Psalm 99/Luke 9:28-36

After seven straight weeks reading from I Corinthians, we return to this liturgical year’s primary Gospel, Luke. Along with Psalm 99, we will read Luke 9:28-36 this Sunday, Transfiguration Day.

Psalm 99 is a call to honor God’s holiness, expressed in love, justice, and sovereign power over all things.

We hear an echo of Psalm 99:1, “…let the people tremble…”, in the story of the Transfiguration of Jesus. Strange things take place. The disciples are “weighed down with sleep” and are “terrified”.

I don’t think this is a Sunday to be too analytical. This is a Sunday for letting ourselves stand before God’s power with “fear and trembling”. Not abject fear, but that keen awareness of our smallness and finitude…and of the greatness and power of the God whose steadfast love endures forever.