Psalm 95

1 Oh come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!

2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!

This psalm is an invitation to worship. Twice the psalmist invites the worship to come and engage in the following actions: sing to YHWH, make a joyful shout, come before his face, and sing psalms. The fact that it is in the plural (“Let us”) indicates that this is an invitation for corporate worship. The psalm was likely used at festivals which involve processions leading to the temple. The overwhelming emotion here is celebration -- shouting loudly, singing songs of praise robustly, and marching towards God in procession until the congregation is before his presence (lit. “his face”). This should be a characteristic of Christian worship as well. There’s nothing wrong with singing happy clappy songs, even though these songs are often derided. Celebratory worship needs to be accessible to all. If you can sing beautifully, then shout loudly. It’s always amazed me that the energy you experience from the crowd at a football game surpasses the energy that you experience at church. We can get emotionally charged over something as meaningless and temporary as a game while remaining emotionally unengaged before the creator of the universe who invites us into his home for conversation and a meal. This kind of engagement must come from within. The crowd at the football stadium isn’t fired up because the cheerleaders are telling them to shout together. No, this deep emotional response to the actions on the field comes from within and the cheerleaders are not even necessary (apologies to cheerleaders everywhere). In modern worship, our leaders from the stage serve as cheerleaders, and they would be unnecessary if everyone came before the presence of God fully engaged, grateful for all that God is to them, the rock of their salvation, this kind of celebration would be the norm, not the exception. When you gather with the church to worship, run these verses through your head and act appropriately. Growing up I was taught to be quiet in church. While there are holy moments that demand silence, there are equally moments in worship that demand exuberant celebration. Make sure you practice both with gusto. 

3 For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.

The verse is literally, “for God [El] great YHWH and the king great above all elohim”. This is an example of the use of “elohim” to denote gods or god-like beings. YHWH God is great, and He is the great king above all gods. This is stated as the reason for the invitation to worship in the first two verses. Sing, shout, and noise-make because God is worthy of our worship. He is ultimate, above all. Let that sink in for a minute. That’s surely what the psalmist wants us to do, to pause for a moment and consider the foundation of our worship. The psalmist acknowledges the reality of other gods. In fact, although Judaism is considered a monotheistic religion, throughout the Old Testament, the prophets acknowledge other gods. Other cultures worshiped other gods and the Jewish people were often tempted to do the same, or at least mingle their worship with the worship of YHWH. So today there are an abundance of gods in the pantheon of modern man. People even have a level of religious devotion to these gods, performing sacraments and offerings to appease and satisfy their demands. It’s been said that the three dominant gods throughout human history have been sex, money, and power. Ultimately it is the god of self that we place on the throne, even though it may manifest itself in one of those three forms. We readily acknowledge that God is on his throne, but he sits a little to the left and a little lower than our own. That way we can feel like we are honoring him, while actually it is ourselves that wear the self-aggrandizing title, “the great king above all gods.” There can only be one king above all others, and that king is not you. Stop deceiving yourself into thinking otherwise. Enthrone YHWH in your heart and actions, align your will with his, surrender your desire for control and live as a servant and worshiper of the One true king. Then sing and shout with gratitude that such a God loves you and saves you. 

4 In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also.

5 The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.

The psalmist surveys creation as he considers the handiwork of the great King. He begins with the earth itself, going from bottom to top. In his hand are the depths of the earth (this is the only place where this phrase occurs). This may refer to caves, dark places where humans did not dare to venture. These mysterious and frightening places are simply held in God’s hand. They are not secret to him. Consider all the vast channels of caves and caverns that honeycomb the surface of the earth. It’s likely that we have not yet begun to explore them, and yet God knows every inch of every one of them, even in the complete absence of light, everything there is known to him. At the top of the earth are the mountain peaks. The psalmist may have been looking toward Mt. Hermon, a snow-covered peak to the north of Israel, but we know that there are far more mountains than this to humble us with their beauty and majesty. The hands of God shaped and formed each rocky crag. Moving once again to the depths, the psalmist directs our attention to the sea, vast and violent, the depths of which we are only beginning to explore. Three-fourths of the earth’s surface is hidden under her blanket. The sea remains a mystery, but God made the mountains and valleys beneath the sea and all the creatures that dwell in them. There is not one place on earth where God is not. The final work of God’s hands is that of forming the dry land, the space that humans occupy. The psalmist may have been thinking of the epic battle that plays out every day on every shore and coastline. The waters gather all their strength and lash the shoreline, but nothing changes. The sea is held back from inundating the land. So dependable is this fact that we have built mega cities along the oceans. God tamed the sea and gave us a beautiful environment to inhabit and cultivate. We may have a lot of questions for God, but like Job, God may have some for us. Can you do any of these things? Can you describe the dark depths of the earth? Can you shape mountain tops with your bare hands? Can you create and inhabit a watery world that will kill a human being in minutes? Can you hold back the oceans with your hands? Of course you can’t, so don’t question the one who can. Worship Him. 

