Today may we listen to God’s voice
Psalm 95
1 O 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 the dry land, which his hands have formed.
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.
O that today you would listen to his voice!
8 Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
9 when your ancestors tested me,
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 whose hearts go astray,
and they do not regard my ways.’
11 Therefore in my anger I swore,
‘They shall not enter my rest.’
The psalm has two contrasting feelings. Vs. 1-7a sounds very much like Psalm 100 – make a joyful noise to the Lord, sing loudly, praise God’s name, for God is the great God, the great king. The Creator God is the One who saves us, and God has made us God’s own. The relationship is not a distant one, rather God is the good shepherd who cares for the sheep, guiding, nurturing, caring. This is a wonderfully warm shout of praise from the people to God.
God replies in verse 8-11. God’s question is this: “Will you still praise me, will you still think I am worthy of all this joyful outburst, when life is hard, when things don’t go the way you want?” The reference to Meribah and Massah (vs. 8) connects to Exodus 17:1-7. Those verses are an account of how the people of Israel, who a mere 2 chapters earlier in Exodus had been praising God for the victory of the Egyptians, and now when there was a problem of no water they wanted to go back to Egypt. God is reminding the people of what happened and is wondering if their praise (Psalm 95:1-7) will still be there when there are difficult moments – when life is hard. Will the people still praise when God acts in ways that don’t line up with what the people want?
God invites us to a loyalty that is deeper than being loyal when everything is going well, God desires a commitment to him that holds to him through difficult times and good times. Through times when everything is good with the world and through times when things are difficult and challenging.
PRAYER:
We love to praise you, O Lord, when all is good, and life is easy. It is not so easy to praise you when life is hard, and the way ahead is difficult. Teach us the joy of praising you, even when life is difficult. Remind us that you remain with us, even when the path is hard. In Jesus’ name. Amen.