Youth Topic Studies

Genesis 1:1-3:24, Adam and Eve
Genesis 6:11-7:18, Noah and the ark
Genesis 11:1-9, Tower of Babel

Psalm 11

Psalms 11 

This psalm has no name; it is neither called a psalm, nor hymn, nor song, nor prayer, only said to be David's; and is inscribed and directed as others to the chief musician, or master of the song, to be used in public service; and seems to be written much upon the same subject with the two preceding psalms.

This psalm ascribed to David, both in the title and in the location which it has among the Psalms. There is nothing in the psalm to make this doubtful, and indeed its structure is so much in accordance with those usually ascribed to David, as to leave no doubt as to its authorship.

There is no indication of the occasion on which it was composed in the title, or in the psalm itself. There is no special reference to any of the incidents of David’s life, although some of the thoughts or images were suggested apparently by the recollection of what occurred in the persecutions of Saul or the rebellion of Absalom. Different occasions in the life of David have indeed been referred to as having led to the composition of the psalm. All that is apparent in the psalm itself is, that it was when the author was in danger, and when some of his friends advised him to seek safety by flight, Psa_11:1. Instead of doing this, David determined to remain where he was, and to put his trust in God, with the belief that he would interpose and deliver him.

David's struggle with, and triumph over a strong temptation to distrust God, and betake himself to indirect means for his own safety, in a time of danger is the basic content of the psalm.

Detailed contents of the psalm. This psalm may be properly regarded as divided into two parts:

I. The counsel of some timid and fearful friends to the writer, in the circumstances of danger in which he was, to make his escape, and to seek safety by flight, Psa_11:1-3. They advise him to flee as a bird to the mountain; that is, to flee to a place of security while he could, for he seems to have been surrounded by enemies. The arguments by which they enforced this counsel seem to be referred to in Psa_11:2-3, and were these:

(a) that the wicked had made preparations to destroy him, for their bows and arrows were ready, Psa_11:2; and

(b) that the condition of affairs was as if the very foundations were destroyed; that there was nothing to rest on; and that all his hopes, in his present condition, must be swept away, Psa_11:3.

In these circumstances, all his hopes of safety, in their apprehension, was in flight.

II. The views which the author of the psalm entertained on the subject, in reply to this, Psa_11:4-7. He had unwavering confidence in God; he did not despair; he believed that God would protect him; he believed that the object of God in permitting this was to try the righteous, and that in due time he would come forth and rain snares, fire, and brimstone, upon the ungodly. The state of mind thus evinced, is that of firmness in trying circumstances; steady confidence in God when things seem to be most adverse; and an assured belief that God will in due time rescue those who put their trust in him. It is the manifestation of firmness against the counsels of the timid; the language of unshaken trust in God when the fearful and unbelieving despair.

Psa 11:1  To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. In the LORD put I my trust: how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain?

In the Lord put I my trust - This, in general, expresses the state of mind of the author - a state of feeling which runs through the entire psalm. It is designed to be an answer to the counsel which others had been giving him to escape, and it implies that he was determined at that time, and always, to put his trust in God. They advised him to flee. In the existing circumstances he felt that that would have implied a want of confidence in God. He determined, therefore, to maintain his present position, and to rely upon the interposition of God in due time.

In the Lord put I my trust - Not in himself, in his own heart, nor in his own righteousness and strength; nor in men, the greatest of men, the princes of the earth; nor in his armies, or any outward force; but in the Lord, as the God of providence and of grace; and in the Messiah, in His person and righteousness; so one manuscript renders it, "in the Word of the Lord do I hope": and the phrase denotes a continued exercise of faith in the Lord; that he was always looking to Him, committing himself and all his concerns to Him; for he does not say, I "have", or I "will", but I "do", put my trust in the Lord; at all times, even in the worst of times, and in the present one; wherefore he is displeased with his friends for endeavoring to intimidate him, persuading him to flee and provide for his safety, when he had betaken himself to the Lord, and was safe enough;

In the Lord put I my trust - Those that truly fear God and serve him, are welcome to put their trust in him. The psalmist, before he gives an account of his temptation to distrust God, records his resolution to trust in Him, as that by which he was resolved to live and die. The believer, though not terrified by his enemies, may be tempted, by the fears of his friends, to desert his post, or neglect his work. They perceive his danger, but not his security; they give him counsel that is of worldly policy, rather than of heavenly wisdom. The principles of religion are the foundations on which the faith and hope of the righteous are built. We are concerned to hold these fast against all temptations to unbelief; for believers would be undone, if they had not God to go to, God to trust in, and future bliss to hope for. The prosperity of wicked people in their wicked, evil ways, and the straits and distresses which the best men are sometimes brought into, tried David's faith.

How say ye to my soul - the soul being put for the person himself. “Why” do you say this to me? how can you give me such counsel, as if I were to run away from danger, and to put no trust in God? He seems to have supposed that such an act of flight would have been construed by his enemies, and by the enemies of faith, as evidence that he had no faith or confidence in God. Such circumstances often occur in the world; and when that would be the “fair” and “natural” construction of one’s conduct, the path of duty is plain. We are to remain where we are; we are boldly to face the danger, and commit the whole matter to God.

