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The Holy King Enthroned (Psalm 99) | Charles Spurgeon · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to Reformed Thinking. It is.
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It's fantastic to have you joining us today.
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Yeah, it really is great to have you with us.
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You are in for something truly special as we set out on our
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mission for this deep dives. We really are.
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We are looking at Psalm 99, and we're doing this to the lens of
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Charles Spurgeon's renowned work The Treasury of David, and this
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is heavily informed by the Westminster Confession and
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Reformed theology. Heavily informed, yeah.
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But before we begin, we want to establish the rules of
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engagement for how we are handling this specific text
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today. Yeah, we had a good conversation
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about this before we hit record. We did.
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We are going to take turns unpacking the material, and we
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have agreed not to interrupt each other, right?
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Obviously, we'll still be having a natural conversation here, but
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we want to allow for full, complete thoughts on the majesty
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of God's sovereignty. We want to give the text the
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breathing room it deserves. Precisely.
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We want to extract the most vital Nuggets of insight from
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Virgin's commentary on this text, analyzing the holiness of
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the divine government and the sanctity of Christ's mediatorial
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reign. It is a massive subject.
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To give you a quick contextual overview, Psalm 99 is often
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introduced as the Sanctus or the.
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Holy, holy, holy Psalm, right? Holy, Holy, Holy Psalm.
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The word Holy acts as the conclusion and the refrain for
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its three main divisions. That structural division is an
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excellent place to start, yeah. Walk us through that.
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If we look closely at how this Psalm is put together, we can
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outline 3 distinct strophies, right?
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For those who might be used to standard chapter and verse
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formatting, it is helpful to think of a strophy almost like a
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well, like a stanza in a song or a poem.
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That makes sense. Here each section ends with that
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declaration of holiness. So verses 133 declare the
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unapproachable holiness of Jehovah himself.
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In his sovereign rule. Yes, in His sovereign rule.
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Then verses four and five detail the absolute equity of the king.
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OK. And finally, verses 6 through 9
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describe God's righteous dealings with His chosen
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mediators. And it specifically mentioned
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some heavy hitters there. It does.
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It mentions Moses, Aaron, and Samuel.
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In each of these three strophies, Jehovah is
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acknowledged in his peculiar covenant relation to his people.
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It is an amazing progression. It really is.
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It moves from the universal reign of God over a trembling
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earth all the way down to his intimate interactions with the
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individuals who stood in the gap for Israel.
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So it's not just a dry theological outline.
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Not at all. It is a progression that moves
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from the cosmic scale down to the intensely personal scale.
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OK, let's unpack this and shift into the first main section of
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the source material. Sounds good.
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We're looking at the Sovereign Lord and the trembling Earth.
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Verse one starts with an incredible declaration.
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It really sets the tone. Says the Lord reigneth, let the
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people tremble, He sitteth between the cherubims, let the
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earth be moved. Such a massive statement.
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Spurgeon calls. The Lord reigneth one of the
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most joyous utterances for immortal to speak.
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Right, because of what it implies.
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It signals the complete overthrow of evil and the
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setting up of Jehovah's Kingdom of goodness, justice and truth.
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Think about the historical reality of living under human
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monarchs. It was terrifying.
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A bad king meant famine, war and suffering for an entire
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generation, so to say. The Lord reign is to declare
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that the ultimate ruler is flawless.
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But the text requires a dual reaction from humanity, right?
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Spurgeon makes this striking point about how people react to
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God's rule. If you are a believer, you feel
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this deep, joyful awe. Saints quiver with devout
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emotion. Yes, but if you were opposed to
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him, that exact same sovereignty is genuinely terrifying.
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Sinners quiver with absolute terror.
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It demands that you, the listener, consider your own view
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of God's rule. Does His absolute authority
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cause you to tremble with joyful reverence, or does it bring
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apprehension? That dual reaction is perfectly
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captured in the imagery of God sitting between the cherubims.
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Yeah. Let's look at that imagery.
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When we look at the theological background of the Old Testament
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Tabernacle, we see something entirely unique.
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The Ark of the Covenant. Right.
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It was a wooden box overlaid with gold, and the lid was
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called the Mercy Seat. On either end of this lid were
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two golden cherubim, their wings stretching over the center.
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And Jehovah reveals himself above that mercy seat.