6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!

7 For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.

The invitation from verses 1 and 2 resumes with a different imperative. The invitation is stated three times for emphasis, each word carrying the similar connotation of bowing before the king. “Worship, bow down, kneel”, they all involve the same action: lowering oneself in the presence of One who is greater. This is the appropriate response to the king who has just been described in the previous verses -- the great king above all gods, maker of the depths of the earth and the sea, fashioner of the mountain heights, and cultivator of the earth. He does all of these things with his hands, and so it is fitting that this invitation to bow before him is rooted in what God has done for his people with his hands. The hands of the LORD here are not those of a master craftsmen, but those of a shepherd who gets close to this sheep, inspecting them for injury and illness, and carrying them when they are too stubborn to follow. It’s likely that sheep lived in the quarters of their owners so that they wouldn’t be stolen. They became like household pets (See 2 Samuel 11). The Passover lamb was selected and lived with the family for a few days before it was sacrificed. All that to say, the sheep/shepherd relationship was personal. The metaphor of God’s people as sheep is a common one in the Bible, from the most famous of psalms, (Psalm 23) to the declaration by Jesus of himself as the “Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep (John 10). In the 23rd Psalm, the LORD is my shepherd (first person singular), but here the LORD is our shepherd. The LORD shepherds his people in the same way that he shepherds each of us. He provides pasture, protection, provision, and presence. Submit yourselves to his leadership as a sheep submit to the commands of the shepherd. Because God is our shepherd, our appropriate response as his sheep is to obey his voice, just as sheep follow the voice of the shepherd. In fact, that is the next element of the psalm -- a warning to listen to the shepherd’s voice. 

Today, if you hear his voice,

8 do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,

9 when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.

The psalmist follows his invitation to worship with a strong warning. “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” He has invoked our voices to sing and shout and our knees to bend and yield. But now he addresses the central organ of worship -- the heart. You can sing, and shout, and kneel and remain unchanged internally. This was the case of the Israelites following the exodus from Egypt. In chapter 15 of Exodus they were singing and shouting a victory song, still amazed at how God held back the waters and let them pass through. In Exodus 16 they get free food every morning as “manna” (“what is it?”) shows up on the ground. But by Exodus 17 they are grumbling because they are thirsty. After all they had seen, they still lacked faith in the one they could not see. “Massah” means “trial” so perhaps this is not a location as much as an event. God was testing his people even as they were testing him. Even though they had seen his work, literally days before, their immediate need overcame all reason. They were thirsty, and in the desert this could have quickly turned lethal. I probably would have been worried myself if I had been there. The way forward was unclear, even as the where we had just come from was quite clear. God had done ten miracles in a row and topped it off with the biggest of them all, a dramatic rescue through the sea and an overwhelming victory over the mightiest army of the day. Surely providing water in the desert wouldn’t be a challenge for him. What are you doubting God for today? In what ways are you testing him to prove whether or not he will keep his promises? If you don’t trust him in this moment, look back and remember what he has done in the past. He is the same God. This kind of doubting can lead to a hardness of heart, an unyielding will, and this will hinder your worship. Today when you hear his voice, do not harden your heart. Listen and obey. 

10 For forty years I loathed that generation and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart, and they have not known my ways.”

11 Therefore I swore in my wrath, “They shall not enter my rest.”

The voice changed in verse 9 to the voice of God himself. “Your fathers put me to the test, put me to the proof, though they had seen my proof.” This continues to the end of the psalm. A psalm that begins with a rousing command for the congregation to speak, ends with a stern warning from God himself to listen and obey. The term “loathed” in verse 10 is very strong, and it has in its range of meaning the idea of being grieved, deeply disappointed, and saddened. Given the use of the word “wrath” in verse 11, it’s fair to say that God was downright angry to the point of swearing. His promise to them of rest became a solemn promise of no rest. It’s no surprise that the writer of Hebrews refers to this text extensively to encourage his readers to trust in God and not become hardhearted in disobedience. The worship described in this text -- from the shouting and singing to the bowing and submission -- must be accompanied by obedience. Perhaps this is the warning going forward as the next 5 psalms enjoin the congregation to worship along with all of creation. You will not experience rest until your heart is right with God, until you are knowing his ways and obeying his words. In Hebrews 6 the writer reminds us that the Lord promised and the Lord swore, two unchangeable things that guarantee our hope. Just as he can swear to our salvation, He can swear to our destruction. This is one of the most sobering texts in the Psalms. As I worship you today, search my heart that I may not be counted among those with whom you are so disappointed that you would curse them as you did the Israelites who disbelieved. These Israelites were saved from slavery by the miraculous actions of God, and yet their hearts went astray. This can happen to anyone, so be on your guard. Obey the first seven verses of this psalm to avoid the last four.