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We come before God to worship, and compose what we feel is a great worship service. We get the special singing team together. We choose music to our tastes and we adorn the building as we see fit to enhance the atmosphere for a worship centered experience. We reason that we will do our best for God in our worship. The last thing we would think of including in our worship time would be a downer that challenged the true qualifications of the worshippers, but that is what we find when we take a look at Psalm 95.
Psalm 95 should be taken very seriously. This Psalm naturally divides itself into two parts. The first looks like what many would consider a rousing worship service. The second part takes a most serious turn as it flows into the words of a prophet speaking directly the words of God.
Verses 1-7a come from the heart of man. Verses 7b-11 come as God's response to the heart offering of man. Let's delve into this Psalm:
Psalm 95
1 O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.
3 For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also.
5 The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.
6 O 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. To day if ye will hear his voice,
8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.
10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:
11 Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.
Part 1 - Our Worship
1 O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.
Starting with the call to "come", we are brought into this worship experience in a congregational setting. We start with determination to gather together and to turn our focus to praising Yahweh in joyful song. We behold our sure redeemer and come in the acknowledgment that we are in need of redemption. We come with joy because we know that redemption is a solid rock, that will stand us sure in the time of need.
2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.
We are to gather before Him with a grateful heart. One that is saying, "Thank You!". Our joyful noise is expressed in music. This "Psalms" is the word designating the making of melodies in instrumental worship. We see a robust worshipping of God with all our heart. There is no question as to the energy that is exerted in this worship service and the grounds of approach in gratitude for that salvation and security there. These things are good and proper.
3 For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
This verse takes us to see Yahweh's supremacy. He is above all other authority, wherever it may be found, where real or imagined or usurped.
4 In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also.
5 The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.
"Strength" would probably be better translated at "summit". We see the picture of God holding the earth, from the greatest heights to the lowest depths, in his hands. He has all under his control.
We see He is recognized as the creator of the sea and the dry land. Whether we behold the height or depths, the land or the sea, we acknowledge He made them and they are still under his control. He is still God over all his creation and He still maintains His rulership over all. That is the place of a king.
6 O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.
We see the refrain from the first verse for us to jointly enter to worship God. Come in humility. The word for "kneel" is mostly translated at "bless". A common word for worshipping God in humility and giving all the honor to Him.
We see an interesting and important fact presented before us. This verse does not use the term "God", as is most common for reference to His acts of creation. It uses His name "Yahweh". It also pulls in the creation praise, which we saw in the preceding verses, and now turns them into view of His not only creating all the world, but He made us personally. We are also not only impersonal acts of his creation, such as the hills and seas, but we are more intimately related to Him through that very use of the name Yahweh. This does indeed draw us into a more intimate worship of bowing and kneeling before the mighty God.
7a For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.
This takes us to the conclusion of the first part of this Psalm. It summarizes the conclusion of the whole matter. Plain and simply, He is the one who has full authority over us. No one else can claim this position.
This takes us into the same view we see in the 23rd Psalm of the LORD being our Shepherd. We are the people that belong in His flock. We are those that He nurtures and cares for. We are the sheep that His hand maintains. It is significant that Jesus Christ is the Shepherd of His flock and Jesus is often symbolically referred to as God's right hand.
We have seen a very accurate and wonderful worship of God portrayed. It exhibits exuberance, joy, humility, gratitude, relationship, dependence and nurturing. It portrays God's authority by right of creation and continued maintenance. We see His kingship as well as His shepherding. We see His very provision of salvation.
To see such a well-rounded worship would evoke our hearty approval. We would feel quite satisfied to end this worship service here. It is a common notion to envision God has His great blessing and approval resting upon us because we behold His great hand of control and provision. People will often soothe their conscience on this very ground. They refuse to consider their sinful state because they perceive God has shown great mercy in their lives. They tally this up as a stamp of approval and squelch the fear of God in their lives. The end result will be in the lake of fire since they never took to heart God's great mercies as His evident reaching out to them in showing His care. They enjoyed His gifts, but never stopped to ask themselves, "What would God like from me?"
We are about to embark on what God might be thinking as we worship Him. Maybe you have never really thought about that. Maybe you have thought, "He is smiling on His throne, drinking this adoration in. He must be so happy with me!" We can be very grateful for this Psalm. It gives us God's own answer to that very question. It can serve for a wake up call. His thoughts are very different to ours. Let's begin:
Part 2 - God's Response
7b To day if ye will hear his voice,
The second part of this verse takes its turn. It begins the launch into God's speaking directly. In the day of this wonderful worship, God is posing His call. He knows you have seen His works, but His question is, "Have you heard My voice?" He doesn't seem to be smiling on His throne. He means serious business and He means it TODAY!
8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
Something to note about this verse, is its calling us to remember a special event. The translators translated the words out to their ultimate meaning. The word translated "the provocation" is Meribah. The word translated "of temptation" is Massah. These are place names that tell of a particular incident in the wilderness journey. Here is the following account from Exodus:
1 And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD, and pitched in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to drink. 2 Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the LORD? 3 And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst? 4 And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me. 5 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go. 6 Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not? Exodus 17:1-7
The LORD is specifically recalling this particular transgression of accusing God of neglect in providing the water of life. They were accusing Moses, but in reality, that was a direct charge against God's provision.
When God sees our worship, He looks back and remembers the hearty worship of Israel of the horse and rider being thrown into the sea and then remembers the hard heart of these worshippers in trusting Him, who divided the waters of this world to provide the water needed for life. We can also stumble into their exuberant worship on one hand and harden our hearts in the day of testing.
9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.
God's recollection went on to that bitter memory. You will notice it is God speaking directly. They poked and prodded at God in constant distrust. God looks at our worship and wonders, "Do you REALLY trust me?"
Though we may not quite understand why, we know that to not trust is to harden the heart. This we can see in these verses, accept and act accordingly.
10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:
11 Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.
These final two verses would seem to be a real downer to a rousing worship chorus. What they are is a call to do some serious business with God.
True worship must start at the heart. Exciting singing and funny feelings can be a deception to us when our hearts don't really commit
themselves to God. We do not want to be a people whom God is grieved with our whole lives through. A people that God would say, "they have not
known my ways". It was of such a people God actually made an oath upon, "they should not enter into my rest". That rest back in the wilderness
spoke of entering the promised land. Spiritually it spoke of going to heaven. This passage is quoted in such a warning in the New Testament in
Hebrews:
6 But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.
7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, 8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of
temptation in the wilderness: 9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. 10 Wherefore I was grieved with that
generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. 11 So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter
into my rest.) 12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. 13 But exhort
one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we are made partakers of
Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end; 15 While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not
your hearts, as in the provocation. 16 For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses. 17 But
with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom sware he
that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? 19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
1 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. 2 For unto us
was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
3 For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works
were finished from the foundation of the world. 4 For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh
day from all his works. 5 And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest. 6 Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter
therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: Hebrews 3:6-4:6
Here we see a portion of a message preached on the same passage. "Let us therefore fear," (4:1) should alert us to the serious implications
of not having some serious dealings with God. God spoke out in the end of Psalm 95 to help us avoid being the losers, deceiving ourselves.
He wants worship that comes from his flock that comes from a people who have dealt with the lack of faith in the heart.
We may not understand
all of His ways, but let it not be said of us, "they have not known my ways". We may not know why He does some of the things He does, but we
do know He cares for us and watches over us. His care is according to His glory and His wisdom, remember Job!
As we close, ponder what God would say as you worship Him. Ponder that question, "What might God be thinking?" A positive response will result
in God accepting that worship. Isn't that what it's all about, pleasing the Father?
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