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Yes, sprinkled with atoning blood once a year by the high
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priest. Veiled by the wings of
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mediatorial love. In the commentary, there was a
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brilliant reference to Charles Stanford's imagery regarding
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Matthew 23. Oh, that's a fantastic
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connection. That is the passage where Christ
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laments over Jerusalem, wishing to gather her children as a hen
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gathers her chicks under her wings, taking shelter under the
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wings of the Shekinah. Glory in the Old Testament means
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for us today hiding beneath the wings of Christ.
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It is a living shield. A living shield that beats back
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the destroying stroke of divine wrath.
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When you realize that the God who causes the earth to move is
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the same God offering you shelter beneath the wings of
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Christ, that terror of the wicked is replaced by the devout
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emotion of the Saints. So if that is the reaction of
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the earth, this absolute trembling awe, how does that
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manifest locally? Spurgeon zeroes in on Zion next.
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Verse 2 says the Lord is great in Zion and he is high above all
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the people. Historically, the temple Sacred
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Hill was the ancient center of worship.
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It was the place where the grandness of the great King was
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most clearly beheld by the ancient Israelites.
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But today, under the New Covenant, his church is his
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favored palace. The reactions of the world to
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this greatness are incredibly varied, and Spurgeon lays them
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out systematically. He does.
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The ignorance simply forget Him. They go about their days as if
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the Creator does not exist. The wicked actively despise him
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because his laws interfere with their desires.
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And the atheistical openly oppose him, trying to argue him
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out of existence. But among his chosen people, he
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is great beyond all comparison. He is great in his acts of mercy
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and he's great in himself. For those in the covenant, his
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loftiness is delightful. It brings immense joy to know
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that the God we worship is not brought down to our level, but
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remains completely sovereign. We do not want a small,
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manageable deity, we want the God who is high above all the
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people. To build on that loftiness, we
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must recognize that God towers above our highest thoughts and
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our loftiest conceptions. Spurgeon makes a fascinating
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comparison here from the historical accounts in First
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Samuel. He points out that Israel
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delighted in King Saul simply because he was physically head
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and shoulders above the rest of the people.
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The nation wanted a king who looked impressive to the
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neighboring countries. They relied on a superficial
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physical height to give them a sense of security.
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Spurgeon argues that if Israel people could find such
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confidence in the human king who possessed A slight physical
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advantage, believers should exult in a God who is as high
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above us as the heavens are above the earth.
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The highest human intellects and the most massive human empires
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are absolutely nothing to him. Yeah.
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And this is the beauty of his condescension.
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The lowliest individuals are not despised by him.
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He manages the cosmos, yet he leans down to hear the prayers
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of the broken hearted. I want to push into the natural
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counter argument that A and listener might have as we look
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at verse 3. Let's do it.
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Verse 3 says, Let them praise thy great and terrible name, for
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it is holy. There is a natural human
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rebellion against this idea of praising a terrible God.
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Absolutely. When Spurgeon talks about
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praising a terrible God, that rubs our 21st century
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sensibilities the wrong way. We like the loving Redeemer, but
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the terrible Avenger makes people uncomfortable.
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Spurgeon uses the phrase effeminate God in his commentary
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to describe what the human heart naturally gravitates toward.
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In his 19th century context, he is critiquing the human desire
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for a deity who is entirely stripped of justice.
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A figure where pity has completely strangled righteous
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judgement. We want a grandfatherly figure
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in the guy who winks at sin rather than a holy judge.
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But the reformed view asserts something entirely different.
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The well instructed servant praises the terrible avenger who
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overthrew Pharaoh and his hosts in the Red Sea just as much as
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they praise the loving Redeemer. The same grace streaming from
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the mercy seat that saves us is what allows us to look at the
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severe judgments of God and say that too is worthy of praise,
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for it is entirely holy. What's fascinating here is
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Stephen Charnock's commentary on the purity of God's wrath.
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Charnock was a brilliant 17th century Puritan theologian.
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And he explains that in human acts of vindictive justice there
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is always impurity. When a human being takes
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vengeance, even if they are legally justified, there is
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perturbation, passion and cruelty mixed in.
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Our blood pressure spikes, we lose our temper, we get petty.
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Our anger is heavily tainted by our fallen nature.
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But Shanik points out that in God's vengeance, there is
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absolutely none of this toxicity.
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Charnik uses Ezekiel's vision to illustrate this concept.
