Psalm 95

Psalm 95 is a beautiful Call to Worship: “Come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation” (v.1).

This psalm is also a warning, as the psalmist remembers the failures of Israel to trust and obey God during their journey through the wilderness: “Don’t harden your hearts as Israel did . . . ‘They will never enter my place of rest’” (v.8, 11b). This remembrance of Israel’s wandering in the desert for forty years is brought forward to the New Testament church in the book of Hebrews. The writer of the epistle quotes Psalm 95 five times in chapters 3 and 4 in making strong the admonition of the psalmist in verse is 7b: “If only you would listen to his voice today!”

For me, one of the most beautiful affirmations of God’s grace is,

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,

   his mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;

   great is your faithfulness.”

(Lamentations 3:22-23 NRSV)

God extends His grace to us each day; but God’s grace today, is for today. In the vernacular of our times: “Use it or lose it.” How we worship God is a good litmus test of whether we are listening for God’s voice, each day.

The Old Covenant and the New Covenant people of God are long suffering. Sometimes our suffering comes through persecution for being the people of God. Sometimes our suffering comes as a result of our own willful disobedience to the commands of God. Sometimes our suffering comes as the consequences of mistakes or misjudgments we have made. No matter our circumstances, Psalm 95 serves as a reminder to:

“O come, let us worship and bow down,

   let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!

 For he is our God,

   and we are the people of his pasture,

   and the sheep of his hand.” (V.6-7 NRSV)

As you enter the sanctuary for your worship service, are you coming to sing to the Lord? Are you seeking an opportunity to shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation?

“If only you would listen to his voice today!”

Sē’lah

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What word or phrase in today’s reading of the Psalms

 attracts your attention?

Reflect on that word or phrase.

What insights come to you?

How does this passage touch your life today?

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

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Reading for August 5, 2012       Psalm 96