Let Us Sing Songs of Praise!

“The great thing, and the only thing, is to adore and praise God.” - Thomas Merton

This is a psalm that invites us to worship, ringing like church bells “both merrily and solemnly.” Spurgeon says, “...first ringing out a lively peal, and then dropping into a funeral knell as if tolling at the funeral of the generation which perished in the wilderness.” It sounds as a true Hebrew poem, rich with both exhortation and warning.

Shout Out! (95:1-5)

Our worship should be congregational.

Notice the number of times the psalmist says “us” or “our” in this passage of Scripture. Eight times an appeal is made to the corporate body. If the intention was to use this psalm as a processional…on the way to worship, then the first 5 verses certainly mirror that refrain.

Paul David Tripp is huge on the benefits of corporate worship. Listen to some of the notes he makes about it:

Corporate worship is designed too confront you with the glory of the grace of Jesus so you won’t look for life, help, and hope elsewhere.

Corporate worship is a regular, gracious reminder that it’s not about you. You’ve been born into a life that is a celebration of another.

Corporate worship is designed to humble you by pointing out the depth of your need and enthrall you by pointing to the glory of God’s provision.

Corporate worship rescues us again and again by reminding us that there is only one glory worth giving our lives too — the glory of God.

Corporate worship is designed to move the meditation of your heart form self-centered complaint to God-glorifying praise.

Corporate worship is designed to once again clear up our confusion as to what is truly important in life.

One more…corporate worship is designed to make you thankful, not just for the possessions and accomplishments, but for what you’ve been given in Christ.

Our worship should be celebratory.

This passage is a good reminder of how God’s people should celebrate. Truly, our joy should overflow in our worship of God. The notion of a consistently melancholy saint seems to be foreign to Scripture’s council. Will believers deal with difficulty and have reason for lament? Yes, there are plenty of psalms that express as much. But, when believers gather, it should be an occasion for celebration.

What is the object of this joyous celebration? YHWH, the covenant God who is faithful. His character and the reason for worship is further fleshed out throughout the psalm.

God’s abundant provision is to be remembered and celebrated. The inclination of our heart should be to think about God, remember His countless blessings to us, and then praise Him with hearts full of thankfulness.

This is the parallel to v.1b. The Psalmist is insistent that joy be a dominant theme in the worship of God’s people. This is a great reminder that joy ought to be as much a part of our worship as contrition, brokenness, and solemnity before a holy God.

Singing, a gracious gift from God, has the ability to stir the emotions. Singing songs of praise that proclaim truth has a way of stirring the emotive soul of the worshiper.

Our worship should be cerebral.

Notice that the psalmist gives reasons for celebration (rock of our salvation…YHWH is a great God…King above all gods). While the content of God’s character should be the true focus, it’s important to remember that there is a reason to celebrate, and worship is not a mindless exercise.

Alistair Begg was giving a sermon at a Ligonier Conference, and he recounts going to a worship service at a church in California. As the time of worship begins, the leader gets up and asks, “How do y’all feel this morning?” It’s quite the commentary on modern worship services that place emphasis on the experience over the content. Begg quips in response, “What type of New Testament question is that?” The better question according to Begg, something that is drawn out by the psalmist here, is to ask “what I know about God.” He continues, “Ask me what I now about His Word. Ask me what I know to be of verity that can deal with my soul. That’s what I need.” His contention is that on any given Sunday, “I just kicked the dog. I don’t even have a dog. I got in an argument with someone because they took my parking space. I spilled my coffee, I didn’t read my Bible, I’m a miserable wretch, and now you want me to start here -- ‘how do you feel?’ I feel rotten, that’s how I feel! What do you got for me?” He’s not railing against an emotional response in worship. Actually, quite the opposite. But, in order for our emotions to respond rightly...to respond in truth...they must first be exposed to truth. Therefore, “it is what we know -- the verities of the Scriptures which then fuel our hearts and our emotions, and lead us on.” Once we wrestle with the truth of God, as He is proclaimed in Scripture, just as the psalmist is doing for us here, that our hearts then perk up and say, “Oka, now we’ve got something to sing about, for we have been reminded of truth.” Far from being a mindless expression of emotion that swells on the ebbs and flows of crescendoing songs, the psalmist reminds us that truth is what will bring our hearts joy.

We often say there are none like You, none who compare to You, and none who are beside You: You are God alone. Remember that the dominant theme in the Ancient Near East in terms of deities is that the were local deities, every people worshiping their own god. What the psalmist does in this passage, however, proclaims YHWH above them all, both in literal expression and in example. He expounds upon that idea in verses 4-5. The depths of the earth are literally the places in need of exploration. However, the context supports the idea of depths because it serves as a contrast to the heights of the mountains. Mythology claimed that the depths belonged to Molech, demon-worship that celebrated wickedness through things like human sacrifice by fire (see 2 Kgs.21:6). The high places where the domain of Baal worship (see 2 Kgs.23:15, etc.). Tiamat/Rahab ruled over the waves. In essence, these verses become the factual proof for what the psalmist claims in vs.3. Not only does YHWH have claim to all of those things because He is their Creator, but He rules over all of the supposed gods of those areas as well, for He is “a great King above all gods.”

Not only do we confess that God is over all other gods, but the fact that the He is over the domains of all other gods really implies that YHWH alone is God.

God’s role as Creator, His position as the God above all gods, should call forth the voice of celebratory praise. So…let’s respond to God accordingly this morning!

Bow Down! (95:6-7c)

Our response should be humble.

The better understanding here is come in. The word is different from the one used in both v.1 and v.2. The word here emphasizes “access.” If the Psalm is to be used a hymn of procession, v.1 is the invitation and v.6 is the call to actually enter the temple itself.

