Meditation 237
Psalm 95:1-11
In preparing to write today’s meditation I read an article at Working Preacher written by James Howell, in which he explored this psalm’s invitation to worship God with song and joyful noise. Howell also reminded us that in worship we need to listen for God’s voice as much as we need to raise our own voices, (verse 7b) and further that those who heed the words of God will enter God’s rest, which is deeper than merely resting from labour. God’s rest is the rest that allows us “to be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)
Psalm 95 is a beautiful invitation to sing praise to God. When we take time to sit with God and to let our heart rest in God the response can be nothing less than praise. As the psalmist says 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.
We praise and we also need to listen, because God will bring us a message of warning or correction when we need it. God is the one who shepherds the people, which means that God will warn us of the consequences of our actions when we make mistakes. The psalmist makes reference to times that the people of God had tested God and quarreled when they were living in the wilderness. (verse 8 – Massah which means testing and Meribah which means quarrelling. At these places in the desert the people had complained because of lack of water, and their complaining attitude kept them from resting upon God). The rest that God gives allows the people of God to be equipped to trust so that they will be part of the plan God has for the world.
In Psalm 95, the psalmist has both elements of joyful praise and repentance. This was usual in the worship of ancient Israel. After the lovely invitation to worship the Lord there is the invitation to listen to God’s voice. The word translated as listen, “shamah” carries with it the sense of obeying the word to which you listen. God is holy, as verses 1-7a in this psalm remind us, and this holy God is asking of us to listen and obey.
As we listen to God’s voice we may sing:
“We are God’s people, the chosen of the Lord, born of the Spirit, established by the word;
Our cornerstone is Christ alone, and strong in him we stand:
Oh let us live transparently, and walk heart to heart and hand in hand. Book of Praise #472)