Day 568: Psalm 95- Pasture Of Praise

Oh come, let us sing to the Lord;
    let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
    let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!

3 For the Lord is a great God,
    and a great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth;
    the heights of the mountains 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 hear his voice,
8     do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
    as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
9 when your fathers put me to the test
    and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
10 For forty years I loathed that generation
    and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart,
    and they have not known my ways.”
11 Therefore I swore in my wrath,
    “They shall not enter my rest.”
 
Meditation
God repeats His invitation: Come! (1, 2, 6) Come and worship. Come sing a joyful song. Come into God’s presence and make a joyful noise.
 
We praise as God’s possession. The Lord is King and creator (3). The Lord holds all creation in His hands, from the depths of the earth to the heights of the mountains (4) to the seas and the dry land (5). Let us humble ourselves before our Maker, the One who “holds whole world in His hands.”
 
We praise from God’s pasture. The Lord is our God and we are the sheep in His fold (7). God is our Good Shepherd, with His people to guard, gather, and feed. God goes before us to lead. Sheep know His voice, hear His words, and follow. No one and no thing can take us from the hand of our shepherd (John 10:27-30).
 
We praise from the pasture by hearing and obeying the word of our Shepherd, not hardening our hearts as previous generations (8-10). Those who wander in the wilderness and reject God’s word will not enter God’s rest (11). People of the pasture have been rescued and redeemed by the Lord. With new hearts we hear and believe. We receive God’s word and obey God’s voice, beginning with coming to worship and singing a joyful song.
 
Jesus is the Good shepherd, the King of kings and the word of creation. Let us humble ourselves before our Messiah and Maker. Let us come and worship the Lord!
 
Richly Dwelling
-Go! Go worship the Lord in joyful praise. Go worship Jesus with a joyful noise! Take time today to worship our Messiah and Maker as you go about you regular routine.
 
-Why is it significant to worship God as the One who possesses everything? How does that amplify that He holds us in His grace, too?
 
-How can you walk in praise today, worshiping the Lord in joyfully hearing and obeying His word?
 
Key Verses
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.