Flee as a bird to your mountain - This implies that it was supposed there was no longer any safety where he then was. The use of the plural number here - “Flee ye,” by a change not uncommon in the Hebrew writings - seems designed to refer to the whole class of persons in those circumstances. The mind turns from his own particular case to that of others in the same circumstances; and the language may be designed to imply that this was the usual counsel given to such persons; that, on the same principle on which they now advised flight in this particular case, they would also advise flight in all similar cases. That is, they would counsel persons to flee to a place of safety when they were in danger of their life from persecution. This is the common counsel of the world; this would be the ordinary teaching of human prudence. The mountains in that area were regarded as places of safety, and were the common refuge of those who were in danger. In their caves and fastnesses, and on their heights, those who were in danger found security, for they could there hide themselves, or could more easily defend themselves, than they could in the plains and in the valleys. Hence, they became the place of retreat for robbers and bandits, as well as for the persecuted. The allusion to the bird here does not imply that birds sought a refuge in the mountains, and that he was to resemble them in this respect; but the point of the comparison turns on the rapidity with which this refuge should be sought:” Fly to the mountains as swiftly as a bird flies from danger.”

Psa 11:2  For, lo, the wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart.

For, lo, the wicked bend their bow - These are to be regarded as the words of the persons referred to in the previous verse, who had advised the persecuted psalmist to flee to the mountains. In this verse reasons are suggested for that advice. The reasons are, that the enemy was preparing for an attack, and that at an unexpected moment the attack would be made unless he should effect his escape. Apprised of the danger, he might now make good his escape, and avoid the peril which was impending. The common weapon in war, as in hunting, was the bow and arrow. The process of preparing for the use of the bow consisted in bending it, and properly adjusting the arrow. The Hebrew word used here is “tread;” “the wicked tread upon the bow;” that is, with a view to bend it.

They make ready their arrow upon the string - Hebrew, “they fit or fix the arrow upon the string.” That is, they place the end of the arrow in the proper place upon the string of the bow.

That they may privily shoot at the upright in heart - That is, that they may do it secretly or treacherously. They do not intend to do it in open day, or (as we say) “in a fair fight;” but they mean to do it when their victim is not aware of their design. The phrase, “the upright in heart,” may be a statement of the advisers in the case, that those whom they counseled were thus upright - a statement on their part that the attack was made on the righteous.

the upright in heart - such as David, and those that were with him, were; they were men whose hearts were upright before God,

Psa 11:3  If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?

If the foundations be destroyed - These are still to be regarded as the words of the psalmist’s advisers; or as an argument why he should make his escape. The word “foundations,” here, refers to those things on which society rests, or by which social order is sustained - the great principles of truth and righteousness that uphold society, as the foundations on which an edifice rests uphold the building. The reference is to a destruction of those things in a community, when truth is no longer respected; when justice is no longer practiced; when fraud and violence have taken the place of honesty and honor; when error prevails; when a character for integrity and virtue affords no longer any security. This is supposed to be the case in the circumstances referred to in the psalm, when there was no respect paid to truth and justice, and when the righteous, therefore, could find no security. It is under these circumstances the advice is given that the righteous should seek safety in flight.

What can the righteous do - What source of safety or confidence has he? His trust for his own safety, and for the good of society, has always been in the prevalence of just principles, and he has no other resource. Whatever others may do; whatever reliance they may place on such things, he can have no confidence in fraud, dishonesty, and error - in secret machinations and plans of treachery and deceit. His reliance is, and must be, in the prevalence of just principles; in the observance of law; in the diffusion of truth; in plans and deeds which are honorable and pure. When these no longer prevail, the argument is, there is nothing on which he can repose confidence in executing the plans on which his heart is fixed, and his proper course would be to flee.

Psa 11:4  The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD'S throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.

The Lord is in his holy temple - Hebrew, “Jehovah is in the temple of his holiness.” That is, He is in heaven, regarded as His temple or dwelling-place. This is the answer of the psalmist to the suggestions of his advisers that he should flee from danger. The answer is, in substance, that he had nothing to fear; that he had a protector in heaven; and that he might appeal to Him for defense. The idea is, that God, the protector of the righteous, is always in the heavens; that His throne is always accessible; and that to it the persecuted may come, and may always be safe.

The Lord is in his holy temple - He is still to be sought and found in the place vhere He has registered His name. Though the priests be destroyed, the God in whose worship they were employed still lives, and is to be found in His temple by His upright worshippers. And He tries the heart and the reins of both sinners and saints. Nothing can pass without His notice.

The Lord’s throne is in heaven - God is a king, ruling the universe. As such, the seat of His power or dominion is represented as in heaven, where He administers his government. That throne is fixed, and the affairs of His universe will be administered with justice. The righteous, therefore, may hope in His protection, and need not flee when the wicked assail them. The idea here is that of unwavering confidence in God as sitting upon the throne of the universe, and administering its affairs with justice and truth. Compare Isa 66:1 Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?

the Lord's throne is in heaven - here He sits on a throne of grace, and here He has prepared His throne for judgment; and both this and the preceding clause are expressive of His glory and majesty; and are said to command awe and reverence of the Divine Being, and to inject terror into the wicked; and to show that God is above the enemies of His people, and to encourage the saints' trust and confidence in Him; and are mentioned as a reason why David put his trust in Him; and are, with what follows in Psa_11:5, opposed to the advice and reasonings of some of his friends in the preceding ones;

His eyes behold - He sees everything in all parts of His vast universe, and therefore He knows all the purposes of the wicked, and all the wants of the righteous. The thought here, as one imparting a sense of safety, is, that God sees us. He is not ignorant of what our enemies are doing, and He is not ignorant of what we need. If He were, the case would be different. We might then despair of safety, and feel that our enemies could overcome and destroy us. It is much, in the trials of life, to have this assurance - this constant feeling - that God sees us. He knows our condition, our wants, our dangers; He knows all that our enemies are doing - all their machinations against us. Knowing all this, we may be assured that He will interpose when it is best that He should interpose, and that He will suffer nothing to come upon us which it is not best that He should permit. When evil befalls us, therefore, it does not come because God does not know it, or because He could not prevent it, but because, seeing it all, He judges that it is best that it should thus occur.

