Psalms 99:2

Psa 99:2 The LORD [is] great in Zion; and he [is] high above all the people.

Ver. 2. The Lord is great in Zion] In his Church he giveth many great testimonies of his power and presence, and is therefore magnified by his people.

And he is high above all the people] In the things wherein they deal proudly he is above them, Exo 18:11.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Psa_99:2

The Lord is great in Zion.

God great in His Church

God is ever within the Church. Therefore the greatness of the Church is God. Not her wealth, prestige, orthodoxy, culture, or intelligence, but His inhabitation.

I. He is her greatness as a living force--attracting, new-creating, enlightening, and teaching men; as her Vital Energy moving and moulding individual character and national life (where it is allowed free course) to the high ideal of the Perfect Life. Gold, like steam in the locomotive, rightly used and directed, is a power for good. Without it the machinery will be idle. It is indispensable to the aggressive activity and beneficent service of the Church, to the carrying out of her plans of operation, and for the accomplishment of her benignant purposes. Bring the tithes into the storehouse, saith the Lord of Hosts. But let the Church try to draw her life from her wealth, and she will be strangled in the very attempt. God is her life--not national approbation and prestige. What the soul is to the body, He is to the Church. Her organization may be complete; on her roll of membership she may count the names of millions. She may look upon the nations as her friends. She may have the most stately buildings, the most exquisite architecture, music, and ritual; wealth may fill her coffers, eloquence may flow from her pulpits, scholarship, literature, and the sciences may flourish in her soil. She may spread herself until the melody of her bells shall tremble in the breeze of every clime, and the music of her songs and psalms shall be heard wherever man is found; yet, if God be not great in the midst of her, statue-like she is beautiful, but dead! All her action will be forced and mechanical, not the spontaneous outflow of life. The Lord is great in Zion.

II. God in the midst of His Church is the greatness of her moral excellence. Apart from Him humanity has no moral excellence, as apart from the sun there can be no vegetable life and fruitfulness, and no floral beauty. Every man is therefore morally excellent to the extent that he thinks, and feels, and acts like God. The true Church is in all her action consistent, dignified, noble. Her obedience is filial and faithful, and the glory of her supreme Head is her single and constant aim.

III. God is great in the Church as her infallible teacher. The two books--Nature and Revelation--which He has put into her hands, with reverent intellect and devout heart she studies, seeking from Him the right interpretation thereof. She finds tongues in trees, books in running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything. She finds no contradiction between the two volumes. And when things hard to be understood present themselves--seeming antagonisms and contradictions--she does not doubt, or dispute, or discard, but waits for more light, knowing that the defect is in the reader, in the student, and not in the book.

IV. God in the Church is the source and secret of her strength. Every man is strong to the extent that he incarnates the Divine. Gods thoughts actualized in man give sturdiness to moral muscle, firmness to the moral step, fixedness to moral purpose, a triumphing power to moral effort. Filled with God, omnipotence is mans strength. Therefore, as the individual souls strength is proportionate to the measure of the Divine he incarnates, so is the strength of the Church. Her language has always been (Isa_12:2). The power which has sustained her hitherto shall not fail her in days to come. No weapon formed against her shall prosper. She shall never fail. The end of time and the destruction of earth will be but the dawning of her day--the beginning of her life in heaven. Ever closer will be her connection with the Infinite Father.

V. God being great in His Church, He is the motive power of her action--the highest reason for all she does. (J. O. Keen, D.D.)

The greatness of God in Zion

The Lord is great in--

I. Supremacy. He is over all and above all. Then let us serve Him with reverence and gladness.

II. Power. Creation--the creation of heaven and earth; of angels and men; of suns, moons, stars, mountains, and seas; of blooming flowers and cedars of Lebanon; of all that is, seen and unseen, known and unknown--was easy and facile to Him, to whom belongeth power for evermore.

