SERMON MANUSCRIPT
I want to speak to you this morning regarding one of the lesser known Psalms, Psalm 99. Its theme is He is Holy. (He being God.) Let’s read through this short Psalm and you will get the theme right away because it is repeated three times. Verses 3, 5 and 9.
Three times holy. Remember the amazing encounter Isaiah had with God in Isaiah 6:1-5 “Holy, Holy, Holy. The Psalm reechoes the angel’s words.
First of all we will discern what holy means. Then we will discuss ways in which God is holy. Then we will look at three fitting responses to God’s holiness.
So, what does holy mean?
If you look in the dictionary, it will tell you that something holy means sacred, something having to do with God. I know this from my childhood, because my mother, who was very careful with her words, told us never to use the word carelessly as it refers to God and his things. Don’ t say holy smokes or holy cow etc. so as not to dishonour God. It is a word reserved for God and his things.
But the actual word in Hebrew means set apart. When I gave this study to my adult Sunday School class I suggested they could remember the number of the Psalm, because 99 was Wayne Gretzky’s uniform number. And that fits well as an example of set apart because Wayne Gretzky was easily the most talented hockey player who ever played the game. From the time he started playing as a boy in Brantford, people could see he was far above his peers. The parents of the other players used to boo him because he was making their own kids look bad by comparison. When he got to the National Hockey league at the tender age of 18, in his first year he became a scoring sensation and he never let up for his whole career. He won the best player award 9 years in a row. He scored close to 2900 points in his career, almost 1000 more than anyone else. If they had a holy section in the Hockey Hall of Fame, Wayne would be the one in it. Because he was truly set apart. He was one of a kind, in a league of his own.
We determine Wayne Gretzky’s uniqueness in comparison to other hockey players. But there is no league of gods to compare with the true and living God.
This Psalm shows us three ways that God is holy and uniquely so. Let’s look at these ways that our God is holy.
99:1-3 God is holy because he is mighty and majestic
Back in the Old Testament, God gave Moses the plans to build the tabernacle in the desert, the place where God would dwell among the people of Israel. These building instructions were not haphazard, but rather a copy of the true sanctuary, the home of God in heaven.
They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. Heb.8: 5
It consisted of an outer room, the holy place and an inner room, the holy of holies. The holy of holies, the throne room of God among his people in Israel contained only one article of furniture. It was a golden box with a golden cover on it called the mercy seat. Over that seat hovered two golden angels. It was there that God sat as King. His divine presence was there between the cherubim and from there he ruled over all the earth. It will also be the case in a coming day when Christ rules his kingdom on earth. His throne will be in the same location. And his rule will be over all the earth. It says that all people tremble. In verse 1, and in verse 2, it says he is exalted above all the people. God is not just a local deity, but rather the Lord over all nations. And not only Lord of all nations, but Lord over all of creation. In verse 1 it says, Let the earth shake. Everything is in his hands because he created it and he sustains it all by his mighty hand.
One day the Philistine army came against Israel and defeated them because they were disobedient to God and the ark fell into enemy hands. The Philistines put the ark into the temple of their god Dagon. The next morning Dagon had fallen from his place of prominence and was on the ground before the ark. So, they propped him up again. The next day they found Dagon on the ground again, only this time head and and his hands were cut off. At that same time a terrible plague hit the nation and many died. Quickly they sent the ark back to Israel because they knew they were dealing with the true and living God. There was no contest, no match of equal candidates, one was an idol, and behind every idol is a demonic entity. The other is the Lord God almighty. No contest. God is mighty, the Almighty, He is holy.
Have you ever come face to face with the might and majesty of God? I have visited various cathedrals in the past, places like St. Peter’s cathedral in Rome and St. Paul’s cathedral in London. These immense and beautiful structures make you feel very small when you enter as you look up and around at the vastness of the interior. They are meant to instill in visitors the sense of awe befitting one in the presence of God. But my most memorable experience of awe was when we visited the rain forest on Mt. Kenya. I entered into a natural cathedral of green, the canopy of trees far above as its roof and the moss all over the ground as its floor. The hair on the back of my neck stood up at the sight. I was in the presence of holiness. Then I noticed a large baboon sitting in the middle of the clearing. Perhaps I interrupted his prayers. We stared at each other for a moment and then decided to back away from each other.
