I. Read Psalm 95.
O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord,
Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving,
Let us shout joyfully to Him withpsalms.
3 For the Lord is a great God
And a great King above all gods,
4 In whose hand are the depths of the earth,
The peaks of the mountains are His also.
5The sea is His, for it was He who made it,
And His hands formed the dry land.
6 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.
Today, if you would hear His voice,
8 Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
As in the day of Massah in the wilderness,
9 “When your fathers tested Me,
They tried Me, though they had seen My work.
10 “For forty years I loathed that generation,
And said they are a people who err in their heart,
And they do not know My ways.
11 “Therefore I swore in My anger,
Truly they shall not enter into My rest.”
Introduction – This Psalm begins with a call to worship in God’s presence, to thank Him and praise Him with song. He is the Maker of the world so we should worship Him on bended knee. But even more, He is our Shepherd and we are the sheep of His hand. This means that our Shepherd feeds and cares for us by His hand. The Psalm ends acknowledging Israel’s failure as they grumbled and showed hard hearts at Meribah and Massah in the wilderness. The consequence is that many did not enter into their rest from the wilderness. Psalm 95 thus turns the experience of the Israelites (Ex. 17) into a song. In hard episodes in life we want to completely wash them from our memories, especially in sinful and shameful things we have done. Israel did not get to sweep their sin “under the rug.” Israel’s failures were written into their history and their hymns. True worship arises from truth. Proper worship arises not only from knowing God’s power and love, but from reflecting on our failures. Let us shout to the “Rock of our salvation,” while we also know that we must not harden our hearts like rocks.
Reflect on this Psalm by answering these questions in your own words.
- Why should we make a joyful noise?
- If you were to write a song that recounted your disobedience, what would it say and where did it happen?
- Being as honest as possible, is your heart hard now? If so ask God to soften your heart before Him, remember that He is your Creator and your caring Shepherd. He wants you to enter into rest by faith and trust in Him.
- Are there some ways that you could enter into the Lord’s rest which your are resisting?
II. Pray Psalm 95. Using the main ideas of this Psalm write a prayer to the Lord.
III. Sing Psalm 95.Worship the Lord by singing this psalm. Listen to or download this version of Psalm 95.
31 Days with God 