The LORD is your God, and you're part of the flock He cares for.
Psalm 95
1 Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD;
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving
and extol him with music and song.
3 For the LORD is the great God,
the great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth,
and the mountain peaks belong to him.
5 The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.
6 Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;
7 for he is our God
and we are the people of his pasture,
the flock under his care.
Today, if only you would hear his voice,
8 “Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, l
as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness,
9 where your fathers tested me;
they tried me, though they had seen what I did.
10 For forty years I was angry with that generation;
I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray,
and they have not known my ways.’
11 So I declared on oath in my anger,
‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ”
Canons of Dordt
Point 1 - God's Unconditional Election
5 - The Sources of Unbelief and of Faith
The cause or blame
for this unbelief,
as well as for all other sins,
is
not at all in God,
but in man.
Faith in Jesus Christ, however,
and salvation through him
is a free gift of God
Summary
Psalm 95 helps us understand two fundamental truths about who the LORD is. First of all, the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods. Certainly the psalmist here isn't claiming that there are many gods, but the LORD is the greatest of them all. Rather, the LORD is greater than any of the idyllic gods our sinful minds try to prop up in His place. After all, the LORD holds in His hands both the highest peaks and the lowest depths. Even the chaotic sea we read about last week belongs to Him, and His hands formed the dry land that we call home.
But the LORD is not just the transcendent creator, who remains far above all that His hands have made. Quite the opposite: He is our God. At first glance, those four words may not seem profound, but reflect on their immense significance throughout the day—the LORD Almighty, Creator of all things, who rules over and sustains them, is our God!
Not only does Psalm 95 give us these two key insights as to who the LORD is, but it next tells us who we are. This world would have you believe that you're just the random - accidental, even - result of space, time and matter crashing together to produce the conditions from which you happened to evolve. Psalm 95, on the other hand, reminds you that we are the people of the LORD's pasture and that as part of His flock, you are under His care.
Dig Deeper
Psalm 95 also gives you two ways you must respond to the LORD, your creator and sustainer. It repeats the first imperative three times:
1 Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD;
2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.
6 Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;
This command to come stands in stark contrast to your sinful instinct to flee from the LORD as Adam did after rebelling. To come means more than just moving yourself closer to God. It means to humble yourself, realize your complete dependence upon Him, by humbly and joyfully singing praises to Him.
Secondly, and a bit more ominously, you must submit to the LORD. After beginning with one of the most joyful calls to worship in the entire Psalter, Psalm 95 seems to come to a screeching halt in v8, sort of like when the bad guy comes into the saloon in an old Western movie. The LORD reminds His people - us! - to not repeat the ugly mistake of hardening our hearts the way the Israelites did during the exodus.
That generation missed out on entering the LORD's rest. To ensure you don't miss out, keep your heart from going astray, and be sure to know the LORD's ways. The only way for you to do these things is to fully cling to the Rock of our salvation!
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our LORD God, who cares for His flock;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you will come to the LORD in all your ways, and fully submit to Him through Christ;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Acts 7
