1 Yahweh reigns! Let the peoples tremble. He sits enthroned among the cherubim. Let the earth be moved.
2 Yahweh is great in Zion. He is high above all the peoples.
3 Let them praise your great and awesome name. He is Holy!
Free Grace note
Holy Means Different The psalm rings the word holy like a bell we cannot miss. Holiness means God is not merely bigger than us but different from us, pure in a way we are not. That could terrify us, and it should sober us. Yet verse 4 immediately adds that this holy King loves justice and establishes equity. His purity is never torn apart from His goodness. Some imagine holiness as cold distance, a God who wants nothing to do with sinners. The next verses answer that fear by showing Him hearing the prayers of flawed men. Isaiah 57:15 says the high and holy One dwells with the contrite. His holiness draws Him toward the humble, not away from them.
4 The King’s strength also loves justice. You do establish equity. You execute justice and righteousness in Jacob.
5 Exalt Yahweh our God. Worship at his footstool. He is Holy!
6 Moses and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel among those who call on his name; they called on Yahweh, and he answered them.
7 He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud. They kept his testimonies, the statute that he gave them.
8 You answered them, Yahweh our God. You are a God who forgave them, although you took vengeance for their doings.
Free Grace note
A God Who Forgave Them You are a God who forgave them, although You took vengeance for their doings. This little phrase is the door of grace swinging open in the middle of all this holiness. Notice it is spoken of Moses, Aaron, and Samuel, men who stumbled and carried regrets, yet God answered them and forgave them. Forgiveness and consequence can walk together: the forgiveness is real and full even when the results of an action remain. People sometimes fear that lingering consequences prove God has not truly pardoned them. This verse separates the two. The holy God who is too pure to ignore sin is also willing to forgive it completely, pointing ahead to the cross where holiness and mercy meet.
9 Exalt Yahweh, our God. Worship at his holy hill, for Yahweh, our God, is holy!
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