This Psalm has no title, and all we know of its authorship is that Paul quotes it as "in David." (Hebrews 4:7.) It is true that this may merely signify that it is to be found in the collection known as David's Psalms; but if such were the Apostle's meaning it would have been more natural for him to have written, "saying in the Psalms;" we therefore incline to the belief that David was the actual author of this poem. It is in it: original a truly Hebrew song, directed both in its exhortation and warning to the Jewish people, but we have the warrant of the Holy Spirit in the epistle to the Hebrews for using its appeal - and entreaties when pleading with Gentile believers. It is a Psalm of invitation to worship. It has about it a ring like that of the church bells, and like the bells it sounds both merrily and solemnly, at first ringing out a lively peal, and then dropping into a funeral knell as if tolling at the funeral of the generation which perished in the wilderness. We will call it The Psalm of the Provocation.

Division. - It would be correct as to the sense to divide this Psalm into an invitation and a warning, so as to commence the second part with the last clause of Psalm 95:7 : but upon the whole it may be more convenient to regard Psalm 95:6 as "the beating heart of the Psalm," as Hengstenberg calls it, and make the division at the end of Psalm 95:5. Thus it will form (1) an invitation with reasons, and (2) an invitation with warnings.

Hints to Preachers

Psalm 95:1. - An invitation to praise the Lord.

I. A favourite method of worship - "let us sing."

II. A fitting state of mind for singing - Joyful gratitude.

III. A fitting subject to excite both gladness and thankfulness - the rock of our salvation.

Psalm 95:1. - "The rock of our salvation." Expressive imagery. Rock of shelter, support, indwelling, and supply - illustrate this last by the water flowing from the rock in the wilderness.

Psalm 95:2. -

I. What is meant by coming before his presence? Certainly not the holiness of places, etc.

II. What offering is most appropriate when we come into his presence?

Psalm 95:3. -

I. The greatness of God as god. He is to be conceived of as great in goodness, power, glory, etc.

II. His dominion over all other powers in heaven or earth.

III. The worship which is consequently due to him.

Psalm 95:4, Psalm 95:5. - The universality of the divine government.

I. In all parts of the globe.

II. In all providences.

III. In every phase of moral condition. Or, Things deep, or high, dark or perilous are in his hand; circumstances shifting, terrible, overwhelming as the sea, are under his control as much as the comfortable terra firma of peace and prosperity.

Psalm 95:6. - A true conception of God begets -

I. A disposition to worship.

II. Mutual incitement to worship.

III. Profound reverence in worship.

IV. Overwhelming sense of God's presence in worship. - C. A. Davis.

Psalm 95:6, Psalm 95:7. - God is to be worshipped -

I. As our Creator - "our maker." -

II. As our Redeemer, "the people," etc.

III. As our Preserver, "the sheep, etc." - George Rogers.

Psalm 95:7. - The entreaty of the Holy Ghost.

I. The special voice - "the Holy Ghost saith"

1. In Scripture.

2. In the hearts of his people.

3.-In-the awakened.

4. By his deeds of grace.

II. A special duty, "hear his voice," instructing, commanding, inviting, promising, threatening.

III. A special time - "to-day." While God speaks, after so long a time, in the day of grace, now, in your present state.

IV. The special danger - "harden not your hearts," by indifference, unbelief, asking for signs, presumption, worldly pleasures, etc.

Psalm 95:7. - Sinners entreated to hear God's voice. "Hear his voice," because -

I. Life is short and uncertain;

II. You cannot properly or lawfully promise to give what is not your own;

III. If you defer, though but till to-morrow, you must harden your hearts;

IV. There is great reason to fear that, if you defer it to-day, you will never commence;

V. After a time God ceases to strive with sinners;

VI. There is nothing irksome or disagreeable in a religious life, that you should wish to defer its commencement. - Edward Payson.

