Outline of Chapter 99:

       Inscription       Psalm 99 Inscription

       vv.    1–5        Jehovah God is a Perfect and Righteous God Who Rules over All the Earth

       vv.    6–9        Still, God is Accessible to All who Call Upon Him

Charts, Short Doctrines and Maps:

       Introduction    Spurgeon’s Outline of Psalm 99

       Introduction    Barnes’ Outline of Psalm 99

       Inscription       The Greek Translation of Psalm 99 Inscription

       v.      1           For Your Entertainment Only

       v.      2           Client Nation Status

       v.      4           The Debate on the Placement of ...and strong

       v.      5           The Footstool of Jesus Christ

       v.      9           The Parallel Chorus of Psalm 99

       v.      9           The Parallels of Psalm 99

       v.      9           A Summary of Psalm 99

I ntroduction: Psalm 99 is difficult to place in time. It mentions Zion, which is generally associated with Davidic and post-Davidic writings. We will not cover the Doctrine of Zion until Psalm 110. David conquered Zion 2Sam. 5:7, and one might make the argument that all psalms containing the name Zion should not be placed chronologically before this time. I am placing this psalm here, after 1Sam. 7, not because it was written during the time period of Samuel, but simply because it looks back to him, in part in v. 6. However, I may change my mind later and place this after 2Sam. 5 for the reasons stated.

McGee suggests that this psalm properly looks forward to the Millennium, and that the praise to God and His righteousness and justice will be consistent with Millennial life. However, God’s interaction with His saints (vv. 6–8) point to a specific era: the exodus through to the life of Samuel.

One of the reasons that I prefer my outline is, there is a reference to the kingship/authority of Jesus Christ in every verse of vv. 1–5 (which will be noted in the exegesis of v. 4). However, we will not find this same recurrent theme in the last 4 verses (it will be implied, perhaps, in vv. 6–8 and outright stated in v. 9. Sometimes an outline is obvious; there are times when David’s psalms are very highly structures and can properly be organized in only one way. Here, there are several valid ways to divide up this psalm. My point is, sometimes the outline of a psalm is not etched in stone. Think of it as a meal; we do not eat a meal in one bite; we divide it up into smaller, bite-sized portions, everyone with a slightly different approach. The outline simply makes a psalm more manageable. Furthermore, once and awhile, we discover a point of doctrine or a truth in the organization of the psalm—it clarifies the thrust of the psalm sometimes.

This psalm appears to be written during a very successful period of Israel’s history; although such a statement could be misleading. God’s people are known to celebrate in the midst of adversity. However, this psalm does give us an overview of Israel’s history, up until Samuel; along with inferences which lead us to the time of David.

David will do several things in this psalm. He will look ahead to the second advent and to the rule of Christ over the earth. But this will irritate some people, as they are godless. They are used to God remaining with the angels. David will point out that God has always had a say in the way things are done on earth.

With the exception of perhaps one word, the vocabulary for this psalm is quite simple; however, the sentence structure is less so. In most writing, a wâw conjunction and always the wâw consecutive breaks up the thoughts into manageable parts. Here, the wâw conjunction do not separate clauses, but combine thoughts.

The fact that the vocabulary of this psalm is fairly simple and straightforward, does not necessarily mean that the content is simple-minded. Jehovah God is introduced as having always had dominion over this earth, even though He is invisible, dwelling with the angels. He is great in Zion (in Jerusalem), and a King of justice and righteousness. We are to worship at His feet. Even though God appears invisible to us, He has heard and answered the prayers of saints in the past; and even though God is righteous, He has forgiven transgressions of others. Therefore, we are to exalt God and worship Him.

There is no inscription for this psalm in the Massoretic text; however, we do find one in the Septuagint and in the Dead Sea Scrolls. All versions of the Chaldee represent David as the author, but do not carry a title (I don’t understand this exactly, as I thought David’s authorship would be found in the title). In any case, I think that I should include the exegesis of the title from the Septuagint here. I was unable to find any English translations which mention this.

Additional information from Clarke: The Syriac says it concerns “the slaughter of the Midianites which Moses and the children of Israel had taken captive; and is a prophecy concerning the glory of the kingdom of Christ.” But the mention of Samuel shows that it cannot be referred to the time of Moses. Calmet thinks that it was sung at the dedication of the city, or of the second temple, after the return from the Babylonish captivity. Eight of Kennicott’s and De Rossi’s MSS. join it to the preceding psalm. Gill tells us: The Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions, more rightly attribute it to David. Gill then adds: the inscription of the Syriac version, after saying it is David's, subjoins, "concerning the destruction of the Midianites, whom Moses and the people of Israel led captive;'' of which there is not the least mention in it; but it more truly adds, "and a prophecy concerning the glory of the kingdom of the Messiah;'' as it undoubtedly is.

What these many points of view suggest is, the title of the Hebrew has been missing for a long time, if it was even there (the Septuagint translation and most other ancient translations indicate that it was there). Although some translators were freer in their translations than others for the Septuagint, it is highly unlikely that they simply added titles for no reason.