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In the 1st chapter of Ezekiel, God appears as a figure of fire
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from the loins downward and upward.
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God is a pure flame that scorches his enemies.
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His heart remains entirely clean and spotless in his most
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terrible acts of judgment. There is no loss of temper, no
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out of control rage. It is a calculated, pristine
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reaction of absolute holiness against that which is evil.
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Human vengeance is muddy water. Divine Vengeance is a blindingly
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clear laser beam. And that absolute purity brings
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us to the core of the matter. Holiness is the crown of all
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God's attributes. Holiness is the harmony of all
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virtues. Relying again on Charnock, we
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see a striking observation about the worship of angels in the
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heavenly throne. Room The angels in heaven never
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cry. Eternal, eternal, eternal or
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faithful, faithful, faithful. They only trouble His Holiness,
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crying. Holy, holy, holy.
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It is the one attribute that is repeated 3 times in a row, both
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in Isaiah's vision in the Old Testament and in the Book of
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Revelation in the New Testament. It is the attribute that defines
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all the others. Without holiness, his
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omniscience would be a terrifying intrusion into our
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private thoughts. Without holiness, his promises
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would lack any comfort because we could not trust him to keep.
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Them holiness is the brilliant light that makes every other
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characteristic of God trustworthy.
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Holiness is truly the splendor of every attribute.
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His justice is a holy justice. His wisdom is a holy wisdom.
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Without holiness, his omnipotence would be terrifying
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in the completely wrong way. It would be raw, unpredictable
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force. Like a cosmic tyrant with
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absolute might and 0 moral compass.
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But because he is holy, we know that his absolute might is
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always wielded in perfection. This brings us right into the
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third strophy concerning the King, who delights in equity.
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Verse 4 says the King's strength also loveth judgment.
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Thou dost establish equity. Thou execute his judgment and
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righteousness in Jacob. His absolute rule is used for
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just purposes only. Might is permanently aligned
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with right in the divine government.
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It is so crucial to contrast that flawless divine government
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with how modern men continually try to judge whether God does
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right or wrong. We live in an age where people
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put God on trial, demanding that he answer to our cultural
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standards of morality. People look at natural disasters
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or difficult commands in Scripture and they point an
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accusing finger at the heavens. But the Saints of old had a
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completely different mindset. They humbly submitted to His
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will, trusting His integrity without question.
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They understood that omnipotence never exerts itself
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tyrannically. God does not just possess a
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court of equity where disputes are settled.
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He establishes equity itself as a stable, unshakable
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institution. The.
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Foundation of His throne is righteousness.
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Spurgeon brings in a sharp critique of human king craft to
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highlight this massive contrast. He describes how earthly palaces
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are often robbers, fortresses. Think about the historical
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strongholds of Europe or ancient empires.
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They are built on dungeons carved by the hands of slaves
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and cemented with the blood of toiling surfs.
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If you look at human history, the annals of government are
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written in the tears of the downtrodden and the curses of
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the oppressed. Human leaders, even the best of
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them, are prone to cunning, favoritism and brute force to
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maintain their grip on authority.
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Contrast that massive historical failure with Jehovah's palace.
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Truth shines in East line of his decrees, goodness is found in
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every syllable, and justice is woven into every letter.
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His administration is flawless. There are no backroom deals, no
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exploited workers, no oppressed minorities in the Kingdom of
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God. Because his administration is
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completely flawless, verse 5 calls us to action.
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Exalt ye the Lord our God, and worship at his footstool, for he
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is holy. Think about the infinite
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condescension of God stooping to be called our God.
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The creator of the cosmos, The one who spoke galaxies into
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existence, binds himself in a covenant relationship with us.
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He allows us to approach His throne and we are called to
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unite our joy and adoration with absolute prostration in the dust
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before Him. The fact that He shines upon us
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from under the veiling wings of the cherubim is a reason for the
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most ardent worship. It is not a casual approach.
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It is a posture of deep reverence mixed with absolute
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security. Bishop Horsley has a brilliant
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translation note regarding this verse that adds an incredible
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layer of meaning. He connects the word holy
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directly to Jehovah's footstool. Throughout Scripture, the
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footstool represents the earth. Isaiah says Heaven is my throne
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and the urge is my footstool. But more specifically, in a
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theological sense, the footstool represents the humanity of
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Christ. Christ took our nature from the
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earth, which is God's footstool, and united it with the Godhead.
