Psalms95
New International Version
1 Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.
3 For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him.
5 The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.
6 Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;
7 for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. Today, if only you would hear his voice,
8 “Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness,
9 where your ancestors tested me; they tried me, though they had seen what I did.
10 For forty years I was angry with that generation; I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they have not known my ways.’
11 So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’”
Study
Psalms 95Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Psalms 95. The full AI study guide (summary, themes, context) has its own page.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: part. An exhortation to praise God. (1–7). A warning not to tempt Him. (7–11).
vv1-7
Whenever we come into God's presence, we must come with thanksgiving. The Lord is to be praised; we do not want matter, it were well if we did not want a heart. How great is that God, whose the whole earth is, and the fulness thereof; who directs and disposes of all!, The Lord Jesus, whom we are here taught to praise, is a great God; the mighty God is one of his titles, and God over all, blessed for evermore. To him all power is given, both in heaven and earth. He is our God, and we should praise him. He is our Saviour, and the Author of our blessedness. The gospel church is his flock, Christ is the great and good Shepherd of believers; he sought them when lost, and brought them to his fold.
vv7-11
Christ calls upon his people to hear his voice. You call him Master, or Lord; then be his willing, obedient people. Hear the voice of his doctrine, of his law, and in both, of his Spirit: hear and heed; hear and yield. Christ's voice must be heard to-day. This day of opportunity will not last always; improve it while it is called to-day. Hearing the voice of Christ is the same with believing. Hardness of heart is at the bottom of all distrust of the Lord. The sins of others ought to be warnings to us not to tread in their steps. The murmurings of Israel were written for our admonition. God is not subject to such passions as we are; but he is very angry at sin and sinners. That certainly is evil, which deserves such a recompence; and his threatenings are as sure as his promises. Let us be aware of the evils of our hearts, which lead us to wander from the Lord. There is a rest ordained for believers, the rest of everlasting refreshment, begun in this life, and perfected in the life to come. This is the rest which God calls his rest.
Key Words
יָלַךְ: to walk (literally or figuratively); causatively, to carry (in various senses)
רָנַן: properly, to creak (or emit a stridulous sound), i.e. to shout (usually for joy)
רוּעַ: to mar (especially by breaking); figuratively, to split the ears (with sound), i.e. shout (for alarm or joy)
צוּר: properly, a cliff (or sharp rock, as compressed); generally, a rock or boulder; figuratively, a refuge; also an edge (as precipitous)
יֶשַׁע: liberty, deliverance, prosperity
קָדַם: to project (one self), i.e. precede; hence, to anticipate, hasten, meet (usually for help)
פָּנִים: the face (as the part that turns); used in a great variety of applications (literally and figuratively); also (with prepositional prefix) as a preposition (before, etc.)
תּוֹדָה: properly, an extension of the hand, i.e. (by implication) avowal, or (usually) adoration; specifically, a choir of worshippers
זָמִיר: a song to be accompanied with instrumental music
כִּי: (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below); often largely modified by other particles annexed
Cross References
Psalms 95Explicitly quoted by the author of Hebrews to show the Holy Spirit's warning to Israel.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Hebrews argues from 'to day' that a future rest remains beyond Joshua's day.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Quoted verbatim to define the tragic consequence of wilderness unbelief and exclusion from rest.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Examines the nature of God's 'rest' as spiritual and eternal, starting from creation.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The historical event of testing God at Meribah and Massah, meaning provocation and temptation.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
God's indictment of Israel seeing His works yet tempting Him ten times in wilderness.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Identifies the wilderness 'Rock' of salvation spiritually with Jesus Christ.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Parallel exhortation to worship Jehovah as our Maker and the Shepherd of His flock.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Repeated in Hebrews as an urgent, ongoing warning against hardening hearts under gospel preaching.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Quoted to trace Israel's wilderness wanderings to an inward heart issue of not knowing God's ways.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Christ as the Good Shepherd who owns, feeds, and leads the sheep of His hand.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Asks how oft they provoked Him in the wilderness and grieved Him in the desert.
Supported by JFB
The people chided Moses and tempted the Lord for lack of physical water.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Contrast between the temporal inheritance/rest in Canaan and the ultimate rest of God.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Contrasts Israel's light esteem of the Rock of Salvation with the psalm's call to joyful praise.
Supported by JFB