Psalm 99 Inscription

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Early translations:

The Dead Sea Scrolls            Of Davi[d. A Psalm]. The brackets mean a portion of the inscription is missing from the Dead Sea Scrolls.

The Peshitta                          (none)

The Septuagint                      A Psalm of David.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

none

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

none

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

none

What is the gist of this verse? This is a psalm of David’s.

Translation: A Psalm of [or, by] David: There are two things in this psalm which suggest that David wrote it: this inscription, found only in the Greek manuscripts (as far as I know); and the mention of Zion, which David was fond of referring to (this does not preclude another author from mentioning Zion, as many prophets did).

Jehovah God is a Perfect and Righteous God Who Rules over All the Earth

I was surprised to find no alternative translations to the final verb in this verse—not even as a footnote. Here is how others have handled the translation of this verse; and you will notice that my translation is significantly different.

Early translations:

The Dead Sea Scrolls            .

The Peshitta                          The Lord reigns; let the people tremble; he sits upon the cherubim; let the earth be moved.

The Septuagint                      The Lord reigns; —let the people rage.

[It] is [He] that sits upon the cherubs, let the earth be moved.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       Our LORD, you are King! You rule from your throne above the winged creatures, as people tremble and the earth shakes.

The Message                         GOD rules. On your toes, everybody! He rules from his angel throne--take notice!

NLT                                The Lord is king!

Let the nations tremble!

He sits on his throne between the cherubim,

Let the whole earth quake!

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

God’s Word™                         The LORD rules as king. Let the people tremble. He is enthroned over the angels. Let the earth quake.

JPS (Tanakh)                        The Lord, enthroned on cherubim, is king,

peoples tremble, the earth quakes. [clauses transposed for clarity].

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

MKJV                                     Jehovah reigns; let the peoples tremble. He sits between the cherubs; let the earth quake.

WEB                                      Yahweh reigns! Let the peoples tremble. He sits enthroned among the cherubim. Let the earth be moved.

Young's Updated LT              Jehovah has reigned, peoples tremble, The Inhabitant of the cherubs, the earth shakes.

What is the gist of this verse? Jehovah reigns over all, and this agitates the people on earth; after all, He was with the angels for so long, with the earth suspended in space below.

Translation: Y^ehowah reigns... This is actually a perfect tense. Perfect means that this is a completed action. Jehovah God has always reigned over the earth. Now, for a time, God placed man over the earth, and man chose to put Satan in charge. However, the ultimate authority over everything is God.

There are 3 psalms which begin by saying that Jehovah reigns (Psalm 93 97 99); Psalm 93 speaks of His Holy house in the final verse; Psalm 97 speaks of His holy name in the final verse; and Psalm 99 speaks of God being holy in the final verse. There are other pair-wise parallels between these psalms, which I may cover at a later date. Interestingly enough, these three psalms, as well as others, also are missing inscriptions in the Hebrew, but they are there in the Greek; and these are all attributed to David.

Translation: ...and the people are agitated [or, disquieted]... There are a lot of unbelievers and people who want nothing to do with God. Those who are negative will avoid discussing Him, entertaining thoughts about His existence; or, they will go the other way, and make God in their own image. They will begin with characteristics that they possess, wish they possessed, or admire, and will attribute those characteristics to God. When the true God is clearly ruler over all, they will become disquieted, perturbed, agitated. They are like the ants in an anthill which has been stepped on.

Gill comments: The Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions, render it, "let the people be angry"; or it may be rendered, "they are angry"; or "therefore they are angry"; because he reigns; so the people, both Jews and Gentiles, were angry and raged, when his kingdom was first visibly set up among them (Psalm 2:1—Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?) and so the nations will when he takes to himself his great power, and reigns (Rev. 11:18—The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth").

Translation: ...He lives [among] the angels... God has remained, for the most part, and for most people, out of sight, among the angels, in the unseen world. This is where man is used to God being. The Qal active participle means that this has been a continued state of affairs. The lack of a preposition may indicate more that the relative physical position of God and the angels cannot really be ascertained by us; therefore, what we need to know is that God and the angels are a part of the unseen world, a reality in which we are enveloped. Now, before you balk at the idea of an unseen world, recognize, if you will, that your mentality, your emotions, your memory, and everything that has to do with your thinking is all unseen. There is no computer anywhere with the capabilities of our brain; and all of that is unseen. Science does not know where this part of our body goes when we die. We know it exists; apparently there is the idea out there that this part of our body weighs 21 grams (I have no idea myself).

There is the thought that this refers to the Shekinah glory of Jesus Christ when He dwells between the two cherubim on top of the Ark in the Holy of Holies. Now, I grant you that this is a possible understanding of this portion of v. 1, the problem is, we do not find the Hebrew word for between here. The Ark of he Covenant symbolizes many things; and certainly, the Shekinah glory of our Lord dwelling between the cherubim refers to, among other things, the angelic conflict.

