Psalm 95: Persevere in Praise

​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.
 
Meditation
Today’s reading is an invitation to praise through every situation, recognizing God as our creator, King, and faithful shepherd. Come! Repeats the psalmist (vv. 1, 2, 6). Come and worship. Come sing a joyful song. Come make a joyful noise.
 
The Lord is King and creator (v. 3). The Lord holds creation in His hands, from the depths of the earth to the heights of the mountains (v. 4) to seas and dry land (v. 5). Let us humble ourselves before our Maker.
 
The Lord is our God and we are the sheep in His fold (v. 7). God is our Good Shepherd who knows us, guards us, gathers us, feeds us, and leads us. 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). 
 
People secure in God’s steadfast love will persevere in praise no matter what happens in our days, not hardening our hearts as previous generations (vv. 8-10). Those who wander in the wilderness and reject God’s word will not enter God’s rest (vv. 11). NT writers hold out this warning in present tense: I Corinthians 10:1-13; Hebrews 3:7-4:13). Worshippers today must head the warning and not go “astray in our hearts.” Responding to God’s grace, we receive God’s word and obey God’s voice, beginning with persevering in praise.
 
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!
 
Today’s Reading
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.”
 
Richly Dwelling
-What stands out to you from today’s reading, especially the warning to persevere in praise by receiving and obeying God’s word?
 
-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? Take time to 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.
 
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.