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The Lord is king! Let the nations tremble! He sits on his throne between the cherubim. Let the whole earth quake! (v. 1, NLT)
Psalm 99 is about the throne of God.
We might think this Psalm is antiquated as thrones went out of style with the Magna Carta. But the throne in Psalm 99 represents rule – or who controls our lives.
A college professor once told me, “There are three thrones: God, flesh, or Satan. Where do we worship?” He went on to say, “All of us worship something, and what we worship controls us. Except for God, as He wants us to love following Him.”
If you follow your passions, then sooner or later, the addictive nature of the flesh, through either ego or sensuality, will take charge. If you worship evil, then demons and strongholds will take control.
Instead of being controlled, let’s serve God . . .
The Lord sits in majesty in Jerusalem, exalted above all the nations. Let them praise your great and awesome name. Your name is holy! (vv. 2-3)
When we serve God, He releases us into holiness – we can’t find it in the flesh or by following evil, as only God is holy. And what is holiness? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).
What happens when we reject God and His holiness? We indulge in sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, and wild parties.
With God, we find joy and peace, and without God, we don’t. Psalm 99 is about God’s throne and who sits on our throne.
Exalt the Lord our God! Bow low before his feet, for he is holy! (v. 5)
When we find ourselves sifting through the rubble of lives spent worshipping at other thrones, Psalm 99 teaches that we can return to God.
O Lord our God, you answered them. You were a forgiving God to them, but you punished them when they went wrong (v. 8).
Forgiveness and punishment both come from the throne of God. The book of Revelation teaches the same about the throne of God . . .
Grace . . .
Jesus, who was seated on the throne, said, “Behold, I am making all things new” (Revelation 21:5).
Punishment . . .
For the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death (Revelation 21:8).
Both Psalm 99 and the book of Revelation teach that we find grace and judgment at the throne of God. All of us will come before God’s throne – what happens then depends on what we worshipped in this life.
Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at his holy mountain in Jerusalem, for the Lord our God is holy! (v. 9)
Let’s lay aside idols and impurity and serve God.