By the way, I should mention that there is a very similar Scripture in Psalm 80:1: Hear us, Shepherd of Israel, You who lead Joseph like a flock, You who sit [above] the cherubim, shine forth. This verse lacks a preposition as well.

Translation: ...and the earth hangs [in space]. I am giving you a translation here, which, insofar as I know, is not found anywhere else. The justification for this is, this is a verb found only here, with no cognates; and the parallel Arabic word does not mean to quake, but to hang, to suspend (see the Hebrew exegesis above). When this was translated into Greek over 2000 years ago; and when it was translated into English in the 1500's and 1600's, it really did not make a lot of sense for the earth to be just hanging or being suspended. This was difficult for them to comprehend. However, earthquakes are easy to comprehend, and that gives us a parallelism with the second verb. However, this is not the point being made by God the Holy Spirit; God, for thousands of years, has lived in the unseen world, among the angels, above the earth, which hangs suspended in space. However, God has always reigned over this earth and His Word is always final. The fact that the earth seemingly hangs in space is one of the man proofs of His sovereignty.

Now, will there be a time when the earth is shaken? Yes; that we find in several passages, e.g., Isa. 24:19 Rev. 6:14. That period of time will be the Tribulation, which is not at all the topic in this psalm.

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Early translations:

The Septuagint                      The Lord is great in Sion, and is high over all the people.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       You are praised in Zion, and you control all nations.

The Message                         GOD looms majestic in Zion, He towers in splendor over all the big name.

NJB                                        Yahweh is great in Zion.

He is supreme over all nations;...

NLT                                The Lord sits in majesty in Jerusalem [Hebrew Zion],

supreme above all the nations.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

God’s Word™                         The LORD is mighty in Zion. He is high above all people.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

ESV                                       The LORD is great in Zion; he is exalted over all the peoples.

LTHB                                     .

Young's Updated LT              Jehovah in Zion is great, And He is high over all the peoples.

What is the gist of this verse? Despite being invisible, God rules over all nations and people.

Translation: Y^ehowah [is] mighty [or, immutable] in Zion... We are dealing with an absolute here. God has always been great; He has always been immutable. God is powerful.

Now, there is more to it than that. That is, Israel was more than a client nation to God. Israel was chosen by God; actually, formed by God, from Abraham to Moses; and God guided them out of Egypt to the Land of Promise, which He gave to them. God actually formed this people and their nation, and through them, gave the Word of God. God worked specifically through Israel and through the Jews as He has no other nation or people; and God will return to work through them again as well. The Jews are God’s people. That will never change.

Translation: ...and He is exalted over all the peoples. God is over all and above all. He has always reigned over all mankind. This is true, even if God is invisible to us; a spirit.

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Early translations:

The Peshitta                          Let them praise Your great and honored name; for it is holy.

The Septuagint                      Let them give thanks to Your great name; for it is fearful and holy.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       Only you are God! And your power alone, so great and fearsome, is worthy of praise.

The Message                         Great and terrible your beauty: let everyone praise you! Holy. Yes, holy.

NJB                                        ...let them praise your name, great and awesome;

holy is he ⁴and mighty. [this includes part of v. 4].

NLT                                Let them praise your great and awesome name.

Your name is holy!

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

God’s Word™                         Let them give thanks to your great and fearful name. He is holy!

JPS (Tanakh)                        They praise Your name as great and awesome;

He is holy!

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

The Amplified Bible                Let them confess and praise Your great name, awesome and reverence inspiring! It is holy, and holy is He! [Rev. 15:4]

MKJV                                     Let them praise Your great and fearful name; it is holy.

Young's Updated LT              They praise Your name, `Great, and fearful, holy it is.’

What is the gist of this verse? Believers from all over are to praise God’s name (His reputation). His name is set apart and a refuge (I am including a portion of v. 4 here).

Translation: They confess [and/or, celebrate] Your great and feared name;... The people on earth will have different reactions to the coming of Jesus Christ. I am reminded of a recent election here (2004) where George Bush was elected president over John Kerry. On the one hand, there are those who practically hail Bush as the second coming; and there are other celebrated types who have publically denounced the election results and pondered moving out of the United States over this election (such melodrama). There will be a very divided reaction to our Lord taking direct control over the world. Some will confess and celebrate His name; others will tremble.

Name, here, as everywhere else, is a reference to our Lord’s character. It is great and fearful. God is almighty and He is immutable; His absolute power is to be feared and reverenced.

Translation: ...it [is] holy [and strong (or, a refuge)]. This refers back to God’s name, which is His reputation and character. It is set apart; it is sacred. What I have done here is to add a little bit of v. 4 to v. 3. God’s name (which is His reputation and His character) is set apart from all that man knows, insofar as it is an absolute; yet, even with God’s name as being separate from all else, God is a refuge for us—a Person we can go to at any time.

