Charles Ellicott Commentary Psalms 99

The Lord reigns. —See Note, Psalms 93:1.

Tremble. —LXX. and Vulgate, “be angry.” The optative mood in this and the following clause follows the Septuagint; however, the Hebrew is in the ordinary present tense: the peoples tremble, the earth staggers.

He sits. —In the original, a participle.

Between the cherubims ... —See Notes on Psalms 80:1.

Great and terrible name. —The rabbis see here the mystic tetragrammaton, whose pronunciation was kept so secret.

For it is holy. —This is grammatically possible, but as Psalms 99:5 and Psalms 99:9 repeat the expression, evidently as a refrain, and there it needs the masculine, it is better to read here, “Holy is He.”

In this way, too, we avoid an awkward construction in the next verse, which should be joined closely with this: Let them praise Thy great and terrible name (saying) , “Holy is He, and mighty, a king that loves justice.”

Worship at His footstool. — Prostrate yourselves at His footstool. The earth is called the “footstool” of God (Isaiah 66:1); in other places the expression is used of the sanctuary (Psalms 132:7; Lamentations 2:1). In 1 Chronicles 28:2 it seems to refer to the ark. No doubt here, after mentioning the throne above the cherubim, we must think of the ground on which the ark stood, or of the ark itself.

Moses. — Rather, a Moses and an Aaron among his friends, and a Samuel among those who call upon his name; calling upon the Lord, and he answers them; in the pillar of cloud he speaks to them. The poet is enhancing the sacred character of the services of his own day by likening the priests and ministers to the sacred heroes of the past, as we might distinguish a period of great scientific achievement by saying, “We have a Newton or a Bacon among us.” To make it a mere historical reference, “Moses and Aaron were,” etc., would be far too abrupt and inaccurate, since Moses was not a khohen, nor did God speak to Samuel in the cloudy pillar.

It is true that the present tense is changed in Psalm 99:7 to the past tense, but it is quite natural that the psalmist should glide into the narrative style after the mention of the historical name. The Son of Sirach also makes special reference to the prayer of Samuel . Possibly, too, there is an allusion to the meaning of his name, “asked,” or “heard of God.”

You took vengeance of their inventions (or, works). —This does not refer to the persons just mentioned but to the people at large. The train of thought is as follows: “There are great saints among us, as in former times, but, as then, their prayers, while often obtaining forgiveness, could not completely avert punishment for sin; so the present community must expect retribution when sinful, in spite of the mediation of the better part of the nation.” The Hebrew style did not favour similes, and hence the poet omits the signs of comparison, and leaves his inference to be drawn by his readers.