PSALM 95 – A FEW THOUGHTS

This Psalm is a call to the people of God, to worship Jehovah as the Creator and King of the universe. The LORD deserves worship, He being the unique, supreme God, Creator and Shepherd. This Psalm has two sections, the Psalmist’s call to meaningful joyous worship and God’s call to heartfelt humble obedience.   

I.                 TWOFOLD CALL TO WORSHIP: Vs. 1-7b.

The call to worship is repeated in verses 1 and 6, both times followed by how and why God is to be worshipped.

1. The First Call: Vs. 1-5.

1. The call: “Oh come let us sing for joy to the LORD, let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.” Jehovah is to be worshipped as the Most High God and the God of salvation.

2. How to worship: As seen in these verses, worship has to be characterized by joy. Joyful attitude should be the nature of worship, as demonstrated by God’s people in the Old Testament. Worship has to include thanksgiving and singing of Psalms. Praise is exalting God for who He is and thanksgiving is expression of gratitude for what He had done. Praise and thanksgiving are essential components of worship, which is a sacrifice that pleases God. (Hebrew 13:15, 16)    

3. The reason for worship: The third verse begins with the word ‘for’, indicating the reasons for worship and several are given.

a. The LORD is a great God. Unlike other gods, He is high and exalted. He is one of a kind and unique.

b. He is a great king above all gods. The LORD proved the reality in Egypt that He is true and supreme above all gods. “…..the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn whom the LORD had struck down among them. The LORD had also executed judgments on their gods.” (Numbers 33:4). He alone deserves worship.   

c. God owns and controls all things. The depths of the earth, the peaks of the mountains, and the seas belong to Him. He is sovereign over all.

d. He is the Creator of all that has been created.  God made the earth and His hands formed the dry land. God is the creator of all things and deserves worship.

2. The Second Call:  Vs. 6,7b.

1. The call: ‘Come let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the LORD our maker.” The second call to worship highlights the importance of humility in worship. 
2. How to worship: The worshippers are called to bow down and kneel before the LORD, expressing humility. It is required along with the nature of joy emphasized earlier. Humility of heart is a God pleasing attitude. Psalm 66:3 talks about feigned obedience of some who worship God. This is heartless, pretentious worship.
3. The reason for worshipping:

a.      He is our God. True worship proceeds from a personal, experiential knowledge of God and relationship with Him.

b.     He is our Shepherd. God is spoken of as shepherd and His people as His sheep through the whole Bible. God does all that a shepherd does to his sheep as detailed in Psalm 23. A shepherd grazes, waters, protects, guides, anoints and meets every other need of the sheep. So does the LORD to His people and deserves to be worshipped.

II.               GOD’S WARNING - CALL TO OBEDIENCE: Vs. 7c-16.

The call to obedience comes as a warning to those who are called to worship. They are not to turn a deaf ear to God’s voice as the Israelites did in the wilderness. Unbelief and disobedience are to be avoided in the lives of God’s people.

I Samuel 15:22 says, “Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams.” God delights more in obedience.

In Hebrew 3, while quoting Psalm 95:9-11, the writer warns about the seriousness of an unbelieving heart. God was angry with the Israelites for forty years because of their unbelief and disobedience. True worshippers should be known for their obedience.

A. God’s warning not to harden hearts as it displeases Him:

1. When God spoke in the wilderness, Israel did not believe His Word.

    a. They had seen God at work

    b. But they had not known His ways

    c. So, they complained against God and tested Him

2. The root problem was their heart.

     They hardened their hearts.

     They erred in their hearts.              

3.  The result was that God hated such behavior and punished those people.                   

APPLICATION:

We must worship Jehovah the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We must worship Him as the only unique and supreme God.

We must worship the LORD with joy and humility.

Worship must be united with true obedience.