Psalm 95

This is a praise Psalm, a nature Psalm, and a wisdom Psalm.

It begins as a praise Psalm, that both encourages us to praise God in singing and worship while setting us an example of how to do that. Parts of the Psalms have been set to music, and for this one and a few others I always think of “The Heavens Are Telling,” a great choral number I got to sing in my high school choir days. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4u3ax0ZdnSQ

It's also a nature Psalm or a creation Psalm. The song praises God as creator of everything, from the heavens to the bottom of the sea. We too have been created by Him and belong to Him.

The wisdom part is the injunction in the last third of the piece to avoid evil. All through the Psalms this theme runs, beginning with the first. Two paths – always choose God's way, the way Jesus said was the straight and narrow. Note that when this part begins, the subject of the verbs change to first person – God speaks!

Note also the singer invokes history. Three or four of the 150 are almost entirely history sermons, praising God for His dealing with Israel. Parts of history are quoted or described in other Psalms. In this case he refers to an incident – one of many – where Israel rebelled, and God punished those rebels. Don't be like them. Follow the other way.

The author of this psalm was enthusiastic about his worship! Maybe he's the same guy who wrote #150 about loud crashing symbols! Twice he calls us to shout! I remember an old man in FBC Waco, where I attended in college. This was a solemn, dignified church, except for this guy. About once a month, the preacher said some that got two him. In a sudden deep bass voice you wouldn't expect to have that much volume, he boomed, “AMEN!” The whole congregation jumped like my dorm did when a dynamite cap went off in the quadrangle in December.

He also calls for singing, which most congregations do with variable results. He also challenges us to come into His presence. An awesome call! Literally, the word means “before His face.” To me, that strikes fear, as Isaiah felt at his call before the Lord in the temple. “Woe is me, for I am undone!” Nevertheless, the psalmist says to give thanks to that glorious God and shout for joy and singing!

Verse 3 proclaims that Yahweh is a great God and a King above all gods. Many in that day were polygamous and believed in many gods. If so, our singer proclaims they are all beneath the One Who is their King. Of course, he actually is proclaiming there is one and only One God who reigns over all.

How great is the Lord? In His hand are the depths of the earth and the height of the mountains. Another psalm that is the favorite of one of our class members who will share it with us later, askes “where can I go to escape Him? If I go to the sky, He is there. If I sleep in Hell, still He is there?” “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth...”

Verse 6 calls on us to prostrate ourselves before him. (Compare to the pictures we see of Muslims on their prayer rugs before God. That's what he's talking about.) Note, btw, the parallel poetry as he repeats himself three times in Verse 6.

Verse 7 spells out the relationship (note the different kind of parallelism). He is our God/king, and we are His people/subjects. He also compares us frequently to sheep as the Bible often does. To fulfill that sheep role, we must hear Him, listen to Him, and obey Him.

Does the shift come with “Today” at the end of v 7, or at the beginning of v 8 with the call to “Harden not”? I'll let you decide, but the two reflect the two ways in Psalm 1. Merribah means quarreling, and Massah means testing. The Israelites were griping at the lack of water in spite of all the evidence of the Lord's mighty works in their behalf. They had hardened their hearts, which the psalm is imploring the reader not to do!

Though this was not the trigger for the wandering in the wilderness for 40 years, it was the same attitude that led to the fear that kept them from the promised land until that generation died out. God said they erred “in their hearts,” not in their minds. Faith is a matter of the heart and will, not only intellectural understanding. Likewise, when He says, “They have not known my ways,” He's referring to their experiential knowledge, not their head knowledge.

God pronounced sentence: They shall not enter my rest/Promised Land. Note this word “rest” because it explains a lot when reading the New Testament book, Hebrews. They didn't trust God, so He acts as if they didn't want to stay with Him. The rest fulfills their commitment and following.