Psalm 99 explained: The Holy King Who Answers Prayer

The King on His Throne (vv. 1-3)

The LORD is pictured seated as king above the cherubim, the winged figures on the lid of the ark, the sacred chest kept in the temple's inner room. From Zion, the temple hill in Jerusalem, his rule reaches every nation, and the section ends with a short refrain calling God holy that comes back twice more.

A King Who Loves Justice (vv. 4-5)

The strong king who loves justice is most likely God himself, who gave fair laws and did right by Jacob, another name for Israel, though some older readers saw a human king such as David here. Worshiping at his footstool probably means bowing before the ark or the temple, pictured as the footrest of God's throne.

Leaders Who Prayed (vv. 6-7)

Moses, Aaron and Samuel are remembered as leaders who prayed for the people, and God answered them. The pillar of cloud recalls the wilderness journey after Egypt, when a cloud marked God's presence and these leaders kept the laws he gave.

Forgiving Yet Firm (vv. 8-9)

God forgave, yet still punished wrongdoing, and scholars are unsure whose wrongdoing is meant: the people's, the leaders' (Moses and Aaron never entered the promised land), or even those who wronged them. The psalm ends with worship at God's holy hill in Jerusalem and the refrain in its fullest form, naming the LORD our God as holy.

Key verse: Psalm 99:9

Something to think about

The psalm pictures someone who forgives but still lets wrongdoing have consequences. In your own experience, can real forgiveness and real accountability exist together?