God is King!<\/p>\n
Yet Psalm 95 emphasizes something unusual about this king. Who can approach a king?<\/p>\n
In the book of Esther, recall that no one was allowed to enter the kings presence without his explicit invitation. If you did come in, you would die \u2013 unless the king leaned his scepter towards you.<\/p>\n
In contrast, three times in Psalm 95 we read: Come!<\/p>\n
Jesus issues similar invitations to all:<\/p>\n
Despite these extensive invitations, many do not come. Jesus says to some of them: \u201cYou refuse to come to me that you may have life\u201d (John 5:40).<\/p>\n
Thus, nothing is more important than coming to God, than coming to Jesus.<\/p>\n
So let\u2019s examine this psalm that exhorts us to come to God again and again, and listen to its explanation of why we should come.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ll examine this psalm under three headings:<\/p>\n
Along the way we\u2019ll see three different ways we are to come to Him.<\/p>\n
Come to Him!<\/strong><\/p>\n The psalmist commands us to come in Psalm 95:1-2 and again in verse 6. At first reading, these may appear to be similar commands. But both in ancient Israel and today, these commands refer to two distinct purposes behind our coming to God. The first:<\/p>\n Oh come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! (Psalm 95:1-2)<\/p>\n We come to do what? To sing, to make a joyful noise, to thank Him, to praise Him. But note: we are doing all this while coming into His presence. <\/em>\u00a0The picture is of procession approaching the tabernacle or temple, praising Him along the way.<\/p>\n These verses describe a rambunctious, joyful, noisy procession, praising God for being the \u201crock of our<\/p>\n So this is first of the three ways we are to come to Him: Come with joyful praise.<\/p>\n Psalm 95:6 is rather different:<\/p>\n Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!<\/p>\n Now the procession has entered the tabernacle or temple. The joyful praise changes to awe at His presence. So the worshipers now come to bow and kneel rather than to make a joyful noise.<\/p>\n This second type of coming expresses similar sentiments to Habakkuk 2:20: \u00a0\u201cThe LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.\u201d<\/p>\n So Psalm 95 commands us, first, to come to God with joyful, loud worship, and, second, to come to Him with quiet, reflective, contemplative worship.<\/p>\n Although we today don\u2019t come into the tabernacle or temple, both ideas still hold. In worship, we express joy in Christ. There is a place expressing that joy in noise, in loud singing, in celebration. And there is a place for expressing that joy in quiet contemplation, as we consider our sinfulness and His great grace, the judgment we deserve and the cost to Jesus of taking that judgment on Himself.<\/p>\n The great King calls you to come to Him, into His very presence, in both ways. So come to God in joyful praise! Come to God in quiet confession, considering how you deserve His judgment.<\/p>\n Both are important. Do you love both? Do you respond to both?<\/p>\n We still must consider the third way to come to God. But first let\u2019s see why <\/em>we should come to Him.<\/p>\n Why? <\/strong><\/p>\n Why should we come in both ways? The psalmist gives three reasons Psalm 95:3-7.<\/p>\n First: He is a great king above all gods<\/em>:<\/p>\n For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods (Psalm 95:3)<\/p>\n He is the greatest king, the greatest god \u2013 there is no comparison.<\/p>\n But most of us are not tempted to worship Baal or Molech or a block of wood. So replace \u201cgods\u201d with \u201cidols.\u201d Aren\u2019t you tempted to idolatry? That is: Aren\u2019t you tempted to look to something other than God for identity, for security, for joy? This verse tells us that God is far greater than all these alternatives:<\/p>\n The second reason we should come to Him: He created and controls all.<\/em><\/p>\n In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. (Psalm 95:4-5)<\/p>\n The psalmist uses extremes to communicate how extensive God\u2019s work is: He controls the depths and the heights, the sea and the dry land.<\/p>\n To show God\u2019s intimate involvement, the psalm uses the metaphor of God\u2019s hand <\/em>thrice (two times here and again in verse 7). <\/em>He made everything by<\/em> His hand \u2013 and all things remain in<\/em> His hand. God thus controls all.<\/p>\n The third reason we should come to Him: He is our Maker, and we are His sheep<\/em><\/p>\n Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand (Psalm 95:6-7a).<\/p>\n What does the psalmist mean by saying that God is our Maker?<\/p>\n Surely that God creates us, <\/em>as He creates the seas and \u00a0mountains.<\/p>\n Surely that He controls us<\/em>, we are in His hand, <\/em>as is the case with the dry land and the depths of the earth.<\/p>\n But there\u2019s a third level to God\u2019s relationship with us that does not hold for inanimate creation: We are not only made by<\/em> His hand, we not only are in<\/em> His hand, we are sheep of<\/em> His hand; we are people of<\/em> His pasture. So He not only created us, He made us to be in relationship with Him. <\/em>He is our God. <\/em><\/p>\n Throughout history God has been working to create, protect, and complete His faithful remnant, His perfected people, Christ\u2019s spotless bride. As Romans 8:28-30 tell us, God works all things together for good of His people, so that the very ones He foreknew, He predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son; these very same ones He then calls at specific points in time – calls them to come to Him; these very same ones He justifies, He declares righteous by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross; and these very same ones He glorifies, making them like Himself. Furthermore, all this is so certain that it is as good as done.