The expression of bowing down and kneeling before the LORD both communicate humility before God. The lowly posture shows/pays homage. What informs this humility? Yes, the transcendent nature of God -- that He is God alone -- but more than that. He is also a God who saves.

Yes, we come as children familiar with their Father, joyful in His presence, but we dare not come presumptuous, but rather, as reverential creatures before their Savior.

Even though God is proclaimed as the “great God” who is “above all gods,” Motyer calls Him the “transcendent God” in v.3, He is still “our God” (see v.7). “Far above us in his greatness, he is yet close to us in his goodness.”

Bowing down refers to literally prostrating yourself, particularly before a superior. However, here the psalmist is referring more to the attitude of the heart. Still, Spurgeon observes, “Posture is not everything, yet is it something. Prayer is heard when knees cannot bend, but it is seemly that an adoring heart should show its awe by prostrating the body and bending the knee.”

To bow down is perform a concrete symbol of the adoration worship calls forth. Worship as a whole is a tangible expression of devotion to God. Genuine worship is much more than loud expressions and displays of “love,” which can simply be a sign of a lack of substance. After all, you can tell a lie enough to where even you yourself begin to believe it. If grace has truly visited us in salvation, it will certainly bring with it simultaneously JOY and HUMILITY. While the first 6 verses dealt with joyous celebration because of who God is, the psalm now pivots to deal with matters of salvation, and they call forth a bended knee. Motyer says, “Creation excites the voice of praise; redemption, the bowed knee of worship.”

Our response is rooted in grace.

The end of vs.6 is taken together with the beginning of vs.7 because of how they inform the whole. Is God our Creator? Yes, for He knit us in our mother’s womb. However, contextually it seems that Maker isn’t dealing with the act of creating, but the fact that God has redeemed His people, and in the process, they have been made to be God’s people. The implication is that God is the One who makes us what we are by His own purposes in redemption and revelation. This is drawn out by the psalmist when he notes that God is our God.

Because God is our “Maker,” we can rightfully own Him. Remember, the fact that He made us deals with more than mere creation...we are carved and cut out from the rest of the world to be the people of God. The NT calls the believing community the ekklesia, the called-out ones. Even when we feel beat up and abandoned, remember the God of the universe called us out by name. Now, He belongs to us because we first belonged to Him.

A shepherd leads his flock from pasture to pasture, a place that is safe, a place of provision. Consider the fact that sheep raised in Israel were scarcely familiar with the lush, rolling green landscapes we may typically think of when we think of a shepherd leading his flock. If there was pasture land (Ps.23 speaks of “green pastures”), then that land had to be cultivated by the shepherd. Rocks had to be cleared. Brush and roots and stumps had to be torn up and discarded. The soil had to be worked and the grass had to be planted. And, it brings the shepherd great joy when the pasture is ready and his sheep feeds and rests well in the rich green forage (noted by W. Philip Keller in A Shepherd Looks At Psalm 23). An ill-fed sheep is one that is always on its feet, wandering to-and-from, searching for one more “mouthful of forage” to satisfy their hunger pangs. If God’s people do not rest in His abundant provision, they will search for fulfillment somewhere else, but no other pasture will truly satisfy.

Matthew 5:6 ““Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” The fact of the matter is that we will never find satisfaction 1.) in something other than righteousness, and 2.) we will never find righteousness anywhere other than Christ. So, let me ask you: are you thankful for the provision of Christ? That He has called us out as His own? That He has made us a people for His own possession? That He has abundantly provided for us at every turn, meeting all of our needs physically and especially spiritually? May we humbly respond to the glorious gospel this morning.

Listen Up! (95:7b-11)

Sheep do not (or should not) delay responding to the voice of the shepherd, because he is providing much-needed guidance. It could be a call of protection. It could be a call of direction to keep the sheep from wandering off the right path. It could be a call correction because the sheep has previously disregarded the shepherd’s voice. So it is with the voice of the Great Shepherd. He gives:

protection

direction

correction

The latter part of vs.7, through the remaining portion of the psalm, recounts a generation that refused to listen to God. While they saw God do miraculous things, they did not rightly respond to who He revealed Himself to be. The psalmist cautions against such a faulty theology while subtly reminding the reader that true worship is responsive and a worshiping life is an obedient life.

Calvin says, “Before our hearts can be prepared to hear God’s Word, we must receive it with reverence and intention to obey it.”

Exodus 17:1-7 records the events mentioned here. Israel rebelled against Moses’ leadership, and in reality, their rebellion was against God. Such rebellion, after God had graciously delivered Israel from the chains of Egypt, tested God and provoked His judgment.

The names Meribah and Massah both have meanings related to God’s contention -- “contending” and “testing” respectively. Remember that the peoples’ response to God’s rescue and care was to grumble and complain, asking God to take them back to Egyptian bondage. How often do we ask the same thing, preferring the ways of the world over and above the things of God? Spurgeon reminds us, “God’s way is perfect, and when we would have Him alter it to please us, we are guilty of tempting Him.”

How has God graced us to listen to his voice (which means to pay attention with the intention to obey) and not harden our hearts? He has given us the gift of the weekly gathering.

The wandering generation, rather than responding to God with thanksgiving, grumbled against His kindness. They preferred the bondage of Egypt rather than the good rule of YHWH. Therefore, they did not enter the Promised Land. How does this relate to our salvation? 1.) The P.L. is rather symbolic of salvation. This generation refused the good rule of God and therefore found instead the wrath and judgment of God. 2.) Today, we face a similar fork in the road. Either we embrace the Lordship of Jesus, thankful for His gracious provision and substitutionary death, or we grumble and complain, preferring instead a life bound to sin. One way is the way of joyful worship and humble surrender. The other way is the way of sorrowful striving that never leads to rest, only ending in the wrath of God. Which path will we take today?