Psalms 95:1

PSALM 95

A CALL TO WORSHIP AND A WARNING AGAINST UNBELIEF

Scholars usually group the six psalms from Psalms 95 through Psalms 100 as liturgical psalms, designed for use by the Israelites as they gathered for Sabbath day worship. "This group of psalms seems to have been composed for use in the services of the second temple."[1] Despite such opinions, there is a genuine possibility that David is the author, as it is so assigned in the LXX, and besides that, the author of Hebrews in the New Testament quoted this psalm, stating that it was "in David." This is alleged to mean merely that the psalm is "in the Psalter"; nevertheless, we accept the real possibility that David did indeed write it.

This writer claims no skill in evaluating such conclusions as those suggested by Yates (above), but they are included here as the convictions of dependable scholars.

INTRODUCTION TO THESE SIX PSALMS

McCaw stated that the six suggest the possibility of an annual "Enthronement Festival," but refrained from accepting such an "Enthronement Festival" as any kind of certainty, declaring rather that, "Their abiding value is to enter into the riches of Old Testament teaching regarding God, the Creator and King."[2] This writer cannot find sufficient supporting evidence of anything like "An Enthronement Festival" in the whole compass of Old Testament worship. If there was really any such thing, why is it never mentioned in the Old Testament?

Psalms 95 begins with the knowledge of God imparted exclusively to Israel, with the second portion of it providing a warning that Israel should not become unbelievers as did their ancestors.

In Psalms 96, the exclusiveness of Israel is replaced with a universal call for all nations and the whole creation to worship God. In this psalm, God appears, not exclusively as the covenant God of the Hebrews, but as the Creator of the whole world and the source of all truth and righteousness.

Psalms 97 stresses the knowledge of God as presiding over his whole Creation, and, "As the faithful One whose goodness and holiness are always being disclosed to all mankind through Zion."[3]

Psalms 98 is a song of praise, extolling the fact of salvation being known to the ends of the earth.

Psalms 99 stresses the preeminence of Zion and honors great leaders such as Moses, Aaron, and Samuel.

In Psalms 100, "We have an appeal for universal adoration of the Lord, Israel's position as his chosen people, and the enduring quality of the Lord's mercy and kindness."[4]

Psalms 95:1-3

AN INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 95

"O come, let us sing unto Jehovah;

Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.

Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving;

Let us make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.

For Jehovah is a great God,

And a great King above all gods."

Although it is a fact that everyone is "always" in the presence of God in the ultimate sense, yet there is a special way in which men who are assembling for worship do indeed "come into God's presence." In this light, these verses are a beautiful and proper call to worship in churches all over the world even today.

Coming before God with praise and thanksgiving is the very essence of worship.

"A great God ... a great King above all gods" (Psalms 95:3). This is the overriding fact, the epic truth, that justifies the call to worship God. He is the One and Only Deity, the First Cause, The First and the Last, Jehovah, Rock, Refuge, High Tower, Salvation, Most High, the Beginning and the Ending, the Creator and Sustainer of Everything in the Universe. All of the pagan deities of antiquity are as a mere colony of insects in comparison with the true God of Heaven and Earth.