Psalm 99. The Lord reigneth. Let the people tremble. He sitteth
between the cherubims. Let the earth be moved. The Lord
is great in Zion, and he is high above all the people. Let them
praise thy great and terrible name, for it is holy. The king's
strength also loveth judgment. Thou dost establish equity. Thou
executest judgment and righteousness in Jacob. Exalt ye the Lord our
God, and worship at his footstool, for he is holy. Moses and Aaron
among his priests, and Samuel among them that called upon his
name. They called upon the Lord, and he answered them. He spake
unto them in the cloudy pillar. They kept his testimonies and
the ordinance that he gave them. Thou answeredest them, O Lord
our God. Thou wast a God that forgavest
them, though thou tookest vengeance of their inventions or their
evil deeds. Exalt the Lord our God and worship
at his holy hill, for the Lord our God is holy. Now this psalm begins, as some
of the others have, with that phrase, the Lord reigneth. And there's no way that that
can be overemphasized. Now, some think that it can. And so they very seldom ever
mention it. But there really is no greater
message given unto the people of God than that. Thy God reigneth. That is what
we are sent to proclaim, that He has reigned in the earth,
that our God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever He is
pleased. He had not done most of what He wanted to do. Now
that is kind of how most people think that God has done a lot
of great things and He would have done even more if men had
just let him. That's kind of the viewpoint
that most people have, you know, that men, just old mean men,
they've just tied up the hands of God in such a way that he's
hoping to do something, and they won't let him. Well, dear brethren,
thy God reigneth. He does all things according
to the good pleasure of his will, and there's none that can stay
his hand or say unto him, what doest thou? Now, then the next
thing he says is let the people tremble. Now what that word,
you can actually, that word can be translated, let the people
be angry. Think about that for a minute.
Doesn't that make you mad sometimes when you think about it? God
just does everything just like he wants to do and he don't ask
you a thing. He doesn't take your consideration,
he doesn't take your thoughts into consideration at all. You know, the natural man's angry
with God over that. You don't find anybody that's
glad that God's absolutely sovereign by nature. Because men don't
like that. They want to be sovereign. See,
men don't mind election. You can preach election all day
long. As long as you preach election,
that man's the one doing the choosing. But when you show what
the scripture says that God is the one that does the choosing,
then what happens? People get angry. Well, that's
not fair. That's not right. Why not? Well, because I mean, we're important. And it wouldn't be fair, say,
if God did it that way. I mean, he got to leave it up
to us for it to be fair. but they won't tell you that.
That's right. No, no. Men will, you know, they'll
skirt everything and they'll try to make you out. If you say
that the other, that God is sovereign, that he does reign, they will
try to make you out to be the villain. Oh, what a terrible
thing that anybody would paint God in a picture like that. But
yet they'll paint him in a picture that the scripture nowhere describes
him as. And the psalmist says here, the
Lord reigneth. Let all the people be angry.
Let the people tremble because let us be afraid, basically. We should be afraid. You know,
if when men come to the place that they know who God is, they
will be afraid. You know, the Lord, even the
forgiveness of God causes men to fear Him. That's what the
scripture of David said, there is forgiveness with thee that
thou mightest be feared. Think about that. God forgives
sinners. You don't forgive people when
people do something wrong with you. Now, you might outwardly
not actually go over and burn their house down, but the thought
does come into your mind, doesn't it? That's right. I mean, you know, you're not
far removed at any point in time from being exactly that way.
Just going ahead and, buddy, I'd like to show him something.
You know, you're driving down the road and somebody cuts off
in front of you or slams on brakes. And you say, that's sorry, Joker.
And that's just the way we are. But there's forgiveness with
God that He might be feared. It's amazing when we consider
who this God with whom we have to deal with, how He is. He does reign, and He rules,
and no man can stay His hand. He sitteth between the cherubims.
Now this is a glorious thing. He sitteth between the cherubim.
