Psalm 95 - The Raucous Wonder of Worship
A Call to Worship and Obedience
1 O 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!
3 For the Lord is a great God
and a great King above all gods.
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 the dry land, which his hands have formed.
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.
O that today you would listen to his voice!
8 Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
9 when your ancestors tested me
and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
10 For forty years I loathed that generation
and said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray,
and they do not regard my ways.”
11 Therefore in my anger I swore,
“They shall not enter my rest”
Background: The book of Psalms is the prayer book and hymnal of the Bible. In it the authors share every raw human emotion possible. The words can take us from feelings of fierce vengeance, to euphoric praise, to stately thanksgiving, to abject despair, to quaking fear and lament, to calm delight, to steadfast hope and trust, sometimes in the space of a comma. We are reminded in the psalms that all of human life is lived in the presence of and in awareness of God. The psalmists assume and assure us that all of human life is attended to by God and that all of human life is the appropriate subject of prayer. God does not want from us, in the intimacy of prayer, just the parts of life that feel good, or look good, or feel faithful or look faithful. Every breath is a breath of the Spirit, and no circumstance is too petty to bring before God. No feeling, even about God, no doubt, no anger, no disappointment with God, is off limits when life is lived in God’s presence. What a comfort it is to know that we do not have to censor our prayers, as if we could if we wanted to.
The book of Psalms is a compilation of several collections of psalms; many used liturgically in worship. Perhaps some were written for private devotion and, because they express themes that are universal, later became a part of the worship language of God’s people. Traditionally it was thought that all of the psalms were written by King David. Many probably were, but we now know that others had hands in these beautiful poem/prayer/songs. Whoever the writer/composer may have been, in these texts we are given permission to be real, before God and with each other. The psalms as poetry and song, have many layers of meaning which unfold within us in our daily experience.
Psalm 95: This rich and beautiful psalm comes to us in two parts. The first part, verses 1-7c is a call to the glories of worship. Probably used to invite people into the Temple for worship at one of the major religious festivals, it links joyous worship with gratitude to God, and reminders of God’s greatness. The second part, verses 7d-11 issue a prophetic warning that links worship with obedience and its resulting transformation. In this psalm we see familiar themes o f God’s rule over the covenant people and the earth itself and responsibility of those who are claimed as God’s own.
Word Study
Vs. 1 – make a joyful noise – This phrase refers to joyful shouts of homage.
Rock of our salvation – This was a common phrase that referred to God’s reliability and stability. The word salvation, yesha, refers to deliverance, help, freedom, welfare, and prosperity. In this verse the psalmist is inviting us to praise God for being a stable unshakeable presence in our lives who brings us into wholeness.
Vs. 2 – Let us come into his presence – Let us greet him.
Thanksgiving – This word literally means to extend one’s hand. As it was used by the ancestors, it meant to praise, confess sin, offer sacrifice in a spirit of joy and peace. Here it is sung by worshippers in procession into worship.
Vs. 3 – gods – some commentators believe that this phrase comes to us within the polytheistic culture in which Israel grew up. Others believe it refers to the divine council. Still others think it refers to earthly rulers or judges with divine connections. In any case, the meaning is the same: God is above them all.
Vs. 4 – hand – This word was understood as a symbol for God’s power and strength.
Depths – This word could mean distant parts.
Earth – This word means the literal earth.
Height of the mountains – Taken with the depths of the earth, this phrase emphasizes that there is nothing outside God’s jurisdiction, not any physical place, nor any emotional space. The highs and the lows, belong to God.
Vs. 5 – Made it – This important Hebrew verb means to work, to labor, to create, to construct, to build, to accomplish, to prepare, to do and to make. Try reading the verse substituting each of those meanings to get the power of this image.
Have formed – This means to fashion like a sculptor or even a seamstress.
Vs. 6 – worship – This word means to prostrate oneself as before royalty or divinity, to humbly address.
Bow down – To bend the knee. This word often means to be in pain or to grieve. The implication here is that when we come to God in worship and praise, we are immediately aware of our own falling short of God’s ways and our need for repentance and forgiveness.
Kneel – barak – This word means to bless, kneel, praise, greet and to ask blessing.
Vs. 7 – people – This word refers to peoples, nations, tribes and the entire human race.
Sheep of his hand – The flock under God’s care.
Listen – The end of this verse marks a shift in the psalm into the final prophetic verses. The word listen, shema, means to listen, to hear, to obey, to follow.
Vs. 8 – harden your hearts – This phrase refers to being disobedient. The heart is the seat of the will and one’s ethical choices.
Meribah – This word literally means contention. Here it is an allusion to the story in Ex. 17 when the people in the wilderness angered God by doubting his presence.
Massah may have been a different place or simply a different name of Meribah. In either case it refers to a time when the people put God to the test, or tempted God in order to decide if God was God through controlling or manipulating God to display God’s self.
Vs. 9 – tested – Literally to put God on trial.
Seen – This word mean to see with the intellect, to look at, to inspect, to perceive.
Work - Likely, here the psalmist is thinking of the miraculous provision of water in the wilderness, but it refers to all of God’s mighty acts.
Vs. – 10 – I loathed – This phrase means to make one’s displeasure known and obvious.
Generation – This is a rather generic word that can refer to any period of time.
Go astray – This word means to vacillate, to err, to wander off the path aimlessly.
Regard – To know and to do.
Ways – This is a very significant word in the Hebrew scriptures. It refers to an intentional walk, journey, way, path, road. It is used to describe the entire way of life and ethics of the faith of God’s people.
Vs. 11 – anger – This is the word we met before in the psalms. It means the flaring of the nostrils and refers to the emotional aspects of anger. The ‘therefore’ earlier in the verse emphasizes that there is a price paid for willful disobedience.
Rest – This beautiful word means to remain or to be quiet. It was often used to refer to both the Promised Land and the life of promised blessing.
Questions for Personal Reflection
- Notice in this psalm all the emotions with which the people are called to enter into worship. How do you usually approach worship?
- In the psalm the people magnify each other’s joy and expectation. How do you think that worshipping together helps build your own joy?
- The Joy of worship, when authentic, quickly leads us to a new awareness of our own shortcomings. These need to be faced and cleared before we enter more deeply into worship. How does the prayer of confession help you in this regard?
- Joyful worship comes with a reminder that our joy and praise are in direct relationship with our obedience. How do you see your obedience helping or hampering your praise?