Psalms Reading – 3.29.2022
Psalm 95
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.
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.
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.
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.’”
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.’”
The structure of Psalm 95 reveals that right living flows from right worship. This psalm teaches that people should worship and obey the Lord as the King who rules over all, and it concludes with an example from Israel’s history where they failed to do so.
Whenever we gather for worship, our hearts should be filled with thanksgiving. The reason we sing is because it best expresses our heart in declaring praise for God’s sovereignty. There is no other being like Him for He is over all creation from bottom to top and everything in between.
To bow down and kneel is a position of humility and submission. Even in our joyful singing, right worship is a humbling of ourselves before our Maker. He is not only our Creator Maker, but the Maker of us into a community of worshipers, whom we describe as the Body of Christ today. We are His people whom He lovingly cares for.
Instead of following the example of the Israelites in the wilderness who quarreled and tested the Lord when there was no water (Exodus 17:1-7), we must choose today to hear God’s voice and be obedient to Him.
The Israelites had experienced God’s miraculous deliverance out of Egypt and through the Red Sea. God’s power and glory were evident every step of the way, yet they failed to trust and allowed their hearts to go astray. Because of their rebellion, God’s punishment was upon them during their whole wilderness journey and they failed to enter the Promised Land.
We need to get our worship right so we will trust and obey the leading of the Lord. If we are intent upon entering God’s eternal rest one day, then how we worship and live matters today.
Memory Verse: Psalm 95:6-7, Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.
Question(s) to Consider: Have you connected your worship with your living? How have you seen your worship motivate you to live a life pleasing to the Lord? Will you bow down before the Lord today and offer yourself in full obedience to Him?