Psalm 95

Let Us Bow Down In Worship

This psalm is an answer to anyone who wonders about the value of worship.  The author encourages us to worship vigorously and loudly, in celebration of the eternal power and majesty of our God and creator.  Why do we kneel in worship to our creator?  The psalmist tells us that we are His people, and we're under his care, like a shepherd watching over sheep.  We worship in thanksgiving of all of the amazing things God has done for us.

One striking phrase that sticks out to me is in verse 7, when we hear "Today, if only you would hear his voice".  After this, we switch perspectives, and it is now God speaking, asking us not to turn away from Him, and warning what will happen if we do.  However, two words in verse 7 make this more significant to me; The first is when he says "Today".  It does not matter if we have been listening to God our entire lives, or if we just heard Him today, as long as we hear Him and obey Him, we can share God's love.  The second word that stands out from verse 7 is "would".  It gives me the impression that God is always speaking to us, but we have a choice whether or not we choose to listen.  Would is the past tense of will, and what happens when you "will not" do something?  You won't.  If you won't do something, you're not trying.

The last part of this psalm, spoken from God's point of view, is a thinly veiled warning about the consequences of not obeying God.  He discusses the ancient people who turned from Him while leaving Egypt.  Their punishment?  God declared "They shall never enter my rest".  I thought that was a rather enigmatic threat.  What is God's rest?  The way I see it, God's rest is the comfort and peace we feel when we live together with God.  When you disobey God, the punishment is that you lose the comfort of a relationship with God.  However, God doesn't want to punish us.  He always speaks to us.  If only we will hear His voice.

1 Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord;
    let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving
    and extol him with music and song.

3 For the Lord is the great God,
    the great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth,
    and the mountain peaks belong to him.
5 The sea is his, for he made it,
    and his hands formed the dry land.

6 Come, let us bow down in worship,
    let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;
7 for he is our God
    and we are the people of his pasture,
    the flock under his care.

Today, if only you would hear his voice,
8 “Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah,
    as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness,
9 where your ancestors tested me;
    they tried me, though they had seen what I did.
10 For forty years I was angry with that generation;
    I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray,
    and they have not known my ways.’
11 So I declared on oath in my anger,
    ‘They shall never enter my rest.’”