His eyelids try - That is, they prove, penetrate into, as if by seeing through them. He searches into their very hearts, and into the inmost recesses of them, and takes cognizance of their thoughts, intentions, and designs; and confounds and disappoints them, so that they cannot perform their enterprises. The “eyelids” here are synonymous with the eyes. The form of the language is varied in accordance with a custom common in Hebrew, and there is attributed here to the eyelids what properly belongs to the eyes - the power of seeing.

The children of men - All men, good and bad. He knows them all - all their purposes, their designs, their wishes, their dangers. He knows, therefore, what our enemies are doing; He knows what are our perils; and we may safely leave our cause with Him. We should not, therefore, listen to the counsel which advises us to flee, but should rather put our trust in Him who dwells in the heavens.

He is in heaven; in all His glorious majesty, of His sovereign power and dominion over all men and things, and of His accurate inspection into all men and their actions. He sits on His throne to examine all causes, and to give righteous sentence according to every man's works. He thoroughly discerns all men, their most inward and secret actions: and therefore He sees and will reward or punish accordingly.

Psa 11:5  The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.

The Lord trieth the righteous - That is, He “proves” them, searches them, tests the reality of their piety. His dealings with them are such as to test the genuineness of their faith, and are designed to show their sincerity and the real power of their religious principles. It is not for the purpose of destroying them, or punishing them, that He deals with them as He does, but it is to show the reality of their attachment to Him. This language seems here to be used to show the feeling of the persecuted and afflicted author of the psalm. He understood the reason why these calamities were suffered to come upon him - to wit, as a trial of his faith; and therefore it was his duty to remain and bear these troubles, and not to attempt to escape from them by flight. He says, therefore, that these troubles in the case of the righteous were in strong contrast with the purpose of the divine dealings toward the wicked, on whom God would “rain” snares, fire, and brimstone. In their case His judgments were for the purpose of punishing and destroying; in the case of the righteous it was to “try” them, or to test the reality of their religion.

The Lord trieth the righteous - He does not abandon them; He tries them to show their faithfulness, and He afflicts them for their good.

The Lord trieth the righteous - As gold is refined in the fire, by afflictive providences; hereby He tries their graces, their faith, and patience, their hope, and love, and fear; and, by so doing, expresses His love to them, since this is all for their good: and therefore, when He suffers the wicked to go great lengths in persecuting and distressing them, this should not weaken, their confidence in Him; He still loves them, and loves when He rebukes and chastises them; Heb 12:5-6 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons, "My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the Lord loves He chastens, and He scourges every son whom He receives."

And him that loveth violence - Referring particularly here to those who were engaged in persecuting him who was the author of this psalm. They were contemplating acts of violence toward him; he says that all such persons were the objects of the divine displeasure, and would be appropriately punished.

His soul hateth - that is, He hates. God is often spoken of in language appropriate to man; and He is here referred to as having a soul - as He is elsewhere as having eyes, hands, or feet. The meaning is, that all such persons were the objects of the divine abhorrence, and that the divine dealings with them were not, as with the righteous, to “try” them, but to “punish” and “destroy” them. Knowing this, the persecuted author of the psalm, instead of fleeing, calmly committed himself and his cause to God.

the wicked, and him that loveth violence, his soul hateth - that is, such who live in a course of sin and wickedness, and who not only do injury to the persons, characters, and properties of men, but love it, and delight therein, and also take pleasure in them that do the same: these God has a continued and inward aversion to; sin and wickedness being the abominable thing His righteous soul hates: and He shows his hatred to them, by not chastising them now, as He does his own people, but reserving everlasting punishment for them hereafter;

Psa 11:6  Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.

He shall reign snares - It seems rather incongruous to speak of raining down “snares, “ - understanding by the word snares, as it is used with us, that which entangles, as the snares by which we catch a bird, or by which a wild animal is taken. The word used here, however, seems to refer to anything by which one is taken in his career or course, or is involved in difficulties; and the meaning is, that God would arrest or seize upon the wicked, as a wild beast is secured by the snares or the toils of the hunter. By their being sent down as in a “rain,” is denoted that such means of their arrest and punishment would exist in abundance, so that they could not escape.  Judgments shall fall upon them suddenly and unawares.

Snares - Grievous plagues or judgments, which are called snares, because wicked men are often surprised with them when they least expect them. And because they cannot escape them, or get out of them; but are held fast and destroyed by them.

Fire and brimstone - There is probably an allusion here to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. As those cities were eminent for their wickedness, and were destroyed on account of their guilt, they furnished an illustration of the manner in which God would treat the wicked in all future times. As they were destroyed on account of their wickedness, so will all the wicked be destroyed.

He shall rain snares, fire and brimstone - The phrases used express the dreadfulness and horribleness of their punishment; the suddenness, violence, and force, with which it will come; and the rise of it, it will be from heaven; God himself will rain this shower of wrath upon them; nor will there be any escaping it, it will be inevitable: therefore "snares" are said to be "rained"; the wicked will be snared in the works of their own hands; they will be taken and held in the cords of their own sins; and full and deserved punishment will be inflicted on them, which will be very severe and terrible. All that is dreadful in a storm is here expressed, even in a storm of fire.

And an horrible tempest - As a furious blast of wind sweeps away houses and trees, spreading wide desolation, so will the wicked be swept away by the manifestation of the wrath of God.

The portion of their cup - which will be measured out to them in proportion to their sins, and which God, in righteous judgment, has appointed for them; and which they shall all drink of, and wring out the very dregs of it. Cup is sometimes put for plenty, for abundance; but here it seems to be used to express the quantum of sorrow and misery which the wicked shall have on the earth.