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Because of this incarnation, sinners can appeal from the
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throne of eternal justice directly to the footstool of
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eternal mercy. We are worshipping at the feet
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of the Incarnate Christ, where the severe holiness of God meets
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the desperate need of humanity. The Divine footstool is the very
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place where our salvation was secured.
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Here's where it gets really interesting as we move into the
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fourth section regarding the mediators in the gap.
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Verse 6 says Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel
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among them, that call upon his name.
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They called upon the Lord, and He answered them.
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We have these three specific human figures mentioned.
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Let us clarify Moses's role first.
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Moses was not part of the typical Levitical priesthood.
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It was Aaron's line. Aaron was the one offering the
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literal sacrifices on the altar. Yet the text calls Moses a
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priest. The Hebrew word here is Cohen.
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This word does not just mean someone who ritually slaughters
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animals for offerings. Its broader meaning is an
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advocate or an intercessor. A Cohen is someone who has the
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right to draw near to the King on behalf of the people.
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Moses stood in the gap when the wrath of God broke forth,
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particularly after the incident with the golden calf.
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He screened the nation from the great and terrible God who
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otherwise would have executed severe judgement in Jacob.
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Moses acted as the ultimate advocate.
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Each of these three men saw God's holiness differently, yet
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they all approach the same holy God.
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Moses saw the Lord in the flaming fire of the Law at Mount
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Sinai, a sight so terrifying that he himself said he was
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trembling with fear. Aaron watched the sacred fire
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devour the sin offering on the altar, and he also saw that same
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fire consume his own sons, Nadab and Abihu, when they offered
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unauthorized fire. Samuel witnessed the severe
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judgement of the Lord falling on Eli's house because of the
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corruption of the priesthood. They each experienced the raw
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terror of God's holiness first hand.
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Yet they made it their life's business to call upon Him in
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prayer. They did not run away from the
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fire. They drew near his advocates for
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the people. They understood that the only
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safe place from the judgement of God was found by drawing nearer
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to the mercy of God. Verse 7 explains how God
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communicated with them. He spake unto them in the cloudy
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pillar. They kept His testimonies and
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the ordinance that He gave them. Throughout Israel's journey in
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the wilderness, there were visible tokens of God's
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presence. There was the Ark of the
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Covenant, the Shekinah Glory resting above it, and the fiery
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cloudy pillar that led them by day and night.
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Out of that glorious overshadowing cloud, direct
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responses came to Moses and Aaron.
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And even though Samuel lived centuries later and did not see
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the wilderness cloud in the same way, he heard that Mystic voice
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thundering forth in the night when he was just a boy in the
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Tabernacle. God condescended to speak to all
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three of them in ways they could undeniably recognize.
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This raises an important question.
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How do we respond when God speaks?
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The text gives us the answer for these mediators.
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They kept his testimonies in the ordinance that he gave them.
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They were faithful in their hearts, they laid up His word,
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and in their lives they obeyed it.
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Spurgeon draws a sharp contrast between their obedience and the
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state of affairs in his own time, which absolutely applies
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to our modern era it. Is a rare virtue to keep divine
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testimonies today? We live in an age where men run
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after their own opinions, chasing the latest philosophical
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trends and make of absolute truth.
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Spurgeon warns that when people despise inspired dogma, it
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always ends in the neglect of moral virtues.
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You cannot separate right belief from right living.
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And this rebellion leads directly to failed Frears and
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scoffing. If we want our prayers to be
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effective, if we want to be heard like Moses, Aaron and
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Samuel, we must hold fast to the ordinances he has given us.
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That brings us to verse 8, which contains what might be the most
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challenging concept in the entire chapter, the paradox of
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pardon and punishment. The text reads, Thou answeredest
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them, O Lord our God, Thou wast a God that forgave us them,
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though thou tookest vengeance of their inventions.
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This is a core Reformed doctrine on display here.
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God spared the nation through the intercession of these
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mediators, but He severely chastened their sins.
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He forgave the person, but he took vengeance on their
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inventions. Moses interceded for the
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idolaters and the nation was spared from total annihilation,
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but the offending generation still died in the wilderness.
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Aaron made the golden calf and though he was not consumed by
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fire, the idol was ground to powder mixed with water and the
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people were forced to drink it, followed by a plague.
