Psalm 99:5 "Exalt ye the LORD our God, and worship at his footstool; for he is holy."
Psalm 99:9 "Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at his holy hill; for the LORD our God is holy."
How far does God's mercy reach? I feel His mercy extends to our humanity.
What do I mean by that? Not to get ahead of myself, but in a few more
Psalms we shall see that God understands the frame of our very being. He knows
our weaknesses and our strengths. AND yet, He still loves us. What does this
have to do with the two verses that we printed above?
The Lord inspired the Psalmist to describe two different places where worship
is acceptable. "Worship at His footstool." Where is His
footstool? "Thus saith the LORD, the heaven is my throne, and the
earth is my footstool." (Isaiah 66:1) What is the Lord telling us in
our first verse this morning? Have you ever seen a beautiful sunset and
your heart was moved to whisper a declaration of love and thanksgiving unto the
Lord? Do the mountains take away your breath at times? How about the
vastness of the ocean? The Lord is telling us that this is His creation and He
absolutely accepts our worship and praise when we are enjoying His handiwork,
called nature. Worship the Lord at His footstool. His footstool is all the
earth.
I have addressed this on more than one occasion and maybe I have been a bit
harsh about it. There is a reason. Though God has said He accepts our worship
while we are out among His handiwork, we must be careful that we do not allow
that to become the substitute for public worship. Our second verse declares
that we are to worship God in the public assembly of worshippers.
"Worship at His Holy Hill." What and where is His Holy
Hill? If I understand it correctly, this is speaking of the Old Testament
word, "Zion", which is representative of the church of the Lord Jesus
Christ. We are to engage in public worship with other saints of God who love
and seek to worship the Lord.
There is a great blessing of encouragement and strength when we are in the
presence of the Lord and His people. There is a warmth of heart that cannot be
replaced by anything else. The times we find ourselves separated from other
worshippers, we tend to grow cold in our love for the Lord and for His people.
Yes, God's mercy extends to our humanity. He knows our tendencies and He makes
provision for our weaknesses. Let us avail ourselves to every opportunity to be
together engaging in worship and praise.