Psalm 95:7. - The Difference of Times with respect to Religion, - Upon a spiritual: account there is great difference of time. To make this out, I will shew you,

I. That sooner and later are not alike, in respect of eternity.

II. That times of ignorance and of knowledge are not alike.

III. That before and after voluntary commission of known iniquity, are not alike.

IV. That before and after contracted naughty habits, are not alike.

V. That the time of God's gracious and particular visitation and the time when God withdraws his gracious presence and assistance, are not alike.

VI. The flourishing time of our health and strength, and the hour of sickness, weakness, and approach of death, are not alike.

VII. Now and hereafter, present and future, this world and the world to come, are not alike. - Benjamin Whichcot.

Psalm 95:7. - This supposition, "If ye will hear," and the consequence inferred thereupon, "harden not your hearts," doth evidently demonstrate that a right hearing will prevent hardness of heart; especially hearing of Christ's voice, that is, the gospel. It is the gospel that maketh and keepeth a soft heart. - William Gouge.

Psalm 95:8-11. -

I. Israel's fearful experiment in tempting God.

II. The awful result.

III. Let it not be tried again. - C. A. Davis.

Psalm 95:10. - The error and the ignorance which are fatal.

Psalm 95:11. - The fatal moment of the giving up of a soul, how it may be hastened, what are the signs of it, and what are the terrible results.

Psalm 95:10, Psalm 95:11. - The kindling, increasing, and full force of divine anger, and its dreadful results.

Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings

Whole Psalm

These six Psalms, Psalm 95:1 to Psalm 100:1, form, if I mistake not, one entire prophetic poem, cited by St. Paul in the Epistle to the Hebrews, under the title of the Introduction of the First Born into the world. Each Psalm has its proper subject, which is some particular branch of the general argument, the establishment of the Messiah's Kingdom. The 95th Psalm asserts Jehovah's Godhead, and his power over all nature, and exhorts his people to serve him, In Psalm 96:1 all nations are exhorted to join in his service, because he cometh to judge all mankind, Jew and Gentile. In Psalm 97:1, Jehovah reigns over all the world, the idols are deserted, the Just One is glorified. In Psalm 98:1, Jehovah hath done wonders, and wrought deliverance for himself: he hath remembered his mercy towards the house of Israel; he comes to judge the whole world. In Psalm 99:1, Jehovah, seated between the cherubim in Zion, the visible Church, reigns over all the world, to be praised for the justice of his government. In Psalm 100:1, all the world is called upon to praise Jehovah the Creator, whose mercy and truth are everlasting. - Samuel Horsley.

Whole Psalm

This Psalm is twice quoted in the Epistle to the Hebrews, as a warning to the Jewish Christians at Jerusalem, in the writer's day, that they should not falter in the faith, and despise God's promises, as their forefathers had done in the wilderness, lest they should fail of entering into his rest; see Hebrews 3:7, where Psalm 95:7 of this Psalm is introduced with the words, "As the Holy Ghost saith, To-day if ye will hear his voice," and see Hebrews 4:7, where it is said, "Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To-day." It has by some been inferred from these words, that the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews ascribes this Psalm to David. It may be so. But it seems not improbable that the words "in David" mean simply "the Book of Psalms," the whole being named from the greater part; and that if he had meant that David wrote the Psalm, he would have written, "David spake," or, "the Holy Ghost spake by David," and not as it is written, "as it is said in David." - Christopher Wordsworth.

Psalm 95:1

"O come, let us sing unto the Lord," etc. The first verse of the Psalm begins the invitation unto praise and exultation. It is a song of three parts, and every part (like Jacob's part of the sheep) brings forth twins; each a double string, as it were, in the music of this praise, finely twisted of two parts into a kind of discordant concord, falling into a musical close through a differing yet reconciled diapason. The first couple in this song of praise are multitude and unity, concourse and concord: "O come," there's multitude and concourse; "let us," there's unity and concord. The second twisted pair, are tongue and heart, "let us sing," there's the voice and sound; and "heartily rejoice," there's the heart and soul. The third and last intertwisted string, or part of the musick, is might and mercy, (rock or) strength and salvation; God's strength and our salvation: "to the strength (or rock) of our salvation." - Charles Herle (1598-1659) in a "Sermon before the House of Lords," entitled "David's Song of Three Parts."

