How do you listen for the Voice of God? Do you have a hardened heart? Do you feel far from the Lord? Praying Psalm 95 will help… Let’s dig in…
Psalm 95
1 Come, let us sing to the Lord!
Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come to him with thanksgiving.
Let us sing psalms of praise to him.
3 For the Lord is a great God,
a great King above all gods.
4 He holds in his hands the depths of the earth
and the mightiest mountains.
5 The sea belongs to him, for he made it.
His hands formed the dry land, too.6 Come, let us worship and bow down.
Let us kneel before the Lord our maker,
7 for he is our God.
We are the people he watches over,
the flock under his care.If only you would listen to his voice today!
Psalm 95 NLT
8 The Lord says, “Don’t harden your hearts as Israel did at Meribah,
as they did at Massah in the wilderness.
9 For there your ancestors tested and tried my patience,
even though they saw everything I did.
10 For forty years I was angry with them, and I said,
‘They are a people whose hearts turn away from me.
They refuse to do what I tell them.’
11 So in my anger I took an oath:
‘They will never enter my place of rest.’”
About this Psalm
Though this Psalm doesn’t designate an author, as it turns out, the writer of Hebrews attributes this Psalm to King David…
7 So God set another time for entering his rest, and that time is today. God announced this through David much later in the words already quoted:
“Today when you hear his voice,
Hebrews 4:7 NLT
don’t harden your hearts.”
This psalm is also one of the Royal Psalms (93, 95-100). The Israelites sang it for the dedication of the Temple after the Jews had returned from exile in Babylon. (See the Bible Study on Ezra and Nehemiah)
Psalm 95 is divided into two parts. Verses 1-7a is praising and worshiping God. Verses 7b-11 is a warning from God. King David started praising God, then warning the people as the Voice of God.
Understand, that primarily, God talks to us via the Bible. It’s the Holy Spirit-inspired Word of God. It is the Voice of God!
Part 1 – Praising & Worshiping God
- First, you can’t be depressed when you’re praising God! When you’re feeling stressed, worried, tired, anxious, or down, turn on some praise and worship music and your mood will lift right up!
- Second, Jesus is the Rock of our Salvation. He’s an IMMOVABLE ROCK! Jesus never moves away from you. You are the one that moves away from Him!
- We’re to live in an Attitude of Gratitude — like Every Day is Thanksgiving!
- Moreover, we should daily acknowledge that He is the King of kings. Even Jesus told us how to pray in what we call “The Lord’s Prayer”.
- Who are the “gods” in your life? Mary, the Saints? Money? Fame? Pride? Culture? The earth? Jesus is God over all the gods. Don’t worship a creation — worship the Creator!
- In fact, He created the earth, the mountains, and the sea. Therefore, He is in control!
- Finally, as His flock — Him being the Good Shepherd — we are to bow to Him only! We are to worship and venerate Him only! We are Christians, not Pagans!
Part 2 — The Voice of God
In this second part, the writer tells us what God has to say about us listening to Him. Imagine what the world would be like…
“If only you would listen to his voice today!”
Psalm 95:7b NLT
Israel in the Promised Land
If you take that last verse out of context, you can easily conclude that God is so mad at the Israelites that they will never see the Promised Land. Not so. This reminds the Jews of what happened to their ancestors during the Exodus from Egypt. God was so angry with them that a whole generation missed out on entering the Promised Land. Pastor Sandy Adams elaborates…
The Hebrew word translated “rebellion” is “Meribah” – and “trial” is the word “Massah.” And it was at the waters of Massah and Meribah that the Hebrews grumbled and complained – and tried God’s patience. The Lord quenched their thirst with water from the rock, but He also took note of their contentious attitude. Eventually, a whole generation of grumblers was sentenced to die outside the Promised Land.
Because of their unbelief the generation of Hebrews that exited Egypt died in the wilderness. A two week trip turned into a 40-year death march.
The writer of the New Testament book of Hebrews uses these verses in an intriguing way. Hebrews 4 points out that here in verse 7 David says, “Today, if you hear His voice… you can enter God’s rest.” Emphasis on “Today…”
This proves the Old Testament Hebrews under Joshua never entered God’s rest. Even though the second generation entered Canaan they didn’t taste of God’s restfulness – the peace and prosperity He had planned for them.
If they had, David living 450 years later wouldn’t have said, “Today…” The writer’s point is that the rest of God is still available – and not just in David’s day – but to anyone in any age that ceases from his own toiling and starts trusting in Jesus’ work for him and the Spirit’s work in him.
Pastor Sandy Adams
Jesus told us…
“Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”
Matthew 11: 28-30 NLT
The lesson here is to…
1) listen to God’s voice,
2) don’t harden your heart,
and 3) you will enter His rest.
Are you tired and weary of the burden of religious rites and rituals?
Then, open the door to your heart to Jesus!
Isn’t it about time you let Him in?
