Scripture
Exalt the LORD our God and worship at His footstool: Holy is He.
~Psalm 99:5, NASB
Quote
Providence is God’s mysterious working in this world, causing all things to work together for His glory and our good.
~Stephen Lawson
Psalm 99 is another enthronement Psalm beginning with these three important words…The LORD reigns. The ancient eastern kings were sovereign, they had absolute power. There was no congress or supreme court. The kings will was paramount and everyone bowed before his throne, ultimately submitting to his will. The problem with giving any man that kind of power is our depravity. A monarchy would be the best form of government if you had a good king but alas, there are no good kings among us for all have sinned and come short of the perfection we see in Christ. The Psalmist celebrates the fact that God is our king and He is holy. There are no character issues with God. The word holy means to be set apart or separated. God is set apart from His creation, separated, transcendent [above and beyond] and utterly distinct from all creation.
Our response to His holiness is to extol Him or exalt Him…Exalt the LORD our God and worship at His holy hill, For holy is the LORD our God. The NASB reads ‘Exalt the LORD’, the NRSV say, Extol the LORD. To exalt is to lift up, to put on a pedestal, above all others. To extol is to praise enthusiastically. If we are praising other humans, to extol might be to go to far, but when it comes to worship, we can not over praise the LORD {YHWH} our God {Elohim}, so lift HIM higher, lift Him higher because you cannot lift Him too high. It is impossible to exaggerate the mercy, grace and goodness of the LORD.
Psalm 99 gives us three good reasons to rejoice…
- The LORD reigns. The devil can torment us with doubt, fear and temptation but there is nothing he can do to stop God. He cannot thwart God’s eternal plan.
- The LORD is holy. He is our KING and He is a good King. He allows us to approach His throne which to us is a throne of mercy. To the unbelieving, it will become a throne of Judgment. He not only allows us to approach, He listens to our request and answers our prayers. Any subject living in a monarchy would feel extremely blessed to be considered a ‘Friend of the King’ and that is exactly what Jesus has made us.
- The LORD is worthy of our worship. What a priviledge to worship HIM! Look at the junk the world is worshiping but we have someone worthy of worship. I pity the folks who extol Michael Jackson, Elvis, Obama, Ophra, etc. Our object of worship is worthy to be praised. Hallelujah, what a Savior!
- Indians win 21 in a row. It is the longest winning streak in American League history and the longest since the 1935 Cubs. If they win today, it will be the longest win streak since 1880 and the Chicago White Stockings. On August 24th they were 15 games behind the league leading Astros. They are past the Astros and looking to overcome the Dodgers. One month ago, no one would have believed this could happen. Now it looks possible for them to win 100 games. Want be easy but it is not impossible.
- Great prayer meeting last night and I loved the praise service. We had 100% participation in our group and some moving testimonies. PTL
- I will be teaching the men’s class Sunday morning and then going to Lebanon to preach. Lord willing we will be back at DBC Sunday night. I will get the biscuits and donuts there somewhere between 8:00-9:00.
- Roger Burcham celebrated his 81 st birthday yesterday. June and I made a birthday visit.
- Seth and crew will be traveling again today. They spent the night at Disney World. It was the only hotel available. They move on to Key West today. Pray for Seth and remember they have lost two lineman in the last 6 weeks. Also, the Morgan Baptist Disaster Relief team is headed to Florida.
- Pray for me as I lead in a REVIVAL: September 24-27 at the Mount Zion Baptist Church.