The portion of their cup - Cup is a frequent figure for God’s favor or wrath Psa_16:5 The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot. Psa_23:5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Mat_20:22-23 But Jesus answered and said, You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They said to Him, We are able. And He said to them, You shall indeed drink of My cup and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but to those for whom it has been prepared by My Father.

Psa 11:7  For the righteous LORD loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright.

For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness - This would be more correctly rendered, “For Jehovah is righteous; He loves righteousness.” The idea is, that God is Himself righteous, and, consequently, He loves those who are righteous. He may be confided in, therefore, by the righteous as their friend, and being under His protection they have nothing to fear.

For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness - The Lord is righteous in Himself, and in all His ways and works; and therefore righteousness, as it lies both in punishing the wicked, and in maintaining the righteous cause of His people, must be loved by Him, it being agreeable to His nature: He loves to exercise righteousness in the earth, to administer it to and among men; this He delights in. He is well pleased with the righteousness of His Son, it being satisfactory to His justice, and that by which His law is magnified and made honorable; and He is well pleased with His people, as they are clothed with it: and He approves of their righteous actions, as they are done in obedience to His righteous law, in faith, from a principle of love, and with a view to His glory; these are acceptable to Him in Christ;

his countenance — The word rendered “countenance” is, in the Hebrew, in the plural number; literally, “His faces”. This is a use of the plural applied to God, as in Gen_1:26; Gen_3:22; Gen_11:7; Isa_6:8, etc., denoting the fullness of His perfections, or more probably originating in a reference to the Trinity of persons. “Faces” is used as “eyes”, expressing here God’s complacency towards the upright.

His countenance doth behold the upright - The idea is, that God looks upon the upright; that is, He sees their dangers amid their wants; He looks upon them with favor and affection. Being thus constantly under His eye, and being objects of His favorable regard, they can have nothing to fear; or, in other words, they are safe. This, then, is the argument of the righteous man, in reply to the suggestion Psa_11:1 that he should “flee” from danger. The argument is, that God would be his defender, and that he might safely rely on His protection. The wicked have everything to fear; the righteous, nothing. The one is never safe; the other, always. The one will be delivered out of all his troubles; the end of the other can be only ruin.

Genesis 11:1-9, Tower of Babel

Genesis 11
1 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech.
2 As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.
3 They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar.
4 Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth."
5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building.
6 The LORD said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.
7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other."
8 So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city.
9 That is why it was called Babel — because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

This is the story of the Tower of Babel on the plain of Shinar. Shinar is located in modern day Iraq. If you recall the story of Noah, at the end, God wants Noah and his family to spread out and repopulate the earth.

Genesis 9
7 As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it."

Instead of doing that, the people wanted to stay in one spot and make a tower.

4 Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth."

In verse 4 we read that their goal was to make a name for themselves and not be scattered over the earth. That was in direct contradiction to what God told them to do. Through their prideful actions they were rebelling and disobeying the Lord.

They were also taking pride in themselves, glorifying themselves instead of the Lord, making a name for themselves. They made themselves an idol. They worshiped themselves.

Exodus 20
2 "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
3 "You shall have no other gods before me.
4 "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 
5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me. 

So God gave them many languages and they spread out. This way, they did what the Lord wanted and populated the earth.

We can see how important it is to for us to obey Him, to follow His wishes. We can also see how we are to give honor and glory to God and not to ourselves.

Colossians 3:17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Genesis 6:11-7:18, Noah and the ark

9 This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.


11 Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight and was full of violence.
12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways.
13 So God said to Noah, "I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth.

When we looked at Adam and Eve, we saw how the punishment for sin is death. God is saying here that He will destroy them for their wickedness, for their sins. God will spare Noah and his sons because Noah was a righteous man. Through the blood of Jesus, we are declared righteous too, so we are spared punishment for our sins.

14 So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out.
15 This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high.
16 Make a roof for it and finish the ark to within 18 inches of the top. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks.

The ark is a huge boat. It is 1 and a half football fields long and 2 football fields wide and 5 stories high. It had to be that large to hold all of the animals. It was also designed by God so you know it was seaworthy.

17 I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish.
18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons' wives with you.
19 You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you.
20 Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive.
21 You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them."
22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him.

Do you know what a covenant is? That is like a contract between 2 parties. Here God makes a contract promise to Noah, that He will save Noah and his family. Notice how Noah did what the Lord told him to do. When God tells you to do something, do you do it? What ways does God speak to us? Through the bible is one way He speaks to us. He tells us in the bible how we are to live. How often do you live as He wants you to live?

Genesis 7
1 The LORD then said to Noah, "Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation.
2 Take with you seven of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and two of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate,
3 and also seven of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth.
4 Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made."
5 And Noah did all that the LORD commanded him.

God told Noah to take 7 of every kind of clean animal and 2 of the unclean animals. Why do you suppose God did that?

Clean animals were sacrificed.

6 Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters came on the earth.
7 And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood.
8 Pairs of clean and unclean animals, of birds and of all creatures that move along the ground,
9 male and female, came to Noah and entered the ark, as God had commanded Noah.
10 And after the seven days the floodwaters came on the earth.
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, on the seventeenth day of the second month—on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened.
12 And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.
13 On that very day Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, together with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered the ark.
14 They had with them every wild animal according to its kind, all livestock according to their kinds, every creature that moves along the ground according to its kind and every bird according to its kind, everything with wings.
15 Pairs of all creatures that have the breath of life in them came to Noah and entered the ark.
16 The animals going in were male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah. Then the LORD shut him in.

Notice how God shut Noah in the ark. God was clearly watching out and keeping Noah safe. Some people wonder how the ark could have worked and how it could have held all those animals. Its simple. God made it happen. Nothing is beyond Him.