III. Faithfulness. He never falsifies His precious promises, never violates His covenant, never forsakes His people.

IV. Mercy. It endureth for ever. (G. W. McCree.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2. (Psa 99:2) Jehovah in Zion (is) great, and high (is) he above all nations. Compare Psa 48:1; Psa 95:3; Psa 96:4; Psa 97:9. The addition of the qualifying phrase in Zion shews that the reference is not to God's absolute essential greatness, but to some signal manifestation of his greatness to his people. The word translated high is originally a participle, and may be likened to our English towering.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Psalms Translated and Explained (1850) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 2. The Lord is great in Zion] It is among his own worshippers that he has manifested his power and glory in an especial manner. There he is known, and there he is worthily magnified.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

2 Jehovah in Zion It is proper that we should not forget the antithesis I formerly mentioned, namely, that God is great in Zion to destroy and annihilate all the enemies of his Church; and that, when the Psalmist goes on to say, he is high above all nations, his meaning is, not that he presides over them to promote their welfare, but to disconcert their counsels, to baffle their designs, and to subvert all their power. That which immediately follows about the praising of God’s name, refers not to the nations at large, but in my opinion to the faithful, from whom alone the prophet demands a tribute of gratitude. For although God compels his vanquished enemies to acknowledge him, yet as they do not cease from speaking against his glory, and blaspheming his holy name, it cannot be to them that the exhortation is addressed, Praise the name of God, for it is holy; but to the faithful, who, from their knowledge of God’s holy name, very cordially engage in the celebration of its praises.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

2. Jehovah is great in Zion;

And he is high above all the peoples.

Zion is the seat of His universal sovereignty on earth. Cp. Psa_48:1; Isa_57:15.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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: or in Zion, that is, in his church, and among his people; here he grants his gracious presence, and bestows the blessings of his goodness; and shows himself to be great and glorious in his person, offices, and operations; see Psa 98:1,

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 Saviour 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.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

The Lord is great in Zion - Compare Psa 95:3. 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.

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.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

The Lord is great in Zion: in the Hebrew text the words lie in this order, The Lord in Zion (i.e. which dwelleth in Zion, as is said, Psa 9:11; Isa 8:18; Joe 3:21) is great.

Above all people; above all the people of the earth, of whom he spake Psa 99:1, who shall exalt themselves against him.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ver. 2. The Lord is great in Zion. Of old the temple's sacred hill was the centre of the worship of the great King, and the place where his grandeur was most clearly beheld: his church is now his favoured palace, where his greatness is displayed, acknowledged, and adored. He there unveils his attributes and commands the lowliest homage; the ignorant forget him, the wicked despise him, the atheistical oppose him, but among his own chosen he is great beyond comparison. He is great in the esteem of the gracious, great in his acts of mercy, and really great in himself: great in mercy, power, wisdom, justice, and glory.

And he is high above all the people; towering above their highest thoughts and loftiest conceptions. The highest are not high to him, yet, blessed be his name, the lowliest are not despised by him. In such a God we rejoice, his greatness and loftiness are exceedingly delightful in our esteem; the more he is honoured and exalted in the hearts of men, the more exultant are his people. If Israel delighted in Saul because he was head and shoulders above the people, how much more should we exult in our God and King, Who is as high above us as the heavens are above the earth.

Ver. 2. He is high above all the people. The metaphor is taken from such great objects as trees, animals, palaces, towers, which are the more valued, and are regarded as possessing the greater strength, the higher they rise above others. So De 1:28 2:10, 21 9:2, Concerning the Canaanites and the giants. Martin Geier.

Ver. 2.

1. God is great in Zion in Himself, all his perfections are here, which cannot be said of creation, or of his Law, or of the heaven of angels.

2. Great in his works of saving sinners, which he cannot do elsewhere.

3. Great in his glory as displayed in redemption through his Son.

4. Great in his love to his redeemed. G. R.

Ver. 2. The Lord is great in Zion.

1. In the condescension he displaysZion is his "habitation, "his "rest."

2. In the glory he manifestspower and glory are in the sanctuary, Ps 68:2.

3. In the assemblage he draws. "Every one in Zion appeareth before God, "Ps 84:7.

4. In the blessings he imparts.

5. In the authority he exerts. W. Jackson.

Psalms 99:3*

Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

2. Great in Zion—Here is the seat of his power, which it is necessary for the nations to know, because it assures them that Israel is his people, and none but the true Israel will God defend; while to Israel it settles the great question whether Shiloh or Zion is the place for the national worship. See on Psalms 78. But above this historic intimation, we must understand the spiritual Zion here, the Church. The greatness of God “in Zion” is the greatness of his acts of redemption by his word, his Spirit, his providences, through and for his Church.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Lord is great in Zion. Primarily great among his faithful ones, among whom his greatness is especially shown. And he is high above all the people (or rather, peoples). Secondarily great, or "high," among the nations which do not acknowledge him, but are forced to tremble before him (see ver. 1).

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.