Psalm 95:1

"Come." The word "come" contains an exhortation, exciting them to join heart and lips in praising God; just as the word is used in Genesis where the people, exciting and encouraging each other, say, "Come, let us make bricks;" and "Come, let us make a city and a town;" and, in the same chapter, the Lord says, "Come, let us go down, and there confound their tongue." - Bellarmine.

Psalm 95:1

If it be so that one "come, let us" goes further than twenty times go and do, how careful should such be whom God hath raised to eminence of place that their examples be Jacob's ladders to help men to heaven, not Jeroboam's stumbling-blocks to lie in their way, and make Israel to sin. - Charles Herle.

Psalm 95:1

There is a silent hint here at that human listlessness and distraction of cares whereby we are more prompt to run after other things than to devote ourselves seriously to the becoming praises and service of God. Our foot has a greater proclivity to depart to the field, the oxen, and the new wife, than to come to the sacred courts, Luke 14:18, seq. See Isaiah 2:3, "Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord." - Martin Geier.

Psalm 95:1

"Joyful noise." The verb הויע, signifies to make a loud sound of any sort, either with the voice or with instruments. In the Psalms, it generally refers to the mingled din of voices and various instruments, in the Temple service. This wide sense of the word cannot be expressed otherwise in the English language than by a periphrasis. - Samuel Horsley.

Psalm 95:1

"The rock of our salvation." Jesus is the Rock of ages, in which is opened a fountain for sin and uncleanness; the Rock which attends the church in the wilderness, pouring forth the water of life, for her use and comfort; the Rock which is our fortress against every enemy, shadowing and refreshing a weary land. - George Horne.

Psalm 95:2

"Let us come before his presence." Hebrew, prevent his face, be there with the first. "Let us go speedily.... I will go also," Zechariah 8:21. Let praise wait for God in Sion, Psalm 65:1. - John Trapp.

Psalm 95:2 (second clause)

"Let us chaunt aloud to him the measured lay." זמרות, I take to be songs, in measured Verse, adjusted to the bars of a chaunt. - S. Horsley.

Psalm 95:3

He that hath a mind to praise God, shall not want matter of praise, as they who come before princes do, who for want of true grounds of praise in them, do give them flattering words; "for the Lord is a great God," for power and pre-eminency, for strength and continuance. - David Dickson.

Psalm 95:3

The Supreme Being has three names here: אל El, יהוה Jehovah, אלהיס Elohim, and we should apply none of them to false gods. The first implies his strength; the second, his being and essence; the third, his covenant relation to mankind. In public worship these are the views we should entertain of the Divine Being. - Adam Clarke.

Psalm 95:3

"Above all gods." When he is called a great God and King above all gods, we may justly imagine that the reference is to the angels who are wont to be introduced absolutely under this name, and to the supreme Judges in the land, who also wear this title, as we have it in Psalm 82:1-8. - Venema.

Psalm 95:4

"In his hand." The dominion of God is founded upon his preservation of things. "The Lord is a great King above all gods." Why? "In his hand are the deep places of the earth." While his hand holds, his hand hath a dominion over them. He that holds a stone in the air exerciseth a dominion over its natural inclination in hindering it from falling. The creature depends wholly upon God in its preservation; as soon as that divine hand which sustains everything were withdrawn, a languish merit and swooning would be the next turn in the creature. He is called Lord, Adonai, in regard of his sustentation of all things by his continual influx, the word coming of און, which signifies a basis or pillar that supports a building. God is the Lord of all, as he is the sustainer of all by his power, as well as the Creator of all by his word. - Stephen Charnock.