17 For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth.
18 The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water.
19 They rose greatly on the earth, and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered.
20 The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than twenty feet,
21 Every living thing that moved on the earth perished—birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind.
22 Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died.
23 Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; men and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds of the air were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark.
24 The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days.

Genesis 8
1 But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded.
2 Now the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens had been closed, and the rain had stopped falling from the sky.
3 The water receded steadily from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the water had gone down,
4 and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.
5 The waters continued to recede until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains became visible.

God keeps His promises. He promised to keep Noah and his family safe, and He did. He tells us that if we believe in Jesus that we have eternal life. We can trust God to keep that promise too.

6 After forty days Noah opened the window he had made in the ark
7 and sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth.
8 Then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground.
9 But the dove could find no place to set its feet because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark.
10 He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark.
11 When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth.
12 He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him.
13 By the first day of the first month of Noah's six hundred and first year, the water had dried up from the earth. Noah then removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry.
14 By the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth was completely dry.

Who wants to do the math and tell me how long Noah was in the ark before the ground dried up? Lol, I will make it easy on you. The earth was flooded for 150 days, but Noah stayed in the ark for days.

15 Then God said to Noah,
16 "Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives.
17 Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground—so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number upon it."
18 So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons' wives.
19 All the animals and all the creatures that move along the ground and all the birds—everything that moves on the earth—came out of the ark, one kind after another.
20 Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it.
21 The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: "Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.

What was the first thing that Noah did when he got out of the ark?

He sacrificed to God. Why did he sacrifice to God?

He was thanking God and worshipping Him. Do we sacrifice to God today? We do.

Romans 12
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.
2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

When we live our lives in a way that pleases God by turning away from sin, then we are a living sacrifice to God. We also make sacrifices when we do good works for Him. These sacrifices are a way we can worship Him.

Philippians 4
18 I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.

What is the ultimate sacrifice? The one sacrifice that paid for our sins?

Jesus

Ephesians 5
1 Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children
2 and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Genesis 9
8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him:
9 "I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you
10 and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth.
11 I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth."
12 And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come:
13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds,
15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.
16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth."

One last bit of this story. God makes a covenant with Noah and all living creatures. He promises never to destroy the entire earth again by a flood. The rainbow is a sign of that promise. When you see a rainbow, remember the story of Noah. Remember God’s promises to us.

The story of Noah is about how God punishes the wicked, but saves the righteous. Its about the faith of Noah in obeying God, and how God keeps His promise to Noah.

Genesis 1:1-3:24, Adam and Eve

This tells the story of how God created the universe, and how man fell into sin.

Genesis 1: 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Famous words. God created everything.

Just a quick summary of creation, which took place in 6 days. He rested on the seventh day.
Day 1
God created light

Day 2
God created heaven

Day 3
God created the earth, seas, trees and plants

Day 4
God created the sun, the moon, the stars

Day 5
God created the birds and fish

Day 6
God created animals, and finally man

Day 7
God rested

Genesis 2:18 – Genesis 3:24

Genesis 2
18 The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."
19 Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.
20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found.
21 So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh.
22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
23 The man said,
"This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called 'woman,'
for she was taken out of man."
24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
25 The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

Here we see Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. They have not sinned yet and are in His favor.

Genesis 3
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"
2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,
3 but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' "
4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman.
5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

Does anyone know what the first sin was in this passage?

The sin was disobedience to God. The bible tells us that Eve was deceived and Adam sinned. Both are guilty here.

1 Timothy
14And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.

Romans 5
12Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned—.

Lets look at this and see how Eve was deceived. What did God say about this tree and its fruit?

Genesis 2
16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."

God said “don’t eat from it.” What happens in the conversation between the serpent and Eve?

Genesis 3
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"

Here the serpent tries to make Eve doubt Gods words. Eve falls for it, and adds her own bit to Gods instruction.

2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,
3 but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' "

God never said don’t touch it. He only said don’t eat of it.

4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 
5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

Here the devil lies and tries to convince Eve that God is being mean by telling her don’t eat from that tree. The devil twisted Gods instructions to make it sound like His instruction is bad. The devil wanted Adam and Eve to disobey God. And Eve fell for it.

6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

You know what Adam and Eve did here? They put their desires above Gods wishes. And look how badly that turned out. Lets go on and look at more of this passage.

8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
9 But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"
10 He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."
11 And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"
12 The man said, "The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it."
13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?"
The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

You know, people never change. When you do wrong at home, don’t you kinda hide from your parents? (Adults think back alllll those years to the time of your youth.) When someone asks you if you did this bad thing, don’t you try and pass the blame onto anyone, even the family dog? Doesn’t work does it? As we will see in this next portion of scripture, it didn’t work for Adam either. God says we are to blame for our wrongful actions. No one else.

14 So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this,
"Cursed are you above all the livestock
and all the wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust
all the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel."
16 To the woman he said,
"I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing;
with pain you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
and he will rule over you."
17 To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,'
"Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat of it
all the days of your life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return."

Ouch that’s quite a punishment. It may seem like a small sin, but sin is a big deal to God. God does not like sin at all.

God holds all 3 to blame for this first sin of mankind. Eve was deceived and sinned. Adam willingly sinned. And the serpent led them into sin. All 3 get punished.

Satan still tries to get us to disobey God.

1 Peter 5: 8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

Ephesians 6
10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.
12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

God means what He says. He told Adam and Eve that they would die if they ate of the tree. And they did die from that day onwards.

Even then, God knew Jesus would come and save man from his sins. Did you know that Jesus was planned for before the world began?

1 Peter 1
19but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.
20He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.

God mentions Jesus in this part too. When He handed out the punishments, He also pointed out the hope of being saved from sin.