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Samuel prayed for Israel when they demanded a king, and God
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did not abandon them, but they still smarted under the harsh,
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oppressive government of Saul. Forgiveness and severe
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consequence existed side by side.
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Thomas Goodwin, another massive figure in Puritan theology,
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provides a brilliant medical analogy to explain this paradox.
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He compares God's dealing with our sin to a man dealing with a
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leprous or ulcerous limb on his own body.
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In 17th century medicine they used caustic poultices called
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plasters. A man loves his own flesh, but
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he loathes the corruption that has infected it.
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Because he deeply loves the limb, he does not just amputate
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it immediately. Instead, he applies these sharp,
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painful plasters to eat the corruption out.
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It is an excruciating process, but he destroys the disease to
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save the flesh. Contrast this with how a man
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treats a wart or a when he simply cuts it off and throws it
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way because he does not reckon it as part of his true flesh.
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He does not care to heal a wart. Goodwin is saying God loves the
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person his elect, but he absolutely destroys the sin out
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of them. The vengeance is taken on the
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disease, the inventions, not the individual.
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The pain of discipline is proof of his desire to heal you, not
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discard you. Stephen Tarnak offers a second
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analogy that is just as vivid, drawing from agriculture.
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A gardener hates a weed even more when it grows in the bed
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with his most precious flowers. If a weed is growing out in the
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wild, the gardener ignores it. But if it is choking out his
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prized roses, he attacks it aggressively.
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God's vengeance on the inventions of His people
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manifests that He hates sin as sin.
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He does not just punish sin in the wicked, he actively roots it
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out of his own people because they are his prized garden.
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Think of Ouza in the Old Testament, touching the Ark with
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good intentions to keep it from falling, yet being struck down
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because he violated a direct command of holiness.
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Or think of Jesus sharply rebuking Peter in the New
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Testament saying Get thee behind me, Satan.
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Christ loved Peter, but he took immediate, severe vengeance on
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Peter's carnal invention, on his attempt to bypass the cross.
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God will not tolerate weeds in His garden.
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If we connect this to the bigger picture, it has massive
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implications for the listener's life.
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If you are a believer, your sin is fully forgiven through the
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atonement of Christ. The eternal penalty is paid.
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However, the rod of paternal discipline will absolutely be
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laid upon you if your walk is not close with God.
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God says in the book of Amos, you only have I known of all the
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families of the earth, therefore I will punish you for all your
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iniquities. The vengeance taken on your
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inventions is not the wrath of the judge sending a criminal to
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hell. It is the severe discipline of a
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father purifying a child he refuses to lose.
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It is the application of the painful plaster.
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It is the aggressive wedding of the garden.
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It proves you belong to him. As we move toward the close of
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our discussion, we reach the climax of the song in verse 9.
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Exalt the Lord our God and worship at his holy hill, for
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the Lord our God is holy. The repetition of the title
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Jehovah our God is a sweet cheering fact.
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The Psalm takes on a Trinitarian structure here.
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The Father is ours, the Son is ours, and the Holy Spirit is
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ours. We are called to exalt him with
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all our ransomed faculties. We are called to recognize that
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the holy God of the cosmos is intimately ours through
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covenant. It is worth noting that while
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the Solmis speaks of worshipping at his holy hill, no specific
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geographical spot of ground is fenced off as exclusively holy
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today. We do not need to travel to a
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literal mountain in the Middle East.
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Under the New Covenant, the visible church is his chosen
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hill. It is the place where believers
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unite in worship, acknowledging that the Triune God is holy and
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offering their praises through the one true Mediator, Jesus
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Christ. Building on that thought and
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everything we discussed regarding verse 8, we have a
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final thought for you to consider.
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Think about the things frustrating you most right now
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when you experience heavy, painful discipline, or when your
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own plans are constantly thwarted.
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Could it be that this very frustration is the absolute
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greatest proof of your security in the covenant?
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Think about how the fire that burns up your wood, hay and
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stubble is not a sign of God's abandonment.
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Rather, it is the fierce, jealous action of a holy God
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actively applying a painful plaster to heal his own
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cherished flesh. He refuses to let you remain
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comfortable in your corruption. Thank you for joining this deep
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dive into reform thinking. We hope this examination of
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Psalm 99 has stirred your affections for the Sovereign
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Lord.