Psalms 95

This Psalm consists of two parts, an invitation to worship, and a warning against disobedience. i. The call to worship Jehovah because He is the Lord of all the world (Psalms 95:1-5) is followed by a reiterated call to worship Him because He is in an especial way the God of Israel (6, 7). ii. The worshippers are solemnly warned not to repeat the sin of their ancestors in the wilderness (Psalms 95:8-11). This is the first of a group of Psalms (95–100) strongly marked by common characteristics and obviously intended for liturgical use. The key-note of them has already been struck in Psalms 93, which forms a prelude to them, and should be studied in connexion with them. It seems highly probable that they were composed for the Dedication of the Second Temple in b.c. 516, and that the Septuagint titles of Psalms 96, When the house was being built after the Captivity, and Psalms 97, When his land was being settled, preserve a true tradition as to their date. They are the lyrical echo of Isaiah 40-66, Psalms 98 in particular being full of resemblances to that collection of prophecies. In the humiliation of Babylon and the restoration of Israel, Jehovah had proved Himself the sovereign of the world, supreme over all the gods of the heathen. He had vindicated His judicial righteousness and manifested His faithfulness to Israel. The joy of the deliverance culminated in the Dedication of the Temple. That event was the outward expression of the thought that He had once more seated Himself on His throne in Zion, not as the King of Israel only, but as the King of all the world. But that event might well be an occasion not only for rejoicing but for warning. The deliverance from Babylon was the counterpart of the deliverance from Egypt. What if Israel of the Restoration should tempt Jehovah by faithlessness and disobedience as Israel in the wilderness had done? And therefore this Psalmist hears God’s voice tempering their exultation with salutary admonition. Such is the connexion of thought between the two parts of Psalms 95. The words of Psa 95:7 a, b which recall the care of Jehovah for His people in the wilderness lead up most naturally to the hope that now at least Israel may be obedient (Psalms 95:7 c), and that hope is fitly followed by the solemn words of divine warning in Psalms 95:8-11. Some critics hold that this Psalm, like Psalms 81, with which it has much in common, is a combination of two separate fragments; but in neither case is such a hypothesis necessary. In appointing this Psalm, sometimes called the ‘Invitatory Psalm,’ for daily use as an introduction to the Psalms for the day, the English Church follows a primitive and general usage. “Before the beginning of their prayers,” writes Athanasius of the practice of the Church of Constantinople, “Christians invite and exhort one another in the words of this Psalm.” In the Western Church the whole Psalm appears to have been generally used. In the Eastern Church an invitatory founded on it is used at the commencement of service. See Daniel, On the Prayer Book, p. 88.

Psalms 95:1-2

1, 2. A call to unite in worshipping Jehovah.

Psalms 95:2

2. Let us present ourselves before his face with thanksgiving, Let us shout unto him with psalms. Let us present ourselves before Him in His Temple, bringing with us the sacrifice of thanksgiving. Cp. Micah 6:6; Psalms 50:14; Psalms 50:23.

Psalms 95:3-5

3–5. The reason for this service:—His greatness as the supreme King, the Lord of the world.

Psalms 95:4

4. In whose hand are the secret depths of earth, And to whom the peaks of the mountains belong. The depths of the earth which cannot be explored by man (Job 38:16; Jeremiah 31:37), the soaring mountain peaks upon which man cannot set his foot, are all under His control. The meaning of the word for peaks is doubtful; but it probably means eminences (LXX, Jer.) rather than strength.

Psalms 95:5

5. Whose is the sea, for HE made it; And the dry land, which his hands formed. Cp. Psalms 24:1; Psalms 89:11.

Psalms 95:6-7

6, 7. A renewed call to worship Jehovah, on the ground of His relation to Israel.

Psalms 95:7

7. our God] P. B.V. the Lord our God, from the Vulg. the people &c.] The people whom He shepherds, the flock which is His own especial charge. Cp. Psalms 74:1, note. To day if ye will hear &c.] The A.V. follows the LXX in taking this clause as the protasis to Psalms 95:8. But here the Psalmist is still speaking (‘his voice’), while in Psalms 95:8 God speaks; and it is better to take it as a wish, Oh that to-day ye would hearken to his voice! Cp. Deuteronomy 5:29. As the Psalmist recalls God’s care for His people in the wilderness, He cannot forget their thankless disobedience, and the earnest wish springs to his lips that this generation may not repeat the sin of their forefathers. This wish leads up naturally to the solemn warning of Psa 95:8-11.

To day is emphatic, and has a special significance if the Psalm was sung at the Dedication of the Second Temple: now, in contrast to that former time; now, when Jehovah has visibly manifested His goodness; now, while the door of opportunity lies open before you. His voice is not merely the words which follow, but all His message. Cp. Deuteronomy 4:30.

Psalms 95:8-11

8–11. Jehovah speaks, warning Israel not to repeat the sins of obstinacy and unbelief by which their ancestors provoked Him.

Psalms 95:9

9. The Israelites tempted and tried God by faithless doubts of His goodness and arbitrary demands that He should prove His power (Exodus 17:2; Exodus 17:7; Psalms 78:18; Psalms 78:41; Psalms 78:56). and saw my work] While they on their part tempted God, He on His part was ever working out His providential plan, by mercy and by chastisement. But it suits the context better to render, Though they had seen my work. (For the construction cp. Nehemiah 6:1.) Though they had just had proof of God’s power and goodwill in the Exodus, it had not taught them to trust Him. Cp. Numbers 14:22.

Psalms 95:10

10. was I grieved] The Heb. is stronger; did I loathe (Ezekiel 6:9). this generation] “This” is not in the Heb., which seems to mean, with a (whole) generation. But it is better to read with LXX and Jer., with that generation. And I said, They are a people whose heart goeth astray, And they know not my ways. Wandering from the right way (Psalms 58:3; Isaiah 29:24; Isaiah 53:6); incapable of understanding the leadings of God’s Providence (Psalms 81:13).

Psalms 95:11

11. Unto whom &c.] Or, Wherefore I sware. See Numbers 14:21 ff. my rest] The Promised Land. Cp. Deuteronomy 12:9. Psalms 95:7 c–11 are quoted in Hebrews 3:7-11, and applied in detail as a warning to Christians who were in danger of unbelief, lest they too should fail to reach the rest promised to them. The quotation follows the LXX with some slight variations. In Hebrews 4:7, Psalms 95:7 c, Psalms 95:8 a are introduced by the words “saying in David,” i.e. ‘in the person of David,’ not ‘in the book of David.’ The author may have followed the LXX title, or, according to the common mode of speaking, regarded David as the author of the whole Psalter.