Psalm 95:4

"In whose hand are the recesses of the earth

And the treasures of the mountains are his."

- Thomas J. Conant's Translation.

Psalm 95:4

"In his hand are the deep places of the earth." This affords consolation to those, who for the glory of the divine name are cast into prisons and subterraneous caves; because they know, that even there it is not possible to be the least separated from the presence of Christ. Wherefore he preserved Joseph when hurled by his brethren into the old pit, and when thrust by his shameless mistress into prison; Jeremiah also when sent down into the dungeon; Daniel among the lions, and his companions in the furnace. So all who cleave to him with a firm faith, he wonderfully keeps and delivers to this day. - Solomon Gesner, 1559-1605.

Psalm 95:4

"In his hand are the deep places of the earth." As an illustration of the working and presence of the Lord in the mines amid the bowels of the earth we have selected the following: - "The natural disposition of coal in detached portions," says the author of an excellent article in the Edinburgh Review, "is not simply a phenomenon of geology, but it also bears upon natural considerations. It is remarkable that this natural disposition is that which renders the fuel most accessible and most easily mined. Were the coal situated at its normal geological depth, that is, supposing the strata to be all horizontal and undisturbed or upheaved, it would be far below human reach. Were it deposited continuously in one even superficial layer, it would have been too readily, and therefore too quickly, mined, and therefore all the superior qualities would be wrought out, and only the inferior left; but as it now lies it is broken up by geological disturbances into separate portions, each defined and limited in area, each sufficiently accessible to bring it within man's reach and labour: each manageable by mechanical arrangements, and each capable of gradual excavation without being subject to sudden exhaustion. Selfish plundering is partly prevented by natural barriers, and we are warned against reckless waste by the comparative thinness of coal-seams, as well as by the ever augmenting difficulty of working them at increased depths. By the separation of seams one from another, and by varied intervals of waste sandstones and shales, such a measured rate of winning is necessitated as precludes us from entirely robbing posterity of the most valuable mineral fuel, while the fuel itself is preserved from those extended fractures and crumblings and falls, which would certainly be the consequence of largely mining the best bituminous coal, were it aggregated into one vast mass. In fact, by an evident exercise of forethought and benevolence in the Great Author of all our blessings, our invaluable fuel has been stored up for us in deposits the most compendious, the most accessible, yet the least exhaustible, and has been locally distributed into the most convenient situations. Our coalfields are so many Bituminous Banks, in which there is abundance for an adequate currency, but against any sudden run upon them nature has interposed numerous checks; whole reserves of the precious fuel are always locked up in the bank-cellar under the invincible protection of ponderous stone-beds. It is a striking fact, that in this nineteenth century, after so long an inhabitation of the earth by man, if we take the quantities in the broad view of the whole known coal-fields, so little coal has been excavated, and that there remains an abundance for a very remote posterity, even though our own best coal-fields may be then worked out."

But it is not only in these inexhaustible supplies of mineral fuel that we find proofs of divine foresight, all the other treasures of the earth-rind equally convince us of the intimate harmony between its structure and the wants of man. Composed of a wonderful variety of earths and ores, it contains an inexhaustible abundance of all the substances he requires for the attainment of a higher grade of civilisation. It is for his use that iron, copper, lead, silver, tin, marble, gypsum, sulphur, rock-salt, and a variety of other minerals and metals, have been deposited in the veins and crevices, or in the mines and quarries, of the subterranean world. It is for his benefit that, from the decomposition of the solid rocks results that mixture of earths and alkalis, of marl, lime, sand, or chalk, which is most favourable to agriculture.