This final phrase could read He is holy, which is how many translations rendered this. Besides ...and strong being a part of the next verse, many translators leave these verses just the way they are because v. 5 ends with He is holy and v. 9 ends with For Jehovah our God is holy. Actually, this understanding and approach would be more certain if vv. 3, 5 and 9 all marked the end of a section. I want you to recall that Spurgeon took this approach in outlining this psalm (see Spurgeon’s Outline of Psalm 99). My approach depends heavily upon the parallelisms between vv. 5 and 9, and does allow us a complementary parallelism between the other verses. However, I am unable to set up these verses in parallel in such a way as to clearly dispel all doubt as to the outline of this psalm (see The Parallels of Psalm 99). This topic will be discussed further in the next verse.

Do you see the way this psalm, with relatively simple languages, sets up things which may seem to be contradictory throughout. God reigns over the earth, yet He is with the cherubim, an invisible realm. He is great in Zion, yet the earth is suspended below Him. Here, His name (person, reputation) is set apart; but it is a refuge for us.

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Early translations:

The Peshitta                          The king’s might also loves judgment; You establish equity, You execute judgment and righteousness in Jacob.

The Septuagint                      And the king’s honor loves judgment; You have prepared equities, You have brought about judgment and justice in Jacob.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       You are our mighty King, a lover of fairness, who sees that justice is done everywhere in Israel.

The Message                         Strong King, lover of justice, You laid things out fair and square; You set down the foundations in Jacob, Foundation stones of just and right ways.

NJB                                        ...and mighty!

You are a king who loves justice,

you established honesty, justice and uprightness;

in Jacob it is you who are active.

NLT                                Mighty king, lover of justice, you have established fairness.

You have acted with justice and righteousness throughout Israel.

REB                                       The King in his might loves justice.

You have established equity;

you have dealt justly and righteously in Jacob.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

God’s Word™                         The king's strength is that he loves justice. You have established fairness. You have done what is fair and right for Jacob.

JPS (Tanakh)                        –Mighty king– who loves justice, [Meaning of Hebrew uncertain]

it was You who established equity,

You who worked righteous judgment in Jacob.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

ESV                                       The King in his might loves justice. You have established equity; you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.

WEB                                      The King's strength also loves justice. You do establish equity. You execute justice and righteousness in Jacob.

Young's Updated LT              And the strength of the king Has loved judgment, You—You have established uprightness; Judgment and righteousness in Jacob, You—You have done.

What is the gist of this verse? The King, Jesus Christ, loves justice; God has established what is right—what is correct and righteous is revealed to Israel; these things are clearly established in Israel. .

Translation: ...and strong [or, a refuge]... Most translators place this word in this verse entirely and tie it to king; usually, this is rendered as the righteous [or, strong] King; or words to that effect. However, in this psalm, over and over again, we do not have clauses properly separated by the wâw conjunction. Therefore, when we encounter the wâw conjunction in this psalm, we should look to hold those elements together. As mentioned, only the NJB chose to go this route; a translation which is not known for being exact or overly literal. However, I believe that to be the proper understanding here. We are referring back to the name of God, which is holy and strong; or, holy and a refuge [because of its strength].

What first suggested this to me was that translating and strong with the King just seemed clumsy. Furthermore, the and seemed unnecessary.

I should mention that, I am not under any sort of a time-gun here, so I can take my time and sort out opposing point of views, and even offer both if I cannot come to a clear conclusion. Sometimes these matters may seem rather trivial to you, and sometimes they are. There are other times, e.g., what we find hidden at the end of v. 1, where we find a great reward. It is like an Easter egg. Many DVD’s have Easter eggs, which are generally pretty lame; and following the steps out to find the Easter egg is often rather anti-climatic. Taking our time and examining some of the nuances in Scripture is often infinitely more rewarding.

Translation: ...— The King desires justice. The King, a reference back to God—more precisely, Jesus Christ, Who reigns, desires, loves, delights in justice. This is God’s natural character. He desires things to be right and just. Imagine any overpowering desire that you might have and that is God’s attitude toward justice (I am being anthropopathic, of course).

At the very beginning of this psalm, it reads The Lord reigns. In v. 2, He is exalted above the peoples. In v. 3, we read: They confess [and/or, celebrate] Your great and feared name. In this verse, He is called the King; and in the next verse, we are told to exalt Jehovah and to worship at His footstool. All of these verses refer to His kingship; all of these verses refer to His authority. In the second half of this psalm, God’s authority is implied, but not really the subject of each verse (until the final verse, which is almost a repeat of v. 5).

Translation: You set up [confirm and maintain] righteous acts [and/or decisions];... God has given the Law to Israel. The Law is righteous. God’s function in this world and after this world is a combination of righteous acts and decisions. God must act this way. This is His character; this is His immutable essence. He cannot behave any differently.

