Commentary - Psalm 99:4-5

Bird's-eye view

This brief section of Psalm 99 is a dense declaration of the bedrock principles of God's kingdom. The psalm as a whole is one of the great "enthronement" psalms, declaring "Yahweh reigns!" (v. 1). Our passage provides the moral and ethical content of that reign. God's rule is not arbitrary or tyrannical; it is a government of perfect justice and equity. The psalmist moves seamlessly from the character of the King (He loves justice) to the actions of the King (He has established equity) to the appropriate response of His subjects (exalt Him and worship). The passage culminates in the foundational reason for this response: God's absolute holiness. This is not a sentimental poem; it is a political manifesto for the Kingdom of God, establishing that true power and true justice are inseparable, and that all human authority and worship must be oriented to this unchangeable reality.

The movement is logical and powerful. First, we have the nature of divine power. Unlike human kings, whose strength often corrupts, God's strength has an unswerving moral character; it "loves justice." Second, this love for justice is not an abstract ideal but a historical reality. God has actively intervened in the world, specifically "in Jacob," to establish equity and execute righteousness. Third, because this is who our God is, the only sane and right response is to exalt Him and bow before Him. Worship is not an emotional add-on; it is the required political and spiritual submission to the true King. The final declaration, "Holy is He," is the anchor for everything that precedes it. His justice is holy justice, His equity is holy equity, and our worship must be holy worship.

Outline

Context In Psalms

Psalm 99 belongs to a collection of psalms (93, 95-99) that celebrate the kingship of Yahweh. They are filled with declarations that "The Lord reigns," and they look forward to the day when His rule will be fully acknowledged over all the earth. This psalm is distinct in its threefold repetition of the phrase "He is holy" (vv. 3, 5, 9), which acts as a refrain, grounding God's kingship in His essential nature. The psalm bridges the gap between God's transcendent rule over all nations and His particular, covenantal rule over Israel ("Jacob," "Zion"). It mentions key figures from Israel's history, Moses, Aaron, and Samuel, as examples of those who called on this holy King and were answered. Our passage (vv. 4-5) forms the central core of the first major section, defining the character of the King before calling for His worship.

Key Issues

The Non-Negotiable Government

In our modern democratic age, we tend to think of government as something we create, something that derives its just powers from the consent of the governed. We believe we can negotiate the terms. But the Bible begins at a completely different place. Government is from God, and its foundational principles are not negotiable because they are rooted in His unchangeable character. This psalm is a declaration of what God's government is like. It is not a proposal to be debated in a committee. It is a statement of fact.

The King's strength "loves justice." For us, strength and a love for justice are often at odds. Lord Acton's famous dictum that "power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely" is a true summary of the human condition. But it is not true of God. With God, absolute power is absolutely righteous. His omnipotence is not a threat to justice; it is the very engine of justice. He is the only being in the universe who can be trusted with absolute power because His nature is absolutely holy. This is why the psalm can move so confidently from the King's strength to the command to worship. We are not being asked to submit to a tyrant, but to the only perfectly just ruler the universe will ever know.

Verse by Verse Commentary

4 The strength of the King loves justice; You have established equity; You have done justice and righteousness in Jacob.

The verse begins by linking two concepts that, in our fallen world, are often divorced: strength and justice. The strength of the King loves justice. This is a profound statement about the character of God. His might is not raw, amoral power. It has an unswerving moral direction. He does not just tolerate justice or practice it out of obligation; He loves it. It is intrinsic to His nature. This is why He is the only rightful King. Any human ruler's strength is a temptation toward injustice, but God's strength is the very guarantee of justice.

Next, this love for justice is not merely a sentiment. You have established equity. God is not an absentee landlord who loves justice in theory. He is a builder who has laid a foundation of equity, of fairness and impartiality, in the world He has made. The Hebrew word for equity refers to straightness, to a level plain. God's standard is not crooked or biased. He has built the world on a moral framework that is true and reliable. Though men may twist it, the foundation remains.

And this work is not just abstract or universal; it is historical and particular. You have done justice and righteousness in Jacob. God demonstrated the nature of His rule within His covenant people, Israel. He gave them His law, a blueprint for a just society. He judged them when they strayed and restored them when they repented. The history of Jacob is the case study for the justice of God. This doesn't mean God is only just toward Israel, but rather that He revealed His universal standard of justice through His specific dealings with them. This is where we learn what His justice looks like in practice.

5 Exalt Yahweh our God And worship at the footstool of His feet; Holy is He.

The necessary consequence of the previous verse is laid out here. Because God is a King of righteous strength, the only proper response is worship. Exalt Yahweh our God. This means to lift Him up, to magnify Him, to declare His supreme worth, not just in our hearts, but with our voices and lives. It is a public and corporate declaration. He is not just "my" God, but "our" God, the God of the covenant community.

The posture of this worship is one of profound humility. And worship at the footstool of His feet. In the context of the Old Testament, the footstool was a reference to the Ark of the Covenant in the temple (1 Chron. 28:2), the place where God's presence condescended to dwell among His people. To worship at His footstool is to bow down at the very lowest point before His throne. It is an acknowledgment of His transcendent majesty and our creaturely lowliness. For the Christian, this points us to Christ. God's presence no longer dwells in a box of wood and gold, but in the person of His Son, who is the true temple. We come to the Father through Him, bowing in submission to the King who humbled Himself for us.

The verse concludes with the ultimate reason for this worship, the refrain that anchors the entire psalm. Holy is He. This is the foundation upon which everything else is built. Why does His strength love justice? Because He is holy. Why must we exalt and worship Him? Because He is holy. Holiness means He is in a class all by Himself. He is utterly separate from sin, from creation, from all that is common and profane. His justice is a holy justice. His love is a holy love. His wrath is a holy wrath. This is not an attribute among other attributes; it is the blazing center of His being that defines everything else about Him. Our worship, therefore, must be a response to this awesome, terrifying, and beautiful reality.

Application

These two verses are a direct assault on the flimsy and sentimental views of God that are so popular today. We are told to worship a God whose defining characteristic is not niceness, but a holy love for justice. This has massive implications for both our personal lives and our public witness.

First, we must understand that true worship is submission to a King. It is not about self-expression or finding a spiritual experience that "works for me." It is about bowing before the objective reality of a holy God who has established a righteous standard. Our worship services should reflect this awe and reverence. We are coming to the footstool of a great King, not to a casual get-together.

Second, we cannot separate our worship on Sunday from our pursuit of justice on Monday. The King we worship loves justice and has established equity. Therefore, His people must be a people who do justice. We must be concerned with fairness in our business dealings, righteousness in our families, and equity in our communities. A church that sings loudly about God's holiness but is silent or complicit in the face of injustice is a church that is lying with its songs. The God who executed justice in Jacob now executes justice through His new covenant people, the church.

Finally, we must ground our hope in the strength of this King. The world is full of injustice, and human efforts to fix it are always partial and often perverse. But our King's strength loves justice, and He has already established it. The cross was the ultimate act of justice and righteousness, where God's holy wrath against sin was satisfied. And the resurrection was the guarantee that this just King will bring His rule to bear over all the earth. Our job is not to build a utopia, but to live as faithful citizens of the King whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and whose justice will one day cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.