15 And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel."

This part refers to Jesus and the devil. Jesus will crush the head of satan, while satan strikes His heel. Good news, Jesus wins. Satan was defeated at the cross when Jesus paid for our sins.

20 Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.

Do you know even science says that all humans came from one female they call Eve. The bible says it here first.

21 The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.

God makes the first sacrifice for the sin of man. God also makes the last sacrifice when Jesus died on the cross for our sins.

22 And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever."
23 So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.
24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

This tells the story of the first sin and why we need Jesus. The sin was disobedience to God. What are some ways you are disobedient to God?

When you don’t follow His commandments. Can you name one of them?

When we have Jesus, He covers for us when we sin. Our sins are forgive.

1 John 2
1My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 
2He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

Psalm 99

This psalm is closely linked in its general character and design with those which have gone before Ps. 95–98, and with the one following Psa_100:1-5 - forming a connected group or series. The general subject is the kingship of the Lord, or the foundations of praise derived from the fact that He reigns, or is king. As the foundation of praise on this account, reference is made in this group of psalms to His attributes; to what He has done in the works of creation; to what He has done for His people; and to the certainty that He will come ultimately to rule over all the earth, and to exercise just judgment among people.

This psalm consists of the following parts:

I. A statement of the fact that the Lord reigns, and that this should make a deep impression on the world; that the people should tremble; that the earth should be moved, Psa_99:1.

II. Reasons for this, or reasons why He should be reverenced and adored by mankind, Psa_99:2-9. These reasons are two:

(1) The first is derived from the fact that He is a holy and a righteous God, and is therefore worthy of universal adoration, Psa_99:2-5.

(2) The second is derived from what He has done for His people: for His merciful interposition in times of trouble, when Moses, and Aaron, and Samuel called upon His name; and from the fact that He answered His people when they cried unto Him; and from the manner in which it was done, Psa_99:6-9. He had shown himself ready to hear their protection in the cloudy pillar, He had answered their supplications, and had forgiven them. He had not swept them wholly away, or cut them off, but had spared them, and had shown mercy to them.

One scholar says the 99th Psalm has three parts, in which the Lord is celebrated as He who is to come, as He who is, and as He who was, and each part is closed with the ascription of praise: He is holy.

Psa 99:1  The LORD reigneth; let the people tremble: he sitteth between the cherubims; let the earth be moved.

Let the people tremble - signifying to be moved, disturbed, disquieted, thrown into commotion; and then it may mean to be moved with anger, Pro_29:9; Isa_28:21; or with grief, 2Sa_18:33 : or with fear, Psa_4:4; or with joy, Jer_33:9. Hence, it means to be agitated or moved with fear or reverence; and it refers here to the reverence or awe which one has in the conscious presence of God.

Let the people tremble - He will establish his kingdom in spite of his enemies; let those who oppose him tremble for the consequences.

let the people tremble - with awe of His majesty, and reverence of His word and ordinances; rejoicing before Him with trembling, as His own people and subjects do, Psa_2:11 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling, or it may be understood of the people that are enemies to Christ, who would not have Him to reign, though He shall whether they will or not; and who will sooner or later tremble for fear of Him, and His righteous judgment.

Let the earth be moved - The word means to move or quake. It occurs nowhere else.

let the earth be moved - not that itself out of its place, but the inhabitants of it; and these either with a sense of sin and duty, and become subject to Christ their King; or with wrath and indignation at Him, or through fear of Him. Consider the land of Judea, and of the commotion in it, especially in Jerusalem, when the tidings were brought of the birth of the King Messiah, Mat_2:1, or of the shaking and moving both of the civil and ecclesiastical state of the nation, and of the ruin of it; Heb_12:26.

He sitteth between the cherubims - This is in reference to the ark, at each end of which was a cherub of glory; and the shechinah, or symbol of the Divine Presence, appeared on the lid of the ark, called also the mercy-seat, between the cherubim. Sitting between the cherubim implies God’s graciousness and mercy. While then, in His reign, He was terrible to sinners, He is on the throne of grace to all who fear love, and obey Him. Though this symbol were not in the second temple, yet the Divine Being might very well be thus denominated, because it had become one of His titles, He having thus appeared under the tabernacle and first temple.

God governs the world by His providence, governs the church by His grace, and both by His Son. The inhabitants of the earth have cause to tremble, but the Redeemer still waits to be gracious. Let all who hear, take warning, and seek His mercy. The more we humble ourselves before God, the more we exalt Him; and let us be thus reverent, for He is holy.

Psa 99:2  The LORD is great in Zion; and he is high above all

the people.

The Lord is great in Zion - The meaning here is, not that God is “absolutely” great - which is indeed true - but that there is a sense in which He has shown Himself great “in Zion;” that is, in His manifestations toward His own people. He has evinced power in their behalf; He has interposed for them in times of danger; He has so discomfited their enemies as to show that He is a great God - a God worthy to be adored.

The Lord is great in Zion - It is among His own worshippers that He has manifested his power and glory in a special manner. There He is known, and there He is worthily magnified.

The Lord is great in Zion -  Where the temple stood, and into which Christ came as the proprietor of it, and gave it a greater glory by His presence than the first temple had; here He preached His doctrines, wrought many of His miracles; here He poured forth the Spirit on His apostles; and from hence went forth His Gospel into all the world: Psalms 98:1 A Psalm. O sing to the LORD a new song; for He has done marvelous things; His right hand and His holy arm have saved for Him.

And he is high above all the people - Above all the nations. He has them under His control. He rules over all. The God who rules in Zion also rules all the nations of the earth; and His people, therefore, have special occasion to praise him.

and he is high above all people - as God, He is the Creator of them all; in whom they live, move, and have their being, and so must be above them all; as Mediator, He is the Savior of His own people, and exalted to be so unto them; as King, He is higher than the kings of the earth, and therefore must be above all the rest of the inhabitants of it; He is higher than the heavens, and the angels there, and therefore He must be higher than the earth, and they that dwell in it; He is highly exalted above every name that is named in this world, or in that to come.