Verse 3 says, Let them praise your great and awesome name. At the moment, I felt the awesomeness.
4-5 God is holy because he is moral.
The King is not just mighty, he is moral, not just relatively moral, but perfectly moral.
It says in verse 4 he loves justice and has established equity or fairness. It also says he has done what is just and right. He gave Moses the 10 commandments so that the people could learn to be holy. These laws are just and good and are a reflection of the character of the God who made them. In Psalm 89:14, it says, Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne. And of the law it says in Psalm 19,
The law of the Lord is perfect reviving the soul Ps. 19:7 God’s laws are pure because God is pure, no sin. As such he is distinguished from us all, because the bible declares
All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Rom.3:23
It is not just that God is better than us. He is perfect in righteousness.
We recognize that in some situations we need perfection when it comes to cleanliness. For some years I was a missionary doctor in Africa and did surgery almost every day. Long before I came to the operating room there were people working there cleaning the room to make it spotless. There were people who washed the surgical gowns and drapes. But that was not enough. There were people who put those gowns and drapes into a sterilizer to remove all contamination. When I came, I I had to wash my hands diligently and wear a mask over my mouth and nose. After washing, I donned the surgical gown and finally put on the sterile rubber gloves. We then washed the patient with antiseptic liquid and finally draped the area with the sterile gowns. Why? To seek for complete cleanliness, the eradication of all bacteria. Then, in spite of all our plans and efforts, the patient gets a post operative infection and dies. This is the case with sin. In spite of all our best efforts, we remain contaminated. We break God’s law, knowingly or unknowingly, and we realize we are not holy. Unless, of course, someone here has managed to do the impossible and remain sinless.
And when sinners come into the presence of holiness, there is an immediate sense of guilt and shame. This is what happened to the apostle Peter one day, before he became a follower of Jesus. The story is found in Luke 5:1-11
After Jesus had done the miracle of the catching of a boatload of fish, Peter realized he was in the presence of holiness. And he said, “Go away from me Lord, I am a sinful man.” But the Lord replied, “Don’t be afraid.”
I remember one time in Africa when I had a conversation with a Dutch volunteer teacher by the name of Hank. He was a good fellow but he was not a believer and thought he was good enough and didn’t need Jesus. After some discussion I asked him to read Romans 3:9-23 while I went to make tea for us. When I came back he was visibly disturbed, with fear on his face and hands shaking. “What’s wrong”, I asked. In a soft, shaky voice he said, “I’m a sinner.” That day he got saved. It says in our text in verse 5 “Worship at his footstool, he is holy.” In order to be saved, you must humble yourself and be willing to come to the feet of Jesus. That is what Hank did and he became a Christian.
Yes, God is holy because he is mighty and moral. But in verses 6-9 we come to the third way in which God is holy. He is merciful.
Because God is a is morally pure God, he has every right to judge us for our sins. We are contaminants in his creation. And because he has the might, he has the power to destroy us. One word and we are banished forever from his beautiful creation. But thankfully, our God is not just mighty and moral. He is merciful. He is a God of lovingkindness and grace, a grace that supersedes all of our attempts at mercy and love.
In verse 6 we are introduced to three persons which functioned as God’s priests. What is a priest? A priest is someone who represents man to God as opposed to the prophet who represents God to man. Now there is a bit of a mystery here because it is only Aaron, Moses’ brother, who was officially designated as God’s priest. To him and his sons was given the right to represent man to God and to plead on their behalf. But Moses was an unofficial priest because he did intercede for the people when they sinned by making the golden calf as an idol. Moses pleaded with God for the people and God withheld judgment as a result. What about Samuel? Samuel’ s official job was to be a judge and a prophet. But when the people sinned he offered a sacrifice to God as a sin offering and prayed for the people and God heard and relented concerning judgment. In our text, it says,
They called on the Lord and he answered them. And the result of their mediating was that God forgave the people.
