Psalms 95
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O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.
3 For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also.
5 The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.
6 O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker.
7 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice,
8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.
10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:
11 Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.
Public Domain KJV text from Wordproject.org
Psalm 95:1-11
Let Us Sing Songs of Praise
1Oh come, let us sing to the Lord;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
2Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
3For the Lord is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.
4In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his also.
5The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.
6Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
7For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture,
and the sheep of his hand.
Today, if you hear his voice,
8do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
9when your fathers put me to the test
and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
10For forty years I loathed that generation
and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart,
and they have not known my ways.”
11Therefore I swore in my wrath,
“They shall not enter my rest.”
ESV Bible text displayed through the American Bible Society's Global Bible Widget
Psalm 95:1-11
Psalm 95
1Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord;
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
2Let us come before him with thanksgiving
and extol him with music and song.
3For the Lord is the great God,
the great King above all gods.
4In his hand are the depths of the earth,
and the mountain peaks belong to him.
5The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.
6Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;
7for 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,
as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness,
9where your ancestors tested me;
they tried me, though they had seen what I did.
10For 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.’
11So I declared on oath in my anger,
‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ”
NIV Bible text displayed through the American Bible Society's Global Bible Widget
Commentary
The Future: I cannot read the 95th Psalm without thinking of the scene in Revelation 7 of the multitude from throughout the Earth “crying out together in a loud voice” their praises to God and falling on their faces before Him. For me, it’s a vivid image that I long to experience in person.
The Past: While sitting at night with my small child on a Mexican beach, hiding out from a dangerous person and wondering what to do next, God reached down and gave me a “road to Emmaus” experience that turned my life completely around. It was the start of my journey with God, and I (an introvert) spontaneously broke out singing “How Great Thou Art,” attracting strange looks from couples playing in the waves and a passing policeman.
The Present: This is my favorite Psalm. Yes, it’s comforting to read that we can take refuge in God our rock, and that he will handle our oppressors, but singing out our praises and gratefulness God can lift our minds above ourselves and our trials as nothing else can. I’ll tell you a secret: sometimes I put on headphones and sing along with praise songs loudly into my pillow.
Cathy Robertson Kabanuk
Social Worker, Teacher
Northern California USA (as of this writing)
