Psalm 99:5 NKJV
Exalt the Lord our God,
And worship at His footstool—
He is holy.
Exalt the LORD our God: Understanding the power, holiness, and goodness of God should lead us to exalt Him and to humbly worship Him. (Guzik)
Worship at His footstool: Most commentators regard this as the ark of the covenant, connected to their understanding of between the cherubim in Psalm 99:1. The ark of the covenant is called His footstool (1 Chronicles 28:2), but so are Jerusalem (Lamentations 2:1) and the earth as a whole (Isaiah 66:1, Matthew 5:35, Acts 7:49). (Guzik)
i. “The object of the exaltation and ‘worship at his footstool’ is to submit oneself to his sovereignty and to respond properly to his holy presence.” (VanGemeren)
He is holy: The statement from Psalm 99:3 is repeated for emphasis. God is holy in all He is and all He does. (Guzik)
i. “The Bible calls God holy more than anything else, more than sovereign, more than just, more than merciful or loving. In fact ‘holy’ is the only epithet of God that is repeated three times for emphasis, like this: ‘Holy, holy, holy’ (Isa. 6:3; Rev. 4:8).” (Boice)
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“Exalt ye the LORD our God.” If no others adore him, let his own people render to him the most ardent worship. Infinite condescension makes him stoop to be called our God, and truth and faithfulness bind him to maintain that covenant relationship; and surely we, to whom by grace he so lovingly gives himself, should exalt him with all our hearts. He shines upon us from under the veiling wings of cherubim, and above the seat of mercy,
therefore let us come and worship at his footstool. When he reveals himself in Christ Jesus, as our reconciled God, who allows us to approach even to his throne, it becomes us to unite earnestness and humility, joy and adoration, and, while we exalt him, prostrate ourselves in the dust before him. Do we need to be thus excited to worship? How much ought we to blush for such backwardness! It ought to be our daily delight to magnify so good and great a God.
“For he is holy.” A second time the note rings out, and as the ark, which was the divine footstool, has just been mentioned, the voice seems to sound forth from the cherubim where the Lord sitteth, who continually do cry, “Holy, Holy, Holy. Lord God of Sabaoth!” Holiness is the harmony of all the virtues. The Lord has not one glorious attribute alone, or in excess, but all glories are in him as a whole; this is the crown of his honor and the honor of his crown. His power is not his choicest jewel, nor his sovereignty, but his holiness. In this all comprehensive moral excellence, he would have his creatures take delight, and when they do so their delight is evidence that their hearts have been renewed, and they themselves have been made partakers of his holiness. The gods of the heathen were, according to their own votaries, lustful, cruel, and brutish; their only claim to reverence lay in their supposed potency over human destinies: who would not far rather adore Jehovah, whose character is unsullied purity, unswerving justice, unbending truth, unbounded love, in a word, perfect holiness? (Spurgeon)
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Exalt ye the Lord our God – See the notes at Psalms 30:1. The meaning is, Let his name be, as it were, lifted up on high, so as to be conspicuous or seen from afar. Let it be done with a lofty voice; let it be with ascriptions of praise.
And worship at his footstool – By humble prostration at his feet. The footstool is that on which the feet rest when one is sitting, and the reference here is to the footstool on which the feet of a king rested when he sat on his throne or chair of state. To worship at his footstool – compare 1 Chronicles 28:2; Psalms 132:7 – denotes the deepest humility and the profoundest prostration and reverence. It is as if we could not look on his face, or on his throne, or on his gorgeous and magnificent robes, but bowed our heads in lowly reverence, and deemed it sufficient honor to lie low before that on which his feet rested. To show the dignity and majesty of God, the earth itself is represented as being merely his footstool; as being, in comparison with the heaven – the place of his seat – his “throne,” only as the footstool is as compared with the splendid chair of state. Isaiah 66:1; Matthew 5:34-35.
For he is holy – See Psalms 99:3. Margin, “it is holy.” The translation in the text best expresses the sense. The fact that God is “holy” is a reason for lowly and profound prostration before him. (Barnes)
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and worship at his footstool; worship him who is the object of the adoration of angels, and ought to be of men; worship him privately and publicly, internally and externally, in spirit and in truth; at his footstool, on earth, he being on his throne in heaven; see Isaiah 65:1 or else the ark is meant, which is so called, 1 Chronicles 28:2, and this being a type of the human nature of Christ, that may be meant here; and which, though not the object of worship, nor is it said, worship his footstool, but at it; yet, in worshipping Christ, respect is to be had unto him, as in our nature, in which he has done such great things for us: the Targum(interpretation)is, “worship in or at the house of his sanctuary;” so Kimchi interprets it of the sanctuary, which agrees with Psalm 99:9, (Gill)
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The more we abase ourselves, and the more prostrate we are before God, the more we exalt him. We must worship at his footstool, at his ark, which was as the footstool to the mercy-seat between the cherubim; or we must cast ourselves down upon the pavement of his courts; and good reason we have to be thus reverent, for he is holy, and his holiness should strike an awe upon us, as it does on the angels themselves, (Henry)
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Worship at his footstool — Probably meaning the ark on which the Divine glory was manifested. Sometimes the earth is called God’s footstool, Matthew 5:35; Isaiah 66:1; sometimes Jerusalem; sometimes the temple, Lamentations 2:1; sometimes the tabernacle, Psalms 32:7; and sometimes the ark, 1 Chronicles 28:2. The Israelites, when they worshipped, turned their faces toward the ark, because that was the place where was the symbol of the Divine Presence. (Clarke)
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Geneva Bible 1560
Psalms 99:5
5 Exalt the Lord our God: and fall down before his c fotestole: for his is holie.
c That is, before his Temple or Ark, where he promised to hear, when they worshipped him, as now he promises his spiritual presence, wheresoever his Church is assembled.
Abba, I pray that you bless and protect us today. Fill us with your wisdom and help us to bless Your name and recognize Your Holiness. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
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