Psa 99:3  Let them praise thy great and terrible name; for it is holy.

Let them praise thy great and terrible name - The word rendered “terrible” means “to be feared or reverenced;” that is, His name - His being - He Himself - is suited to inspire awe and reverence. The word “them” here refers to the nations over whom God reigns. It is a call on them to praise their king and their God.

For it is holy - The fact that God “is” holy - that He is pure and righteous - that He cannot look upon sin but with abhorrence - is a just foundation for universal praise. Who could worship or honor a God who was not pure and holy?

For it is holy - As this not only ends this verse but the fifth also, and in effect the ninth, it seems to be a chorus which was sung in a very solemn manner at the conclusion of each of these parts. His holiness - the immaculate purity of His nature, is the reason why He should be exalted, praised, and worshipped.

for it is holy - His name is holy, as well as reverend and great; His nature is holy, both divine and human; holy in all His ways and works; and is holiness to His people, and therefore worthy of praise; holiness is the ground and foundation of His praise from the seraphim, Isa_6:2-3 Above it stood the seraphs; each one had six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth full of His glory.

Psa 99:4  The king's strength also loveth judgment; thou dost establish equity, thou executest judgment and righteousness in Jacob.

The King's strength also loveth judgment - Or he who is a strong and mighty King, as Christ is; which appears by saving His people, and preserving them to His kingdom and glory, and by destroying all enemies; but, though He is so potent and victorious a Prince, yet no tyrannical one, He loves and does what is just and righteous; He loved the righteous law of God, and obeyed it in the whole course of his life; He wrought out a perfect righteousness for His people, and encourages and loves righteousness in them; He will judge the world in righteousness hereafter; and is now on His throne, and in His kingdom, ordering it with judgment and justice; all the administrations of His kingly office are just and true, and herein He delights:

The king’s strength - The word king here undoubtedly refers to God as a king. The word rendered “strength,” means power, force; and the reference here is to what constitutes the main strength or power of His character and government. God’s essential character; all the acts of His power; all the demonstrations of His authority, will be in favor of justice, and may be relied on as sustaining the righteous cause. It is not the “mere” exertion of power - it is power that is always exercised in favor of right; and this lays the foundation of praise. We could not praise a being of “mere” power, or one who was merely “almighty,” without respect to His moral character. It is only when the character is such that power will be exerted in favor of that which is right and just that it becomes the proper subject of praise.

Loveth judgment - Is always on the side of justice and right. He so loves justice that His power will be put forth only in behalf of that which is right. God shows this by His law, and by all the acts of His administration.

thou dost establish equity - uprightnesses, righteousnesses; a perfect and a complete righteousness: This He has prepared, as the word signifies, by His obedience, sufferings, and death, and has established as an everlasting one; moreover, equity, righteousness, and justice, are the settled rules and laws of His government; see Isa_9:7 There is no end of the increase of His government and peace on the throne of David, and on His kingdom, to order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice from now on, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.

Thou executest judgment and righteousness in Jacob - That which is just; that which ought to be done.

thou executest judgment and righteousness in Jacob - among Israel and people of God, as David as a type depiction of Christ did, 2Sa_8:15 And David reigned over all Israel. And David did judgment and justice to all his people. Thereby keeping them in due order, in the observance of His righteous judgments and statutes, and defending them from their enemies.

Judgment - Though His dominion be absolute, and His power irresistible, yet He manages it with righteousness.

Psa 99:5  Exalt ye the LORD our God, and worship at his footstool; for he is holy.

Exalt ye the Lord our God -  Christ, who is Lord of all, and Immanuel, God with us, God in our nature, our Lord and our God; exalt Him in His person, as God over all, blessed for ever; in His offices of Prophet, Priest, and King, by hearkening to His word, by trusting in His blood, righteousness, and sacrifice, and by submitting to His ordinances, and obeying His commands; exalt Him in heart, thought, and affection, thinking highly of Him, and affectionately loving Him; exalt and extol Him in words, speak of His love and loveliness, and of the great things He has done; exalt Him in private and in public, in the family and in the house of God; make mention of Him everywhere, that His name be exalted:

               

Exalt ye the Lord our God - The meaning is, Let His name be 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 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 in comparison with heaven - the place of His. Isa_66:1 So says the LORD, Heaven is My throne, and earth My footstool. Where, then, is the house that you build for Me? And where is the place of My rest? Mat_5:34-35 But I say to you, Do not swear at all! Not by Heaven, because it is God's throne; not by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet; not by Jerusalem, because it is the city of the great King;

Worship at his footstool - Sometimes the earth is called God’s footstool, Mat_5:35; Isa_66:1; sometimes Jerusalem; sometimes the temple, Lam_2:1; sometimes the tabernacle, Psa_32:7; and sometimes the ark, 1Ch_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.

For he is holy - The fact that God is “holy” is a reason for lowly and profound prostration before him.

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;

Psa 99:6  Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among them that call upon his name; they called upon the LORD, and he answered them.

Moses and Aaron among his priests - Among the ministers of religion; or, as officiating in the service of God. Let them come as representatives of their order - as representing those who conduct the public worship of God, and join in His praise. The idea is, that all mankind should join in His praise, and those mentioned here as among the most eminent of those who were engaged in directing the public worship of God. Moses could be called a “priest” only in the most general sense of the term, as having been employed in directing and arranging for public worship, and as being of the original tribe of Levi, from whom the whole sacerdotal order sprang.

