Psalm 99 Devotional

Holy and Still Answering

“O LORD our God, You answered them. You were a forgiving God to them, yet an avenger of their misdeeds.”Psalm 99:8 (BSB)

Psalm 99 proclaims that the LORD reigns, enthroned above the cherubim, and calls the nations to tremble (99:1). Three times the psalm declares that he is holy (99:3, 99:5, 99:9). He is the mighty King who loves justice and has established fairness and righteousness among his people (99:4). Such holiness could seem to put God out of reach.

But then the psalm remembers real people. Moses, Aaron, and Samuel called on the LORD, and he responded (99:6). He spoke with them out of the cloud, and they kept his decrees (99:7). The holy God did not stay distant. He listened and spoke. The next verse holds two truths together. God forgave them, and yet he also punished their wrongdoing (99:8). His forgiveness does not mean sin is ignored, and his justice does not cancel his mercy. That is the God the psalm calls us to exalt and worship (99:9). The one whose holiness makes the earth quake still bends down to answer those who call on his name.

To think about: How does knowing that the holy God still answers those who call on him encourage you to pray today?