Now the term cherubim, cherub or cherubim, appears in the scripture
91 times. Most of the time, 22 times, it
appears in the book of Ezekiel. And Ezekiel was given a vision. of the Lord. Now his vision's
really not any different. What John saw, what Ezekiel saw,
and what Isaiah saw are actually all the same thing. Now each
one of them describes it a little bit different. But the truth
of the matter is that what they saw was the exact same thing.
The glory of God revealed in the face of Jesus Christ. Now
that's what they saw. Now they didn't know that. See,
they didn't know it. It was revealed unto them that
not unto themselves but unto us they did write these things.
I mean, Ezekiel probably sat up late at night trying to figure
out what it was that he actually did see. I mean, you go and you read that,
I mean, men have written book after book trying to explain
what Ezekiel saw. They don't have no more idea
what Ezekiel saw than the man in the moon. Because what Ezekiel
saw can only be revealed by the Spirit of God unto men. The glory of God, to see that
glory revealed in Christ. Because you see that, dear brethren,
is the revelation of God unto men. is to see him as he is in
Christ. Now this says here that he sitteth
between the cherubims. You remember that when the Lord
told Moses about what he was supposed to build in the tabernacle,
and he was to build the mercy seat, and he said that on either
side of the mercy seat, there was to make two cherubim. and they would cover the mercy
seat with their wings. But the Lord, you see, he sits
between the chairmen. That's what the scripture says
here. He is the mercy seat, dear brethren. What a glorious thing
that the God who has power to destroy men and the right to
destroy men. What could anybody say if God
just destroyed the whole earth tomorrow and obliterated everybody? What could anybody say? Not a
thing in the world. But yet God who is rich in mercy
has demonstrated to us the great love wherewith he has loved his
people with an everlasting love. And we come here this morning
to remember the demonstration of that love unto his people.
He sitteth between the cherubims. He is that one who occupies the
mercy seat. And he says, come unto me, all
you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. What a glorious God he is. When
he didn't have to do anything, yet he has done all for us. Let the earth be moved. Oh, that
the earth would be moved. He said, if I be lifted up, I'll
draw men unto myself. The earth will be moved. You
see, God's people will be moved. The word of God will not return
unto him void, but he will cause those things that he sends it
to do to come to pass. The earth will be moved at the
sound of this great word. The Lord is great in Zion, and
he is high above all the people. Let them praise thy great and
terrible name, for it is holy. His name is holy. And thus it
should not be used in an offhanded way. Very few things really get
under my skin more than hearing people use the name of the Lord.
It doesn't have to be cursing, but just use it in kind of an
offhanded way. You know, just without any reverence
at all. It's a terrible thing. Let the people praise thy great
and terrible name, for it is holy. That's why the Lord said, thou
shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. Now I grew
up thinking that somebody, my daddy sometimes, he would, my
mama would get upset with him because he would, she'd say he's
taking the name of the Lord in vain and he would be saying GD,
you know, and so he would say that pretty regular. And I grew
up around people that just thought that was just the way to talk,
you know. And, in fact, many of them would go and sit in church
on Sunday and just, you know, the next day they'd be out there
talking like that. Now, brethren, let the redeemed
of the Lord say so. I mean, let no corrupt communication
proceed out of your mouth. But you don't have to be cursing
to use the name of the Lord God in vain. It's just to use it
in an offhanded way without due consideration of who it is that
you are speaking to. Men often use the name of the
Lord in vain in prayer, because they come before Him without
any real consideration of who it is they're talking to. Now
you wouldn't go into the President of the United States, and he's
far below any consideration of the eternal God of the heavens,
you wouldn't go into his office and just say, hey Donald, how
you doing today? Would you know? You'd come there
in deference. You'd come there with respect
unto the place that you were and the position that he occupied. Well, multiply that by 10 million
times, and that's the one to whom you're going when you go
to the place of prayer, if you know him. May he be exalted for
his great and terrible name for it is holy. The king's strength
also loveth judgment. Thou dost establish equity. Thou
executes judgment and righteousness in Jacob. Now, the king's strength
also loveth judgment. That is the hallmark of God. He will be just. He may show
mercy. but he will be just. You can
be sure that the justice and judgment of God will be, it is
appointed unto men once to die and after this the judgment.