Translation: ...You make justice and righteousness in Jacob. Recall that God renamed Jacob, Israel. God has set up justice and righteousness in Israel. The name Jacob is used to emphasize the more human—or, if you will, the carnal nature—of Jacob. This very much so describes the Jewish people and the Jewish nation. However, even given this—even given their predilection to disobey God—God still set up justice and righteousness in that Land of Promise. However, this reference is more than a reference to the Law; it is a reference to our Lord’s satisfying the Law, and then dying for our sins on the cross. Jesus Christ not only established perfect justice on Sinai, but He lived perfect justice here; He fulfilled all the requirements of the Law and then he fulfilled all our requirements for righteousness. Jesus did this in Judah where the people in general were very negative towards Him, and the religious establishment was outright vicious toward Him and eventually violent. This is why the Jews are called Jacob—because they are so negative toward Jesus Christ.

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Early translations:

The Septuagint                      Exalt the Lord our God, and worship [at] His footstool, for He is holy.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       Our LORD and our God, we praise you and kneel down to worship you, the God of holiness!

The Message                         Honor GOD, our God; worship his rule! Holy. Yes, holy.

NLT                                Exalt the Lord our God!

Bow low before his feet, for he is holy!

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

God’s Word™                         Highly honor the LORD our God. Bow down at his footstool. He is holy!

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

MKJV                                     Praise Jehovah our God, and worship at His footstool; He is holy.

Young's Updated LT              Exalt Jehovah our God, And bow yourselves at His footstool, He is holy.

What is the gist of this verse? The psalmist implores us to exalt (or, lift up; or, praise) Jehovah and to do obeisance before Him.

Translation: Exalt Y^ehowah our Elohim [with praise]... We are ordered to exalt (with praise or with worship) Jehovah our God. Verbally we acknowledge Him; and mentally, we recognize God’s sovereignty over our lives. One might make an argument for exalting Jehovah Elohim in our study of His Word, although that is not specifically in view here.

You will note that this reads exactly the same as v. 9a, indicating that we should look to these verses to help us divide up this psalm.

Translation: ...and bow down towards His footstool;... The stool of His feet is found in Psalm 110:1, where Jesus Christ sits down and God the Father places all of His enemies and all of His detractors as a stool for his feet. Again, we recognize God’s sovereignty here.

In this verse, we are to worship at our Lord’s feet; in v. 9b, we are to worship at His holy hill.

Translation: ...He [is] holy! We have a repeat of v. 3b here; and this is very similar to v. 9c as well. God is set apart from all of His creation.

We have an interesting parallel in the book of Isaiah where the angels worship God in a vision that Isaiah has: In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each one had six wings. With two he covered his face. With two he covered his feet. With two he flew. One called to another, and said, "Holy, holy, holy, is Yahweh of Hosts! The whole earth is full of his glory!" (Isa. 6:1–3).

Still, God is Accessible to All who Call Upon Him

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Early translations:

The Septuagint                      Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among them that call upon His name; they called upon the Lord and He heard them.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       Moses and Aaron were two of your priests. Samuel was also one of those who prayed in your name, and you, our LORD, answered their prayers.

The Message                         Moses and Aaron were his priests, Samuel among those who prayed to him. They prayed to GOD and he answered them;...

NLT                                Moses and Aaron were among his priests,

Samuel also called on his name.

They cried to the Lord for help, and he answered them.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

God’s Word™                         Moses and Aaron were among his priests. Samuel was among those who prayed to him. They called to the LORD, and he answered them.

JPS (Tanakh)                        Moses and Aaron among His priests,

Samuel, among those who call on His name—

He answered them.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

Updated Emphasized Bible   ║Moses and Aaron║ [were] among His priests,

And ║Samuel║ [was] among them who were calling upon His Name,

Who were calling upon Yahweh, and ║He║ used to answer them:...

LTHB                                     .

MKJV                                     Moses and Aaron were among His priests, and Samuel among those who called on His name; they called on Jehovah, and He answered them.

WEB                                      Moses and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel among those who call on his name; They called on Yahweh, and he answered them.

Young's Updated LT              Moses and Aaron among His priests, And Samuel among those proclaiming His name. They are calling unto Jehovah, And He answers them.

What is the gist of this verse? Moses, Aaron, and Samuel are representative of three kinds of priests; they all called upon God and God answered them.

Translation: Moses and Aaron [are] among His priests—Samuel also—... A priest is one who represents man to God. Even though the Levitical priesthood (almost a misnomer) actually began with Aaron, Moses also represented the people before God; therefore, both of them are called priests.

Samuel, as we have studied, is both a priest and a prophet. He is actually the last of the judges and the first of a line of prophets (Acts 3:24). That he is not actually in the line of Aaron makes him representative of Jesus Christ.

Translation: ...among those who call His name;... Of course, not just priests called upon the name of God. Many called upon the name of God. However, the emphasis here is upon a specific group—those who are priests. Moses was a priest in his function; Aaron was called upon by God to be a priest and he was the first in the line of all the Levitical priests (more properly, Aaronic priests). Samuel was one of the few high priests who was not a descendant of Aaron (as you may recall from our study of the first few chapters of 1Samuel).

