all the nations of the earth have and will tremble before Him. God is all powerful and yet remains without sin and pure. God is so powerful that whenever He is present, His glory shakes the very earth. The phrase ’enthroned between the cherubim’ is a phrase that talks about God’s glory being physically seen... the Shekinah Glory... it was called. In the Holy of Holies, at times, God’s presence could be seen and it shook the very earth. That is power!
B. JUSTICE (VERSES 4-5)
Verse 4 of our Psalm tell us that there is a Divine equity in all that God does. Isaiah 11:3-4 tells us that God will not judge by what he sees or what He hears, but will judge according to the truth. The righteous will get what is deserved as well as the wicked. Isaiah tells us that ¡°with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.¡± One of the holiest things about God and one of those qualities that set Him apart from all others, is His justice. Our God is not a God prone to flights of fancy or capricious thoughts... He is a God of justice... true justice.
I am glad that justice is part of the holiness of God. It means that in the end those who believe in God will be rewarded and those who do evil in this world will get what is coming to them. In a world where it seems like the bad guys finish first, we have a Holy Judge at the End.
C. HONORABLE (VERSES 6-9)
Verses 6-9 show us a God that is not only powerful and full of justice, but is also one that is honorable. What do I mean by honorable? You might say to me, ’ That word isn’t in my Bible in this passage! Where did you get that from?’
I get honorable because we see the fact that God called people to Himself, like Moses, Aaron, and Samuel, and He never left them or forsook them. He always answered them when they called to Him. I get honorable because I see time after time and with person after person that God always keeps His promises. Verse 7 tells us that God ¡°spoke to them from the pillar of cloud.¡± God promised to aid Moses and the people out of Egypt and that is what He did. God promised that if they disobeyed Him and turned away, that He would discipline them... and that is what He did by sending the Philistines, the Babylonians, the Assyrians, and the Romans. Our God is a God that does not change and keeps His word and so I find that He is honorable.
We know, from this passage, that our God is a holy God. Psalm 99 tells us in verse 3, verse 5, and verse 9 that our Almighty Heavenly Father is holy. We now have just a small ¡°tip of the iceberg¡± understanding of what that means. It means power and justice and honor. But what does the Holiness of Our God mean for me and for you? Does it impact our life in any way?
II. GOD IS ADAMANT ABOUT HOLINESS FOR US
I see in this passage and in others in Scripture, that we are to have two reactions or responses to the holiness of God.
The first, can be found right here in Psalm 99:
Verse 3 tells us, ¡°Let them praise your great and awesome name¡±
Verse 5 tells us, ¡°Exalt the Lord our God and worship at His footstool¡±
Verse 9 tells us, ¡°Exalt the Lord our God and worship at His holy mountain¡±
We are told three separate times that our response to the holiness of our Lord God should be what? Worship. Our God is worthy of our worship today than for no other reason that He is Holy! If we lived in an age when Jesus Christ had not yet come, God would still be worthy of our worship and exaltation. Why? Because He is Holy! Next week as you rise on Sunday morning and that question pops in your head, why go to church, I want the answer in your mind and in your spirit to be a resounding, ¡°Because He is Holy.¡± Let’s all say this together, ’I am here because He is Holy.’
The second reaction or response that we should have to God’s holiness is that we should become holy ourselves. Leviticus 11:45 and 19:2 give us the command from God that we are to ¡°be holy because I,[ your God] am holy.¡± All throughout the Old Testament the believers in God were commanded to follow His example into holiness.
Is Holiness though, just a thing of the past and only found in the Old Testament? Is holiness like some of the other things in the Old Testament like feasts, sacrifices, or diet laws that we no longer practice? Absolutely not. 2 Corinthians 7:1 tells us, ¡°Since we have these promises dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for the Lord.¡± What is Paul saying? Paul is saying that since we have all the Promises of God that have been fulfilled in Jesus, let us be holy in reverence for our God who is also Holy!
1 Peter 1:13-16 commands us to prepare ourselves and focus upon Christ rather than this world in becoming more Holy. Peter actually quotes Leviticus 11:45 in his letter. Peter continues to talk about holiness in 2 Peter 3:11-14. He tells us that we should be people waiting for the return of Jesus Christ and that whilest we wait... ¡°we ought to live holy and godly lives.¡±
ILLUSTRATION... "A Long Obedience in the Same Direction", Eugene Peterson
It is not difficult in our world to get a person interested in the message of the Gospel; it is terrifically difficult to sustain the interest. Millions of people in our culture make decisions for Christ, but there is a dreadful attrition rate. Many claim to have been born again, but the evidence for mature Christian discipleship is slim. In our kind of culture anything, even news about God, can be sold if it is packaged freshly; but when it loses its novelty, it goes on the garbage heap. There is a great market for religious experience in our world; there is little enthusiasm for the patient acquisition of virtue, little inclination to sign up for a long apprenticeship in what earlier Christians called holiness.
CONCLUSION
