Psalm 95

¹Oh come, let us sing to the Lord!

Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.

²Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving;

Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.

³For the Lord is the great God,

And the great King above all gods.

⁴In His hand are the deep places of the earth;

The heights of the hills are His also.

⁵The sea is His, for He made it;

And His hands formed the dry land.

⁶Oh come, let us worship and bow down;

Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.

⁷For 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,

⁹When your fathers tested Me;

They tried Me, though they saw My work.

¹⁰For 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.’

¹¹So I swore in My wrath,

‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ”

Commentary

Vs. 1-2 ¹Oh come, let us sing to the Lord!

Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.

²Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving;

Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.

O’ that everyone would have this desire. In Christ’s Kingdom they will! For singing praise to the Lord excels all in our hearts and minds because the Lord our God who is with us forever! Therefore, let us come joyfully before His presence with thanksgiving. Yes, church this is our most favorite thing, for it is He in whom we take the most delight in. For He is the Rock of our salvation. The very One, the Only One who saves us and has secured us forever, and thus He is the One our faith is built upon! Therefore, put away all your grumblings and complaints, and come before His Presence with thanksgiving. For it is an honor, our honor and privilege to do so. To come to Him in His house (your church assembly) and shout joyfully to Him with psalms; that is to sing songs that glorify Him and edify us all.

Vs. 3-5 ³For the Lord is the great God,

And the great King above all gods.

⁴In His hand are the deep places of the earth;

The heights of the hills are His also.

⁵The sea is His, for He made it;

And His hands formed the dry land.

Therefore, let us all declare His Person’s Greatness in our songs and praises to Him, for our Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods (vs. 3). For He rules all the deep places of the earth, all the unseen things by man He has formed and rules. From the heights of the hills, to the seas, and the dry land, the Lord formed it all, and He rules it all! Never then deny the God of all Creation, His Works in doing so, for He is our God, our King, our Savior. 

Vs. 6-11 ⁶Oh come, let us worship and bow down;

Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.

⁷For 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,

⁹When your fathers tested Me;

They tried Me, though they saw My work.

¹⁰For 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.’

¹¹So I swore in My wrath,

‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ”

Let us all then worship the Lord in reverence. Let us all reverently bow down and kneel before Him, 

“For He is our God,

And we are the people of His pasture,

And the sheep of His hand…” ^{Vs. 7}

We are His people, we are the sheep of His pasture, therefore let our praise and all our conduct in our assemblies reflect this. Now as verse seven closes the Psalm turns from an reverent exhortation to a stark warning, a warning which must be heeded by all, for it will conclude the Psalm. The warning then is not to harden one’s heart to the voice of the Lord given us all through His Word, or through His Spirit (consider Job 9:4; Isaiah 28:11-13, 16). To not test Him, as the ancient Israelites did who all perished in the wilderness, (which for us is our sojourn in this world), for they did not enter the Lord’s Rest (i.e., receive His eternal salvation) but have become examples for us all of what not to do (please read 1 Cor. 10:1-13). The choice then is ours to listen to the Lord and believe/obey His Word (His Gospel) and have eternal life for ourself, or to harden one’s heart and only die in one’s own sins and transgressions, and thus be judged for them and suffer eternally for ones own rejection of the Lord. Therefore do not do that, but repent and believe while you can! For the Lord will forgive, save, and restore you, and all who turn to Him in faith, therefore do that! Call upon the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved! 

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.