Psalm Chapter 95

Psalm 95: The Invitation That Becomes a Warning

It begins as pure invitation — and what an invitation. "O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation." The God being praised is not small: in His hand are the deep places of the earth, the strength of the hills, the sea He made and the dry land His hands formed. We are summoned to worship, to bow down, to kneel. And then, without warning, the temperature drops. God Himself begins to speak, and what He says is not comfort but caution: "Harden not your heart, as in the provocation." He is remembering the wilderness — forty years of a people who saw His works and still did not know His ways. The shift is jarring, and it is meant to be. For the psalm is making a point that the comfortable worshipper would rather not hear: that it is possible to sing the right songs and still have a hard heart. Possible to stand in the presence of the God who holds the mountains in His hand and remain, inwardly, unmoved. "To day if ye will hear his voice" — the emphasis falls on today, on the urgency of this particular moment. The door of worship stands open. But doors, the psalmist knows, can close.

00:00 Come, Let Us Sing unto the Lord
01:00 Today, If Ye Will Hear His Voice