It is for him, finally, that, filtering through the entrails of the earth, and dissolving salutary substances on their way, the thermal springs gush forth laden with treasures more inestimable than those the miner toils for. Supposing man had never been destined to live, we well may ask why all those gifts of nature - useless to all living beings but to him - why those vast coal-fields, those beds of iron ore, those deposits of sulphur, those hygeian fountains, should ever have been created? Without him there is no design, no purpose, in their existence; with him they are wonderful sources of health or necessary instruments of civilisation and improvement. Thus the geological revolutions of the earth-rind harmoniously point to man as to its future lord; thus, in the life of our planet and that of its inhabitants, we everywhere find proofs of a gigantic unity of plan, embracing unnumbered ages in its development and progress. - G. Hartwig, in "The Harmonies of Nature," 1866.

Psalm 95:4

"The deep places of the earth," penetralia terrae, which are opposed to the heights of the hills, and plainly mean the deepest and most retired parts of the terraqueous globe, which are explorable by the eye of God, and by his only. - Richard Mant.

Psalm 95:4

"The strength of the hills." The word translated "strength" is plural in Hebrew, and seems properly to mean fatiguing exertions, from which some derive the idea of strength, others that of extreme height, which can only be reached by exhausting effort. - J. A. Alexander.

Psalm 95:4

"The strength of the hills is his also." The reference may be to the wealth of the hills, obtained only by labour [Gesenius], corresponding to the former - "the deep places of the earth," explained as referring to the mines [Mendelssohn]. Go where man may, with all his toil and searching in the heights or in the depths of the earth, he cannot find a place beyond the range of God's dominion. - A. R. Fausset.

Psalm 95:4, Psalm 95:5

1 O come, let us sing unto the Lord, let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.

2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.

3 For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.

4 In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also.

5 The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.

Psalm 95:1

"O come, let us sing unto the Lord." Other nations sing unto their gods, let us sing unto Jehovah. We love him, we admire him, we reverence him, let us express our feelings with the choicest sounds, using our noblest faculty for its noblest end. It is well thus to urge others to magnify the Lord, but we must be careful to set a worthy example ourselves, so that we may be able not only to cry "Come," but also to add "let us sing," because we are singing ourselves. It is to be feared that very much even of religious singing is not unto the Lord, but unto the ear of the congregation above all things we must in our service of song take care that all we offer is with the heart's sincerest and most fervent intent directed towards the Lord himself. "Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation." With holy enthusiasm let us sing, making a sound which shall indicate our earnestness; with abounding joy let us lift up our voices, actuated by that happy and peaceful spirit which trustful love is sure to foster. As the children of Israel sang for joy when the smitten rock poured forth its cooling streams, so let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. The author of this song had in his mind's eye the rock, the tabernacle, the Red Sea, and the mountains of Sinai, and he alludes to them all in this first part of his hymn. God is our abiding, immutable, and mighty rock, and in him we find deliverance and safety, therefore it becomes us to praise him with heart and with voice from day to day; and especially should we delight to do this when we assemble as his people for public worship.

"Come let us to the Lord sing out

With trumpet voice and choral shout."

Psalm 95:2

"Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving." Here is probably a reference to the peculiar presence of God in the Holy of Holies above the mercy-seat, and also to the glory which shone forth out of the cloud which rested above the tabernacle. Everywhere God is present, but there is a peculiar presence of grace and glory into which men should never come without the profoundest reverence. We may make bold to come before the immediate presence of the Lord - for the voice of the Holy Ghost in this Psalm invites us, and when we do draw near to him we should remember his great goodness to us and cheerfully confess it. Our worship should have reference to the past as well as to the future; if we do not bless the Lord for what we have already received, how can we reasonably look for more. We are permitted to bring our petitions, and therefore we are in honour bound to bring our thanksgivings. "And make a joyful noise unto him with Psalms." We should shout as exultingly as those do who triumph in war, and as solemnly as those whose utterance is a Psalm. It is not always easy to unite enthusiasm with reverence, and it is a frequent fault to destroy one of these qualities while straining after the other. The perfection of singing is that which unites joy with gravity, exultation with humility, fervency with sobriety. The invitation given in Psalm 95:1 is thus repeated in the second with the addition of directions, which indicate more fully the intent of the writer. One can imagine David in earnest tones persuading his people to go up with him to the worship of Jehovah with sound of harp and hymn, and holy delight. The gladsomeness of his exhortation is noteworthy, the noise is to be joyful; this quality he insists upon twice. It is to be feared that this is too much overlooked in ordinary services, people are so impressed with the idea that they ought to be serious that they put on the aspect of misery, and quite forget that joy is as much a characteristic of true worship as solemnity itself.

