1. The holiness of the King 99:1-5

99:1-3 Because the God who reigns is so great everyone should tremble in reverential fear. In the temple God dwelt between the cherubim (1 Kings 6:23-28; cf. Ps. 80:1). The cherubim were representations of angelic beings that symbolically guarded the holiness of God. Holy means different. In particular God is holy in that He is different from man whom sin saturates.

99:4-5 God is worthy of worship because He loves justice, equity, and righteousness. These are manifestations of His holiness.

Verse 5 is a double refrain. The statement, "Holy is He,"repeats the end of verse 3. The whole fifth verse occurs again with sleight modifications in verse 9.