Psalms 99:5

Worship at his footstool - Probably meaning the ark on which the Divine glory was manifested. Sometimes the earth is called God's footstool, Matthew 5:35; Isaiah 66:1; sometimes Jerusalem; sometimes the temple, Lamentations 2:1; sometimes the tabernacle, Psalm 32:7; and sometimes the ark, 1 Chronicles 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 burden chanted by the chorus.

Exalt ye the Lord our God - See the notes at Psalm 30:1. The meaning is, Let his name be, as it were, 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 - compare 1 Chronicles 28:2; Psalm 132:7 - 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; as being, in comparison with the heaven - the place of his seat - his "throne," only as the footstool is as compared with the splendid chair of state. Isaiah 66:1; Matthew 5:34-35.

For he is holy - See Psalm 99:3. Margin, "it is holy." The translation in the text best expresses the sense. The fact that God is "holy" is a reason for lowly and profound prostration before him.

99:5 Foot-stool — Before the ark, which is so called, 1 Chronicles 28:2.

Holy — It is consecrated to be a pledge of God's presence.