When your fathers tested Me; They tried Me, though they saw My work. Psalm 95:9
A Rest for the People of God, People of His Pasture, Sheep of His Hand
Psalm 95 places particular emphasis on the worship of God, making it a worship psalm. But it is also a royal psalm because of the way it acknowledges God as the great King. The psalmist calls us to acknowledge the Lord as the “great God” above all others (95:1-5) and to worship Him. We worship by hearing and responding obediently to His voice. Not to respond is to lose our opportunity to rest.
Key concepts: Worship, Voice/Rest
95:1-4 Oh come: The psalm begins with energy and delight at the prospect of worshiping God in the temple (Ps. 100). The use of the psalms in worship is indicated in this passage. In His hand refers to God’s control over all that He has made.
1 Oh come, let us sing 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 with psalms. 3 For the Lord is the great God, And the great King above all gods. 4 In His hand are the deep places of the earth; The heights of the hills are His also. 5 The sea is His, for He made it; And His hands formed the dry land.
95:6, 7 Each of the key verbs in this sentence describes a physical posture of humility before the Lord. The Hebrew word translated worship means literally “to prostrate oneself.” When bow down, kneel, and worship occur together as in this verse, they amplify each other and call for a reflective, humble approach to God. Worship is joyful and can be done with abandon; but at other times worship may be quiet reference of the Almighty (see Ps. 134). People of His pasture: These words seem to be an inversion of the wording of 100:3, expressing the loving care of the Father has for His children.
6 Oh 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 will hear His voice:
95:7-11 The third movement of this psalm is a call for obedience in worship and a reminder of God’s judgments in past times on people who did not take Him seriously. The entire section is quoted in its entirety in Heb. 3:7-11, with a notable introduction: “Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says” (Heb. 3:7). This phrase reminds us that the words of the psalms, which are the response of the worshiping Israelite community, are also the oracles of God.
7 For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice: 8 “Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, As in the day of trial in the wilderness, 9 When your fathers tested Me; They tried Me, though they saw My work. 10 For forty years I was grieved with that generation, And said, ‘It is a people who go astray in their hearts, And they do not know My ways.’ 11 So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ”
95:8 The word rebellion is literally “Meribah,” a word that would remind the Israelites of the times they had doubted the Lord’s provision for them (Ex. 17:7; Num. 20:13). The event of Meribah was the rebellion of the first generation at Kadesh (Num. 14). By refusing to enter Canaan, the entire generation of Israelites lost their opportunity to enjoy the promises of God in the land of blessing.
Today, if you will hear His voice: 8 “Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, As in the day of trial in the wilderness,
7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you will hear His voice, 8 Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, In the day of trial in the wilderness, 9 Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, And saw My works forty years. 10 Therefore I was angry with that generation, And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, And they have not known My ways.’ 11 So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ” 12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; 13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, 15 while it is said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” 16 For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? 17 Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? 19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. Hebrew 3:7-11
** Meribah means rebellion. Let’s remember this word. What’s at stake is our ability to enter His rest. The Israelites in the wilderness rebelled because they doubted God ability to provide for them. They could not enter Canaan, the place of rest, because of unbelief.
95 1 Oh come, let us sing 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 with psalms. 3 For the Lord is the great God, And the great King above all gods. 4 In His hand are the deep places of the earth; The heights of the hills are His also. 5 The sea is His, for He made it; And His hands formed the dry land. 6 Oh 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 will hear His voice: 8 “Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, As in the day of trial in the wilderness, 9 When your fathers tested Me; They tried Me, though they saw My work. 10 For forty years I was grieved with that generation, And said, ‘It is a people who go astray in their hearts, And they do not know My ways.’ 11 So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’ “