That is a fact. No man can escape that because
growing out of the holiness of God is his justice. He will not
acquit the wicked. He will by no means clear the
guilty. There must be a price paid for
the sin of men. Has to be done. And he will not
in any wise go back on that. And a man's foolish to think
that he's going to come into the presence of the Lord and
have any case to plead before Almighty God other than one which
is settled by the one who has paid the price for sin. See,
men think that they can reason with God. That's what the Lord
said. He said, Many shall say unto
me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not done many wonderful works
in thy name? I mean, we did all kinds of stuff. We went to church and we prayed
and we preached and we did many things. And He shall say unto
them, Depart from me. I never knew you. Because it's
not the basis of what men do is not the basis upon which they're
given an entrance into the kingdom of heaven, but it's in what Christ
has done. Because he is that perfect substitute. And because the Lord loveth judgment
is the reason that Jesus Christ died. You see, he would be both
just and the justifier. of them which believe in Jesus.
Thou executest judgment and righteousness in Jacob, that is, in the chosen
people of God, it is seen. Exalt ye the Lord our God, and
worship at his footstool, for he is holy. He says it again. We used to sing a song with that
verse. Sing it with me, if we can remember
it. Exalt the Lord our God and worship
at His footstool. Worship at His footstool. Holy is He. Holy is He. Now you know what a footstool
is. Place where you put your feet
up. And that's the place where we come. That's the only place
we can come. You can't come sit down in the
chair beside the Lord. But by His grace, He gives you
the privilege of coming to His footstool. Now, you see the man
that's left out with pride, he doesn't want to come to the footstool.
Remember Naaman the Syrian? I mean, you know, the prophet
sent word to him, go wash in the River Jordan and you'll be
made. He said, what? He said, here I am, you know,
this great man in Syria, and you want me to go down there
to the Suwannee River and wash in it when we've got the St.
John's River over here in Syria? I mean, just this great, mighty
thing. You want me to go to a little
stream and wash in it? But that was the place he had
to come, wasn't it? And so it is that we worship
at his footstool. No other place. He's not our
buddy. He is our friend by the grace
of God. And he has shown himself to be
such. But even though he is our friend, we still worship at his
footstool, because you see, by the grace of God, we see him
as he is. Now John's a good example of
this. John walked with the Lord every
day for three years, at least. He sat at the feet of the Lord.
The Lord taught him. They shared meals together, and
the Lord taught him many things. But yet the scripture says that
whenever he had that, when the Lord opened his eyes and gave
him the revelation of Jesus Christ on the Isle of Patmos, he said
that when he saw him, this same one that he had walked with day
by day, he said, I fell at his feet as a dead man. Now we don't
see him doing that during the time when the Lord was in the
earth, because you see, the eyes of men were holding, as he said
to the disciples on the road to Emmaus, he said their eyes
were holding, they could not behold him. And even though the
disciples saw him more clearly in many ways than we do, they
saw him in the flesh, But yet, that was not the ultimate revelation
that He would give to men, because when we see Him face to face,
we shall see Him as He is. And you can be sure that when
we see Him as He is, we will worship at His footstool, because
He will manifest Himself in the glory that belongs to Him. Moses and Aaron among his priests
and Samuel among them that called upon his name, they called upon
the Lord and he answered them. He spake unto them in the cloudy
pillar. They kept his testimonies and
the ordinance or statute or laws that he gave them. Moses and
Aaron and Samuel, now it uses them particularly Because Moses,
especially, was a great intercessor for the people of God. He often
went between the Lord and the people, because the Lord was
gonna kill them, and he said, no, Lord, spare them, you know.