Translation: ...those who called unto Y^ehowah... These three men, who are priests in different ways, all called upon Jehovah. In fact, they are among those who called upon God.

The other way of understanding this is dividing this verse at and Samuel; Moses and Aaron [were] among His priests; and Samuel [was] among those calling His name. This is the way the most translations divide this verse, and the Hebrew supports such a division. There is the parallel in the priests and in those calling His name. Although the meaning is affected to some degree, either form appears to be reasonable and neither form violates this or that doctrine. Even with this division, I do not believe Moses and Aaron are being separated from those who called upon God’s name; nor do I believe that Samuel is being excluded from the priesthood. And even allowing this understanding of this verse, which is probably valid, we still have They call upon Jehovah and He answered them. In my own opinion, I think the division was more a matter of rhythm and conforming to the music. Since I am not constrained by music, I have decided to stay with the rendering above (however, in the ultra-literal version, I do properly split the lines of the stanza as they should be).

The question which does occur to me, which I cannot really answer, is: why are these three men chosen? Are these just three old Bible guys chosen at random? Furthermore, why Aaron? He is one of the most pathetic believers in the Pentateuch, who seems to be there only by virtue of being Moses’ brother. Why is he chosen to be listed here? Now, there are commentators who are outright silly at this point—Matthew Henry writes: No kingdom had men that honoured God as these three men of the kingdom of Israel did. Spurgeon writes: Moses, Aaron, and Samuel special and personal charges were committed, and they were all true to their trust, for they stood in awe of the Lord their God, and worshipped him with their whole souls. But that is all baloney. Sure, Moses and Samuel were great men, but Aaron? Most of what we have recorded about Aaron is failure after failure after failure. So, I ask myself, what is Aaron doing in this list?

Translation: ...and He answered them. When these men called upon God, God answered them. This is interesting, as we know that both Moses and Samuel called upon God and were answered; however, we don’t actually have an instance of this occurring with Aaron. An instance is not actually required, as the plural suffix can be applied to Samuel and Moses. However, Aaron is mentioned here; therefore, we should reasonably include him.

I should mention that, even though we do not have a single instance of Aaron calling upon God, God did talk to Aaron. Aaron and Miriam decided that they didn’t like Moses hooking up with the Cushite woman, and they maligned Moses because of it. God straightened them out, both verbally and actually (Num. 12:1–15).

Application: This is rather simple: if you call upon God, He will answer. Now, there is no reason to expect him to shoot flames from the sky every time He answers you. God is not going to strike people dead at your whim. However, God is glorified by His answering our prayers.

Application: Earlier, I asked the question, why these three men? And, more importantly, why is Aaron mentioned here? Here’s the deal: you and I, as just average believers, look at something to do with Moses and Samuel, and think, no way could we measure up to them. Certainly God hears them and answers them. We would expect that. But Aaron, that screw up? God hears him and answers him? That gives us hope. I can related to Aaron. I can certainly nitpick at Moses and Samuel and mention this or that minor mistake that they make—realizing I am not one-tenth the person either one of them is. But Aaron—well, I can meet the Aaron standard. I can be superfluous. I can make big mistakes. I can be disobedient. When I lead, I am able to lead people in the wrong direction. I can bend under pressure. When everyone around me pressures me to lead them in the wrong direction—well, I’m up for that. So, I can relate to Aaron. Aaron managed to be a screw-up for almost all of his life—right up to the end. That God hears a relative loser and failure like Aaron and answers him, that’s comforting; that is meaningful to me. Aaron is thrown into this mix, so that we do not feel as though God has left us out of his plan because we are perpetual screw-ups.

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Early translations:

The Septuagint                      He spoke to them in a pillar of cloud; they kept his testimonies and the ordinances which He gave them.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       You spoke to them from a thick cloud, and they obeyed your laws.

NAB                                       From the pillar of cloud God spoke to them;

they kept the decrees, the law they received.

NLT                                He spoke to them from the pillar of cloud,

and they followed the decrees and principles he gave them.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

God’s Word™                         He spoke to them from a column of smoke. They obeyed his written instructions and the laws that he gave them.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

ESV                                       In the pillar of the cloud he spoke to them; they kept his testimonies and the statute that he gave them.

WEB                                      He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud. They kept his testimonies, The statute that he gave them.

Young's Updated LT              In a pillar of cloud He speaks to them, They have kept His testimonies, And the statute He has given to them.

What is the gist of this verse? God guided the Israelites through the desert using a cloud pillar. He spoke to Moses and Moses recorded what God said, and the Jews preserved this.

Translation: From [lit., in] a pillar of cloud, He guides [lit., speaks to] them;... God originally guided the Israelites in the desert by a pillar of cloud (see Ex. 33:9, 21–22 14:19 19:9 Num. 12:5). We do not know exactly what this means; however, we may reasonably suppose that this was a cloud which appeared as a column or a pillar. It may have looked similar to a whirlwind or a funnel cloud. Apparently, if a funnel cloud, it would be far enough away as to not cause the Israelites problems. However, to make myself clear here, we do not know exactly what this looked like nor do we know the exact natural phenomena that this was, or whether God’s guidance in the desert was supernatural (believers with a mystical bend like to see supernatural apparitions everywhere).