And Samuel among them that call upon his name - Among those who are true worshippers, in distinction from the priests who were specially appointed to the public service of God. The idea is, that praise should be offered by “all” classes: by priests and by people. As Moses and Aaron were among the most eminent of the former class, so Samuel was among the most distinguished of those who were not of the priestly order. These were “representative men;” and the meaning is, that all who were of their order or rank - priests and people - should unite in the worship of God.

They called upon the Lord - They did call upon the Lord; they worshipped Yahweh. They the example of public worship and praise; and the benefits which they received in answer to prayer showed the propriety and advantage of thus publicly acknowledging God. Calling on the name of the Lord includes the whole worship of God, and is often used particularly of prayer; the object of which is God, and Him only; and who is to be called upon at all times, and especially in a time of trouble, and always in faith, and with sincerity and truth;

And he answered them - They did not call upon Him in vain. He heard their prayers. He bestowed blessings on them in connection with their worship. It was not a useless thing to praise and worship Him. The worship of God is thus commended to us not merely from the propriety of the act itself, but from its advantages. It is unnecessary to refer to particular instances in the history of these people when their prayers were answered. Their lives were full of such instances - as the lives of all who truly call upon God are now. If a man who prays could “see” all that comes to him every day in answer to prayer - all the things bestowed which he had “desired” in prayer, and which would not have been conferred on him if he had not prayed, there would no longer be any doubt on the question whether God answers prayer.

Moses and Aaron - As Moses and Aaron among the priests, and as Samuel among the prophets, worshipped God in humility, gratitude, and the spirit of obedience, and received the strongest tokens of the Divine favor; so you should worship the Lord, that He may bless, support, and save you. Moses was properly the priest of the Hebrews before Aaron and his family were appointed to that office.

Psa 99:7  He spake unto them in the cloudy pillar: they kept his testimonies, and the ordinance that he gave them.

He spake unto them in the cloudy pillar - He spoke to the men of other times; to those who called upon His name. It cannot be meant literally that He spoke to “Samuel” from the “cloudy pillar” - the pillar which guided the Israelites in the wilderness, unless that term be understood in the general sense as denoting the “Shechinah” - the visible symbol of the divine presence - the cloud that rested on the ark. The idea is, that God spoke to His people in ancient times from the cloud - the symbol of His presence; that He communed with them; that He heard their prayers; that He gave them His commandments; that He interposed in their behalf, and that it was not a vain thing that they worshipped him. All this was as true of Samuel - it is as true now of those who call upon God - as it was of Moses and Aaron.

He spake unto them in the cloudy pillar - In the pillar of the clouds of glory; in which the Lord went before the children of Israel in the wilderness, to lead them, and protect them from heat in the day, Exo_13:21, that is, He spoke in this to Moses and Aaron; for it ceased when they came to the land of Canaan; instances of which see in Exo_19:9, some have thought that the Lord might speak to Samuel also out of a cloud, when He called upon him, and it thundered, since clouds and thunder go together, 1Sa_12:18, the cloudy pillar was a type of Christ; and it is by Him the Lord has spoken all His mind and will, when He was clothed with a cloud, or became obscure in the form of a servant; and it is through Him, the Mediator, that men have access to God, and answers of prayer from Him:

They kept his testimonies - the law, and the precepts of it, which were testifications of the mind and will of God; these Moses, Aaron, and Samuel, kept, though not perfectly, yet sincerely, from a principle of love, and with a view to the glory of God: They obeyed his laws

the ordinance that he gave them - the ordinance of the passover, with the several rituals of the ceremonial law, which was an ordinance of God until the Messiah came; and we, under the Gospel dispensation, ought to keep the ordinances of Christ in faith and love, as they have been delivered to us. Obedience was united with worship.

Psa 99:8  Thou answeredst them, O LORD our God: thou wast a God that forgavest them, though thou tookest vengeance of their inventions.

Thou answeredst them, O Lord our God - The reference here is to God as “our” God; that is, the language used by those who now worship Him is designed to give encouragement in approaching His throne. The God that “we” worship is the same that “they” worshipped; and as He answered them, we may feel assured that He will answer us.

Thou wast a God that forgavest them - They were not perfect; they were sinners; they often offended the Lord, and yet He did answer them, and show them mercy. When the people had sinned, and wrath was about to descend on them, Moses and Aaron interceded for them, and they were not destroyed.

thou wast a God that forgavest them - even Moses, Aaron, and Samuel; for, though they were great and good men, they did not live without sin, and stood in need of pardoning grace and mercy, which they had.

Of their inventions - The Hebrew word denotes work, deed, doing, conduct. It means here what they did - their sins. There is no allusion to any special art or “cunning” in what they did - as if they had “invented” or found out some new form of sin.

Tookest vengeance of their inventions - God spared them, but showed His displeasure at their misdoings. He chastised, but did not consume them. This is amply proved in the history of this people. Hebrews 12:5-6 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons, "My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the Lord loves He chastens, and He scourges every son whom He receives."

Psa 99:9  Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at his holy hill; for the LORD our God is holy.

And worship at his holy hill - Worship him publicly in the temple. The “holy hill” refers to Zion, as the seat of the national worship.

For the Lord our God is holy - This appropriately closes the psalm, by a distinct and solemn statement that the fact that the Lord is a holy God is a reason for worshipping Him. This is at all times the highest reason for adoration and praise. The words of the chorus; as in the third and fifth verses.

for the Lord our God is holy - His nature is holy, and He is glorious in the perfection of His holiness, and therefore to be praised and exalted; and His name is holy, and so reverend, and therefore to be worshipped;

Exalt the Lord our God - Having given the above instances of Moses, Aaron, and Samuel, serving and worshipping the Lord, the psalmist repeats the exhortation in Psa_99:5, which he enforces by their example;