Holiness

 January 5, 2022

Wednesday morning breakfast and prayer with two friends took us to Psalm 99. We often need the reminder that begins this ancient song: “The LORD reigns!” We’re apt to forget this when we look at the state of things today, and must remind ourselves that this is a statement of faith, not sight. If we approach the day only from the standpoint of what the talking heads on TV tell us, we will fall into the trap they have deliberately set, and live in fear and apprehension, which is just what they want. Fearless people are not easily manipulated.

After descriptions of God’s majesty, three simple words are found: “He is holy.” These words are repeated twice more, emphasizing the importance of the thought behind them. It is reminiscent of Isaiah’s paean of praise in the sixth chapter of his book, where he uses this thrice-repeated superlative to proclaim this attribute of God: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD!” The message is clear: The God who reigns is holy, ie. not only without blemish, but of such character that all else fades into dull shabbiness compared to him.

To me, the best part of this psalm is found in the eighth verse where it is recorded that “you [are]…the God who forgives.” Apart from this, God’s holiness would be a condemning fury before which no one could stand. As it is, this One who is more glorious to us than we are to a common slug, welcomes us, sinners that we are, into his Presence. It would be many years after these words were written that we discover how that could possibly be:

“Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” —Hebrews 4:14-16