Psalm 95:3

"For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods." No doubt the surrounding nations imagined Jehovah to be a merely local deity, the god of a small nation, and therefore one of the inferior deities; the Psalmist utterly repudiates such an idea. Idolaters tolerated gods many and lords many, giving to each a certain measure of respect; the monotheism of the Jews was not content with this concession, it rightly claimed for Jehovah the chief place, and the supreme power. He is great, for he is all in all; he is a great King above all other powers and dignitaries, whether angels or princes, for they owe their existence to him; as for the idol gods, they are not worthy to be mentioned. This verse and the following supply some of the reasons for worship, drawn from the being, greatness, and sovereign dominion of the Lord.

Psalm 95:4

continued...

6 O 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. To-day if ye will hear his voice,

8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:

9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.

10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:

11 Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.

Psalm 95:6

Here the exhortation to worship is renewed and backed with a motive which, to Israel of old, and to Christians now, is especially powerful; for both the Israel after the flesh and the Israel of faith may be described as the people of his pasture, and by both he is called "our God." "O come, let us worship and bow down." The adoration is to be humble. The "joyful noise" is to be accompanied with lowliest reverence. We are to worship in such style that the bowing down shall indicate that we count ourselves to be as nothing in the presence of the all-glorious Lord. "Let us kneel before the Lord our maker." As suppliants must we come; joyful, but not presumptuous; familiar as children before a father, yet reverential as creatures before their maker. Posture is not everything, yet is it something; prayer is heard when knees cannot bend, but it is seemly that an adoring heart should show its awe by prostrating the body, and bending the knee.

Psalm 95:7

"For he is our God." Here is the master reason for worship. Jehovah has entered into covenant with us, and from all the world beside has chosen us to be his own elect. If others refuse him homage, we at least will render it cheerfully. He is ours, and our God; ours, therefore will we love him; our God, therefore will we worship him. Happy is that man who can sincerely believe that this sentence is true in reference to himself. "And we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand." As he belongs to us, so do we belong to him. "My Beloved is mine, and I am his." And we are his as the people whom he daily feeds and protects. Our pastures are not ours, but his; we draw all our supplies from his stores. We are his, even as sheep belong to the shepherd, and his hand is our rule, our guidance, our government, our succour, our source of supply. Israel was led through the desert, and we are led through this life by "that great Shepherd of the sheep." The hand which cleft the sea and brought water from the rock is still with us, working equal wonders. Can we refuse to "worship and bow down" when we clearly see that "this God is our God for ever and ever, and will be our guide, even unto death"?

But what is this warning which follows? Alas, it was sorrowfully needed by the Lord's ancient people, and is not one whit the less required by ourselves. The favoured nation grew deaf to their Lord's command, and proved not to be truly his sheep, of whom it is written, "My sheep hear my voice": will this turn out to be our character also? God forbid. "To-day if ye will hear his voice." Dreadful "if" Many would not hear, they put off the claims of love, and provoked their God. "To-day," in the hour of grace, in the day of mercy, we are tried as to whether we have an ear for the voice of our Creator. Nothing is said of to-morrow, "he limiteth a certain day," he presses for immediate attention, for our own sakes he asks instantaneous obedience. Shall we yield it? The Holy Ghost saith "To-day," will we grieve him by delay?

Psalm 95:8

"Harden not your heart." If ye will hear, learn to fear also. The sea and the land obey him, do not prove more obstinate than they!

"Yield to his love who round you now

continued...