Psalms 95:1-11 - Homilies By C. Short

Public worship-its necessity and advantage.

I. ITS NATURE .

1 . Thanksgiving and praise. ( Psalms 95:1 , Psalms 95:2 .) We need special seasons for thinking over our privileges and cultivating gratitude, and the utterance of the spirit of praise.

2 . Adoration and prayer. ( Psalms 95:6 .) God's love thus a cause for our cleansing. Christ's promises and grace inexhaustible. Who can drink the river of his love dry? Confession and supplication.

3 . Listening to the voice of God. ( Psalms 95:7 .) In his spoken Word and in our own hearts. Hearing what God speaks to us is as much worship as our speaking to God.

II. REASONS OF WORSHIP .

1 . God ' s supremacy. ( Psalms 95:3-5 .) Here is the theme of the loftiest praise; a reason for the largest prayers; and an argument for submission to his perfect will.

2 . God ' s tender guardianship. "He is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand." intimate relationship to him: "our God ." Living upon his bounty: "people of his pasture." We are being guided by him: "sheep of his hand."

3 . God ' s oath against those who are hardened. "Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest."

4 . He is the Rock of our salvation. ( Psalms 95:1 .) The eternal Foundation and Shelter of the soul.—S.