Now, God did not speak to those prophets who followed Moses from a cloud pillar; he spoke to them in a number of ways, so we do not precisely apply the cloud pillar to Samuel. However, the pillar of cloud is God’s shekinah glory—this is a manifestation of God that people can see and/or hear. In that way, the shekinah glory did speak to Samuel (see, for instance, 1Sam. 3). Furthermore, God spoke to more than just Moses, Aaron and Samuel. God manifest Himself to many Old Testament saints (although, compared to the population of those times, a minute percentage of people were involved).

The psalmist uses the verb to speak here rather than to guide; the idea is, this is a physical manifestation of God and God guided Israel through this physical manifestation. He also guided Israel through His words. The guiding of the Israelites was both metaphorical and actual. God did guide the Israelites through the desert; He did see to it that they had enough food and water to live on, even through the death of one generation. But, God’s metaphorical guidance is what He said to Moses—God’s words to Moses guided the Israelites and they guide us today. This was the important guidance that God gave.

Translation: ...they keep [and guard] His Words [lit., testimonies] and statutes that He has given to them. At this point in time, them no longer refers to Moses, Aaron and Samuel, as these men in particular were not the only ones to preserve God’s Word. Although there is reasonable evidence that Moses and Samuel may have acted to preserve God’s Word (no telling about Aaron), we are really speaking more of the nation Israel here. Israel was chosen by God to write and then to preserve His Word. Understanding this will better explain the next verse.

You will note that, even though the KJV (and several other English translations) rendered ׳idôth testimonies, I haven rendered it Words. I should therefore explain. In order to acquire a full appreciation of this verse, we need to examine the Doctrine of ׳idôth, in order to get a handle on the meaning of this Hebrew word.

Moses wrote down God’s words and he presented them to he Israelites as God’s words; however, it was the Jews who preserved God’s Word generation after generation. They copied God’s words generation after generation. Somehow, they seemed to know what to save and what to discard. This is not a reference to the Jews following and obeying God’s words; this is the act of preserving them generation after generation.

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Early translations:

The Peshitta                          You answered them, O Lord our God; You were an avenger for them. O God, reward them according to their works.

The Septuagint                      O Lord our God, You heard them; O God, You became propitious to them, though You took vengeance on all their devices.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       Our LORD and our God, you answered their prayers and forgave their sins, but when they did wrong, you punished them.

The Message                         And then GOD, our God, answered them (But you were never soft on their sins).

NLT                                O Lord our God, you answered them.

You were a forgiving God,

but you punished them when they went wrong.

REB                                       O Lord our God, you answered them;

you were a God who forgave them,

yet you called them to account for their misdeeds.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

God’s Word™                         O LORD, our God, you answered them. You showed them that you are a forgiving God and that you are a God who punishes their sinful deeds.

JPS (Tanakh)                        O Lord our God, You answered them,

You were a forgiving God for them,

but You exacted retribution for their misdeeds.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

The Amplified Bible                You answered them, O Lord our God. You were a forgiving Go to them, although avenging their evil-doings and practices.

MKJV                                     You answered them, O Jehovah our God; You were a God who forgave them, though You take vengeance for their deeds.

Young's Updated LT              O Jehovah, our God, You have afflicted them, A God forgiving You have been to them, And taking vengeance on their actions.

What is the gist of this verse? God answers Israel; God forgives them for their sins, yet exacts retribution for their wrongs.

What is not in view here are the several times that Moses stood between God and Israel and pleaded for Israel’s deliverance (e.g., Deut. 5:5). Furthermore, we are not looking at Moses, Aaron and Samuel in particular either.

Translation: You, Y^ehowah our Elohim, [even] You answered them—... Primarily, this refers to the many times when Israel called out to God for deliverance, and He delivered them—that is, He answered their cries to Him. Originally, we were dealing with Moses, Aaron and Samuel, and it would be easy to find instances of Moses and Samuel calling upon God and God answering hem. However, recall in the final two portions of the previous verse, we are really speaking of Israel now. The book of Judges is a prime example of that. Israel would sin against God, God would punish them, they would find themselves oppressed by some godless nation, they would call to God, and God would answer them. This portion of v. 8 refers to the final two events.

