1. Last week I mentioned in my message that the worldly crowd is demanding that people be more tolerant -- tolerant of sexual perversion, tolerant of filth on television, tolerant of Islamic terrorism, etc. We are supposed to tolerate just about everything, even though many of these things are contrary to Scripture.
2. Furthermore, I mentioned that while we are being told to be tolerant, the worldly crowd is very intolerant of Biblical morality. When I made those remarks I was unaware (I was out of town for a few days) that our governor had actually said something along these lines.
3. In a recent radio interview, Governor Cuomo said, "Who are they? Are they these extreme conservatives who are right-to-life, pro-assault-weapon, anti-gay? Is that who they are? Because if that's who they are and they're the extreme conservatives, they have no place in the state of New York, because that's not who New Yorkers are."
4. That sounds very intolerant!
5. Then few days later, Mayor de Blasio told reporters, “I agree with Gov. Cuomo’s remarks."
6. De Blasio said those who are opposed to abortion do "not represent the views of the people of New York state.” Actually millions of New York State residents oppose abortion and so-called homosexual marriage. And many New Yorkers support the second amendment to the Constitution -- the right to keep and bear arms.
7. Politicians like Mr. Cuomo and Mr. de Blasio come and go. But I am so glad that "the Lord reigneth" (Psalm 99:1).
8. And while we may be stuck with Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio for a few years, the Bible says, "The LORD shall reign for ever and ever" (Exodus 15:18).
9. First Chronicles 16:31 says, "Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice: and let men say among the nations, The LORD reigneth."
10. Psalm 93:1 says, "The LORD reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the LORD is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved."
11. Psalm 96:10 says, "Say among the heathen that the LORD reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously."
12. Psalm 97:1 says, "The LORD reigneth; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles be glad thereof."
13. Revelation 19:6 says, "And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth."
14. Therefore, "let the people tremble" (Psalm 99:1). Twice in Psalm 99 we are told to "exalt the LORD our God" (99:5, 9).
15. The older dictionaries say "worship" (from "worth-ship") means the act of paying divine honors to God because He alone is "worthy."
16. We exalt the LORD by humbling ourselves. Because He is so high, we should bend down low (99:1, 2).
17. First and foremost, we must understand that God is holy.

I. THE LORD IS HOLY (99:3, 5, 9).

1. This psalm has three parts, and each part ends with the refrain -- "for he is holy" (99:3, 5, 9).
2. Isaiah 6:3 says, "Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory."
3. In his commentary on Psalm 99, Spurgeon wrote, "In him is no flaw or fault, excess or deficiency, error or iniquity. He is wholly excellent, and is therefore called holy. In his words, thoughts, acts, and revelations as well as in himself, he is perfection itself. O come let us worship and bow down before him... 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?" (Treasury of David).
4. It is interesting to note that Psalm 99:1 says, "He sitteth between the cherubims" (angels). Genesis 3:24 says, the LORD "placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life."
5. In Isaiah 6:3, the prophet Isaiah saw angels referred to as "the seraphims" say, "Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory."
6. And so the hymnwriter wrote:

Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
Who was, and is, and evermore shall be. -- Reginald Heber

7. In the book of Revelation John tells us that round about the throne in heaven he saw "four beasts" (four "living creatures") and they rest not day and night, saying, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come" (Rev. 4:8).
8. The Scofield Study Bible says, "The 'living creatures' (the four beasts) are identical with the Cherubim."
9. Here in Psalm 99, the words "He is holy" are repeated three times (99:3, 5, 9), signifying the doctrine of the Trinity.
10. That is why the four living creatures say, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come" (Rev. 4:8).
11. That is why our Lord said, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (Matthew 28:19).

II. THE LORD ANSWERS PRAYER (99:6-8)

1. When we call upon the LORD, He answers (99:6-8).
2. George Muller said: "Prayer is not overcoming God’s reluctance. It is laying hold of His willingness."
3. Moses and Aaron and Samuel "called upon the LORD, and he answered them" (99:6), and he will answer us as well.
4. Jeremiah 33:3 says, "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not."
5. God promises to answer prayer, but there are conditions. "They kept his testimonies, and the ordinance that he gave them" (99:7; cf. I John 3:22).
6. Moses and Aaron and Samuel are mentioned here because these three men were great intercessors. God wants you and me to labor in intercessory prayer.
7. Moses -- Exodus 32:7--14.
8. Aaron -- Numbers 16:44--50.
9. Aaron -- Numbers 16:44--50.
10. The "cloudy pillar" (99:7) refers to the pillar of cloud which led the children of Israel by day. A pillar of fire led them by night.
11. The LORD spoke to them, and He answered them, and He "forgavest them" (99:8).
12. Jesus paid it all,
    All to Him I owe;
    Sin had left a crimson stain,
    He washed it white as snow. -- Elvina M. Hall
13. Some people think it is: Jesus paid the down payment, and I will pay the rest...
14. No -- Jesus paid it all.

III. THE LORD TAKES VENGEANCE (99:8b)

1. The end of Psalm 99:8 says, "Though thou tookest vengeance of their inventions."
2. At first glance it may seem strange to see forgiveness and vengeance in the same sentence, but this is a pattern we see often in Scripture.
3. Alexander MacLaren said people "think that forgiveness comes from love, and from righteousness flows retribution and chastisement. It is not so. They are both parts of one process, they both come from one source, the one heart which is all holiness and all love."
4. You will recall that when David repented, he said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD," and then Nathan said to David, "The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die" (II Sam. 12:13).
5. That is forgiveness!
6. Then Nathan went on to say, "Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die" (12:14). That is vengeance.
7. F.B. Meyer said, "Let us beware of sin. It may be forgiven, yet we may have to reap its bitter results. Moses was forgiven, but he did not enter the Promised Land. So was David, but the sword never left his house."
8. Hebrews 12:6 says, "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth."
9. First Corinthians 11:32 says, "But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world."
10. There is an important Bible principle repeated throughout the Old Testament and the New Testament -- "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting" (Gal. 6:7, 8).
11. Sin has consequences, and these consequences continue on in memory, in habit, in circumstances, and in the lives of those affected by the sin.
12. "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."
13. Even heathens who never saw a Bible instinctively know this. You may recall that when Paul was on the island of Melita, he gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, and there came a viper out because of the heat, and fastened on his hand.
14. And when the natives of that island saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, "No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live" (Acts 28:4).
15. These barbarians understood the vengeance of God. They were wrong to think Paul was a murderer who had escaped from justice, but they were right in understanding an important Bible principle --"The soul that sinneth, it shall die" (Ezek. 18:20).
16. "For the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23).
17. The vengeance of God is an important doctrine -- one that is ignored by most people today (cf. Psalm 94:1-3; 149:7; Nahum 1:1-6; II Thess. 1:7-9; Jude 7).

CONCLUSION:

Psalm 99:6 says, "they called upon the LORD, and he answered them."
True story: A Burden of Prayer for Dr. Chow.