You were to Israel a forgiving God. Verse 8.
What mercy for God to allow mediators, priests, to call out for mercy on behalf of the people.
Now someone might say, “Why did he need priests to call out for mercy? If he was going to be merciful, why not just forgive the people directly? Good question. But there is an even better answer. By raising up priests from among men, God was foreshadowing the coming of the great High Priest, his son Jesus Christ.
We at Oakridge have learned all about this because of Josiah’s teaching in the book of Hebrews just recently. Let me refresh your mind.
In chapter 5 it says it says the priest is to be from among men so he can sympathize with our weaknesses. Heb. 4:15
In chapter 7 he is a permanent priest because he has an endless life.
In chapter 8 and 9 he is a saving priest because he offers his own blood to pay for our sins and so God can forgive our sins, because in Christ they are already paid for.
That is what forgiveness means. Forgiveness is a binding agreement where one (that is God) surrenders the right to collect on a debt. Because of our sin debt, we deserve to die. The wages of sin is death. But because Jesus paid the price for us, God is satisfied to give up his just right to take our life. It says is I John 2:2 he is the propitiation for our sins, and not for our sins only but for the whole world. How much forgiveness is available? Enough to forgive everybody. The worst of sinners, the lowest of society, the despicable, the most vile offenders. God has made forgiveness available for all. This is not the mercy we would extend. We would say this one can be forgiven, but not that one. This sin is forgivable, but not that one.
One person says, “I will never forgive my father for breaking my mother’s heart.” Another says, “I will never forgive the ones who killed my family.” This only shows we are not holy, not perfect as God is perfect. Only God is willing to die for his enemies and to give them heaven instead of hell. He is holy in his mercy. That is why the hymn Amazing Grace is so popular even in the world. It describes a God who is holy in his mercy and grace. His Son Jesus is the answer for all, the High priest who is the sole mediator between God and man. I Tim. 2:5
How do we respond to such a holy God?
Three words in our text describe how.
- Tremble verse 1 The second line of Amazing Grace says this,
T’is grace that taught my heart to fear. And grace my fears relieved.
Learn to tremble in fear before God. He is mighty and he is moral and no sin or sinner will ever enter into his heaven. The Bible says, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Prov.9:10 Let that trembling lead you to repentance. If you have never trusted I the Lord before, that is the place to start. Get low before God and confess your sin. And ask Jesus to save you. Trust him and he will forgive you. And for believers, practice the fear of the lord on an ongoing basis. Yes, it’s good for longtime believers to tremble again when face to face with the holiness of God. If you stop fearing God you are in spiritual trouble. Those who reverence a holy God and fear him have a wonderful buffer between themselves and their sin. So don’t stop fearing God.
- Exalt verse 5 and 9
Exalt means to lift high the name of God. It means to praise him and thank him for his greatness, his goodness and his love. This is the fitting response to such a wonderful saviour, to such a holy God. When you are busy praising God, the worries of the world, and the temptations to sin are put at a distance. Your love for God will increase as you recount his mercies to you. Your love will grow as you exalt God in your conversation with others. When someone greets you and says, “It’s a beautiful day, today,” Respond with praise, “Praise the Lord for giving us such a day.”
The Holy God is worthy of all our praise all the time and not just on Sunday morning.
- Worship verse 5 and 9
Worship takes us to exalting and praise for sure. But it takes us beyond that to every activity of life. We are meant to live in such a way that we honour the holy God. Every aspect of life, that is not sinful in itself, can be dedicated to God for his glory. Work life, school life, social life, our marriages and families, our leisure and sports. It can all be an act of worship. This is the way it will be in heaven. Every activity of life will be a worship. Make a purposeful choice every day to be a worshipper of the holy God in all you do.
The song Only a Holy God for closing.
Jim Rennie is an elder at Oakridge Bible Chapel and an occasional speaker. He is a medical doctor with Christian counselling practice. Shortly after graduation from medical school he and his wife, Kathy, spent 14 years in Zambia as medical missionaries.