Translation: ...You were to them a God Who bore them—... You will notice that I gave an extended definition for the participial verb here. Nâsâ is one of those words that the KJV gives about 90 different translations to. Its primary meaning is to lift, to bear, to carry. However, it can mean to bear one’s sin, which is, in part, one way that it may be understood here. Throughout all of Israel’s troubles, God carried Israel; most of these troubles were self-inflicted—that is, they sinned and received the results of their sin onto themselves. However, God is a forgiving God and He forgave them their sins. However, the word forgive in not found here. This is not like God just said, “Oh, hell, it’s alright; you’re only human. I’m going to let it slide this time.” God does not just arbitrarily, willy nilly, forgive anyone for their misdeeds. Perfect justice and perfect righteousness cannot forgive sin on a whim. God cannot look at you and say, “Oh, Charley Brown? He’s not such a bad guy. I’m going to ignore his sins. They weren’t that big of a deal anyway.” When a person sins against God, then God bears their sin. Early translators may not have been able to figure out exactly how to understand this; however, we understand now that Jesus Christ bore all of our sins on His body on the tree. Everyone one of our sins, along with the sins of the entire human race, which sins may seem an infinite amount to us, were condensed into three hours of time and poured out on Jesus Christ while He hung upon the cross. God bore their sins, just as He bears our sins.

Translation: ...but taking vengeance against their wanton acts. Straightening out just who we are speaking of here makes things much easier to understand. Several authors argue whether we are speaking of Korah, Dathan and Abiram here; or whether this should apply to Moses and Aaron and Samuel. We are not speaking of specific individuals here, named or unnamed, but of Israel in general. Israel often fell into idolatry; they worshipped other gods and God punished them for their sins. This would lead to the cycle previously mentioned: Israel would sin, God would punish them, they would find themselves being oppressed by a godless nation, they would call out to God, God would hear them, God would bear their sins, and God would deliver them. This is, in fact, the book of the Judges, in a nutshell.

Again, for context’s sake, we are speaking of God, and God as reigning over the earth. We are speaking of God as involved with His creation here on earth. We are speaking of a God Who hears and responds to us; we are speaking of a God of perfect justice; we are speaking of a God Who is willing to forgive us; we are speaking of God Who also will punish those who do wrong. Whether we see a physical manifestation of God or not, God is actively in charge of this world.

The culmination of this psalm is almost a repeat of v. 5, except there is the mention of God’s holy mountain (or, holy hill). Here is how others have translated this verse:

Early translations:

The Septuagint                      Exalt the Lord our God and worship at His holy mountain, for the Lord our God is holy.

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

CEV                                       We praise you, LORD God, and we worship you at your sacred mountain. Only you are God!

The Message                         Lift high GOD, our God; worship at his holy mountain. Holy. Yes, holy is GOD our God.

NLT                                Exalt the Lord our God

and worship at his holy mountain in Jerusalem,

for the Lord our God is holy!

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

God’s Word™                         Highly honor the LORD our God. Bow at his holy mountain. The LORD our God is holy!

JPS (Tanakh)                        Exalt the Lord our God,

and bow toward His holy hill,

for the Lord our God is holy.

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

MKJV                                     Praise Jehovah our God, and worship at His holy hill; for Jehovah our God is holy.

Young's Updated LT              Exalt Jehovah our God, And bow yourselves at His holy hill, For holy is Jehovah our God!

What is the gist of this verse? The psalmist exhorts us to exalt Jehovah God and to prostrate before His holy mount (which, is, presumably, the Tabernacle in Zion). This psalm ends with us being told that Jehovah our God is set apart.

Translation: Exalt Y^ehowah our Elohim... This might be seen as the refrain of this psalm. We found it in v. 5 and we have a parallel between v. 5a and 9a; 5c and 9c, which would lead us to believe there will be a clear parallel between v. 5b and 9b (you don’t need to look back and forth, as I will have a chart below). .

Translation: ...and bow down towards His holy mountain... Most importantly, this is not to be taken as some sort of a mandate for all believers everywhere to find out the direction of God’s holy mountain and then bow in that direction. First of all, it would make little sense because it is not related to the gospel in anyway; that is, there are no parallels one could draw between Jesus dying on the cross and praying in a particular direction. Furthermore, we have no such commandments in the Pentateuch. All of the laws in the Pentateuch are designed to reveal Jesus Christ to us.

Therefore, we are left with the question, what is meant here? If this is not the Christian equivalent of praying to Mecca, then what is meant here? God did require that all sacrificing a worship be centrally located in Israel. There were not to be two Temples or two Tabernacles. God did not manifest Himself, during the time of Israel, to other nations in such a way as to establish a separate Temple elsewhere. God had to make it clear that there is but One God, and that we cannot have a series of national gods with a variety of national customs. Even though Israel often became corrupt; still, the Law made clear what was right and what was not. Once God’s character was well-established; once the Holy Scriptures (the Old Testament) were well-established; and once the Jews rejected their Messiah, God approached man in a different way. Now, since God has come to this earth as a man, we are also struck by His uniqueness and by the fact that He is the only way. There are no other gods; all true and false prophets who have come before and after cannot be compared to Him. The Tabernacle, and later, the Temple, are unique, and filled with items which point people in that era toward Jesus Christ.

Translation: ...for Y^ehowah our Elohim [is] Holy. Jehovah God is set apart from all that we know (holy means set apart). Since God is perfect righteousness and perfect justice, we can only begin to imagine what God is like.