And Samuel, same way, he was an intercessor for the people
of God. The Lord would have killed him on numerous occasions, but
Samuel prayed. They called upon his name and
he answered them. He spake unto them in the cloudy
pillar as he did with Moses. They kept his testimonies at
the word of God. It was precious to them. And
thou answerest them, O Lord our God, thou wast a God that forgavest
them. Now that is the testimony of
the glory of Almighty God. It's not just that He answered
their prayer. See, that's what most people
want. They just want a God that'll answer their prayer. You know,
let's pray for old Aunt Sally and Uncle Bob and all this, and
there's not a thing in the world wrong with praying for Uncle
Bob and Aunt Sally. We ought to pray for them if
they in need. But the Lord is not a vending machine. You know,
which if you put enough prayer into it, you'll get back out
what you want. That's not how it is. But the
Lord, He forgives us. He forgives us of our prayers.
Now, people don't think of it like that, do they? I mean, you
know, we think, well, you know, the Lord, He's happy. We pray,
you know what I mean? The Lord's looking down, He's
smiling. Say, look at that, He's praying. No, the Lord has to
forgive you of your prayers. Oh, but why? Because all of our
righteousnesses are as filthy rags before Him. See, we can't
even come to Him and pray and be accepted except we come there
in the name, the power, the authority. That's what He said. If you ask
anything, what? In my name, in my authority. Because He's given the authority
of God to God's people to come to Him, to call Him Father. Our
Father which art in heaven. See, He didn't tell the Pharisees,
did He, to pray that prayer. He never said, alright, you Pharisees,
now I want you to pray this prayer, our Father which art in heaven.
Why? Because He said, you're of your father the devil. See,
everybody is not of their father. Everybody is not the son of God. It's a privilege bestowed upon
men according to the good pleasure of Almighty God to be called
the sons of God, which were born not of the will of the flesh
nor of the will of man, but of God. What a glorious privilege
that is. Thou answeredest them, O Lord,
thou wast a God that forgavest them, though thou tookest vengeance
of their inventions or evil deeds. Moses was a man blessed of God,
but he was a man who had evil deeds, did he not? Samuel the
same way. I mean, you know, you look at
the life of Samuel and it was an exemplary life in many ways. But nonetheless, his sons were
wicked men. Now, I'm not blaming Samuel for
what his sons did, but at the same time, there is a measure
of responsibility that a father has for his children, does it
not? I mean, you can't control what
your children do, but you can set forth an example for them. And most of the time, The example
that we set has flaws in it that leads to the flaws that we find
in our children. Now that's a sad and bitter pill
to swallow, but it's just a fact. I mean, when we look at the wickedness
of our children, we can usually see our own wickedness in some
way. I mean, you can't hide from it. It's just the way that it
is. But the glorious thing is the
Lord Forgive. He forgives his people. Exalt
the Lord our God and worship at His holy hill, for the Lord
our God is holy. Oh, that we might worship Him
today as we think on the work that He did in our behalf,
which is set before us in Bread and wine. There's nothing that we can say
that can add anything to what the Lord has done here. Just
by the grace of God to contemplate and think about it. and to remember
his death till he comes. That's the only thing he did.
Now we're coming up on the season of the year when people get head
over heels about remembering the birth of Christ. And I'm
not opposed to remembering the birth of Christ. But nowhere
in the scripture are we ever instructed to remember the birth
of Christ. But he does tell us to remember
his death till he comes again. Oh, that we might. you know,
that we might remember his birth, knowing that he is that one who
was born for a purpose. And that purpose was to die on
Calvary's cross, pour out his life's blood, that we might have
eternal life. What a glorious gift is given
to us. May the Lord give us a mind and
heart to receive this bread and wine as he has given it to us And we read these scriptures
over and again the same night in which He was betrayed that
He took the bread and He blessed it and He gave it to His disciples.
We have a tendency as humans to Let these things become habitual
in our mind and we don't give the due consideration to it.
May the Lord give us the grace that we might not do so as we
come to this because He gave it to us just as a plain supper. I mean, it wasn't anything out
of the ordinary, but He said after supper had ended, He said,
Here, I want you to do this. And he gave it to them, and he
took the bread. The scripture says he blessed it, he broke
it, and he gave it to them. And he told them to eat of it.
Let's ask the Lord to bless it.