Psalm 99 (NRSV)
Read Psalm 99 on biblegateway.com
Verse 1The Lord is king; let the peoples tremble! He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!
Verse 2The Lord is great in Zion; he is exalted over all the peoples.
Verse 3Let them praise your great and awesome name. Holy is he!
Verse 4Mighty King, lover of justice, you have established equity; you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.
Verse 5Extol the Lord our God; worship at his footstool. Holy is he!
Verse 6Moses and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel also was among those who called on his name. They cried to the Lord, and he answered them.
Verse 7He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud; they kept his decrees, and the statutes that he gave them.
Verse 8O Lord our God, you answered them; you were a forgiving God to them, but an avenger of their wrongdoings.
Verse 9Extol the Lord our God, and worship at his holy mountain; for the Lord our God is holy.
Devotion
Our God is an awesome God, who reigns from heaven above! The repeated refrain of Michael W. Smith's contemporary worship song has captured the hearts and voices of many of us. They certainly echo the sentiments of the psalmist who extols the wonder of God’s awesome name. But the palmist's worship is not that of mindless emotion devoid of any touch of reality. The wonder of our God "who dwells in the heavens" is made real for us in the story of what God has done for God’s people. Our God is one who listens and answers when we call, who has acted in justice and righteousness on behalf of God’s people. Our God is one who has given us God's word and promise, commandments to live by each day. And our God is one who has acted in forgiveness and love that fittingly inspires our worship and awe.
Prayer
Awesome God, though you dwell in the heavens, you have moved among us in justice and mercy, in forgiveness and love. Continue to inspire and sustain us in the wonder of your abiding presence among us. Amen.