We are the opposite of holy

“Exalt the LORD our God; worship at his footstool! Holy is he!” Psalm 99:5.

One of seven enthronement psalms that extol the LORD as ruler, this one points us to His holiness. This is an attribute that solely describes God, a characteristic that those who have been made in His image cannot attain because the reality is that we “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) and have earned death by our sin (6:23)—that “none is righteous, no, not one.”

We are the opposite of holy, separated from God, and until we can take ownership of our sin, we cannot obey the gospel and take on Jesus’ righteousness to be sanctified or made holy by His sacrifice. And yet, “in His divine forbearance he had passed over former sins” until Jesus could be our propitiation (3:25) so He could call a people His own, teaching them in the Law to “be holy, for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:44) and reiterating this also to His people of the new covenant as well (1 Peter 1:16).

So without God, we could not be holy and would be hopelessly lost in sin. That is reason indeed to Exalt the LORD and worship at His footstool. This must be our response to a holy God who has died to make us holy with Him.