<\/p>\n That\u2019s what it means to be the sheep of His hand. The good, all-powerful shepherd loves you. Amidst all the apparent threats to the flock – the roaring lion of Satan, the wolves of disease and danger, the foolishness and stupidity and wandering that we sheep are prone to \u2013 His hand <\/em>guides us and holds us, lifting us up on His shoulders to bring us back when we wander, fighting off attackers, hindering and ultimately destroying the lion, Satan. By His hand, He brings His entire flock into the fold. And we remain His for all eternity.<\/p>\n Indeed, by His hand He brought you here to read or listen to this sermon.<\/p>\n So come to Him:<\/p>\n Join that flock. For Jesus says: \u201cCome to me \u2013 however weary and burdened you may be. Come to Me – and I will give you rest.\u201d<\/p>\n O That You Would Hear His Voice!<\/strong><\/p>\n In the second have of verse 7, the tone of the psalm changes dramatically. Indeed, it changes so much that some have wondered if this should be considered a different psalm. But this change of tone is a powerful way to communicate the third command to come. To help us see that, let\u2019s consider briefly a New Testament passage in which Jesus commands a man to come.<\/p>\n In Mark 10:17-22, a man runs up to Jesus \u2013 he comes. This man kneels before Him \u2013 as Psalm 95:6 tells us to do before God. The man praises Jesus, calling Him \u201cGood teacher.\u201d He then asks, \u201cWhat must I do to inherit eternal life?\u201d<\/p>\n Jesus tells him that he already knows the commandments, and then lists several. The man replies, saying he has always kept them.<\/p>\n Now \u2013 when we consider the way that Jesus understands the commandments, we know that statement is false (see Matthew 5:17-48). But instead of quibbling with the man\u2019s statement and explaining what obedience to the commandments really means, \u00a0\u00a0 Jesus goes directly to the root of the man\u2019s problem. Our Savior looks at him, loves him, and tells him he lacks one thing. Then Jesus gives him five commands:<\/p>\n \u201cGo, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” (Mark 10:21)<\/p>\n Five commands. What is the one thing he lacks?<\/p>\n But He is not following<\/em> Jesus. He has not come to obey <\/em>Jesus in all of His life. Indeed, he disobeys Jesus\u2019 explicit command. So he walks away sorrowful.<\/p>\n He has not come to Jesus in obedience. <\/em>He has not come to hear and obey. <\/em><\/p>\n It\u2019s that sense of coming that Psalm 95 refers to in verses 7 to the end.<\/p>\n \u201cToday, if you hear his voice\u201d (Psalm 95:7b ESV)<\/p>\n Or \u201cToday, if only you would hear His voice!\u201d (Psalm 95:7b NIV)<\/p>\n Understand: In Scripture, hearing God implies obedience to Him. Thus Jesus repeatedly says, \u201cHe who has ears to ear, let him hear!\u201d (for example, in Mark 4:9, 23). Jesus means: \u201cDon\u2019t just let the words go in one ear and out the other! Take them to heart! Obey them!\u201d<\/p>\n So the NET renders Psalm 95:7b, \u201cToday, if you would only obey Him!\u201d<\/p>\n The psalmist is not saying, \u201cMaybe you\u2019ll hear His voice, maybe you won\u2019t.\u201d Rather, he says: \u201cHe has made Himself clear. Listen to Him! Come to Him and obey Him! Follow Him!\u201d<\/p>\n This is thus the third sense in which we are to come to God \u2013 the same sense Jesus uses in the story in Mark 10:<\/p>\n Verses 8-9 then state this negatively:<\/p>\n Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work. (Psalm 95:8-9)<\/p>\n This refers to an incident recorded in Exodus 17. Consider what the people of Israel have experienced:<\/p>\n God has proven Himself mighty; He has proven Himself faithful.<\/p>\n But now they are in place with no water. They grumble. They complain, saying to Moses: \u201cWhy did you bring us out of Egypt to kill us\u2026 with thirst?\u201d (Exodus 17:3)<\/p>\n God tells Moses to strike a rock with his staff \u2013 and water miraculously flows out of that rock. God does provide for them.<\/p>\n But they had hardened their hearts.<\/p>\n In what sense?<\/p>\n They had plenty of revelation concerning God\u2019s character and love in both word and deed. Now was the time for faith \u2013 a time to remember who God is, to trust that He would once again work for them. This was not a time for demanding further proof that God was for them.<\/p>\n Aren\u2019t we tempted to have similar hard hearts?<\/p>\n In 1 Corinthians 10:1-13, Paul refers to Exodus 17 and experiences of the people of Israel in the wilderness, saying they are examples for us, written for our instruction, so that we would not be idolators like them, or engage in sexual immorality like them, or put Christ to the test like them, or grumble like them.<\/p>\n Friends, don\u2019t harden your heart against God. Soften it instead. He has told you who He is. He has told you how to be among His people. He has told you the path to life. He has commanded you to come to Him and to follow Him joyfully.<\/p>\n As Proverbs 28:14 tells us: \u201cBlessed is the one who fears the LORD always, but whoever hardens his heart will fall into calamity.\u201d<\/p>\n The great majority of the Israelites kept hardening their hearts, kept going astray, and thus never knew God. So Psalm 95 concludes:<\/p>\n For 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.” Therefore I swore in my wrath, “They shall not enter my rest.”<\/p>\n The very people He had brought out of Egypt and spoken to at Mt Sinai are under His wrath. They cannot come to Him (the Hebrew word translated \u201center\u201d in verse 11 is translated \u201ccome\u201d in verse 6).<\/p>\n As Hebrew 4 tells us when the author comments on Psalm 95, we must make every effort to enter, to come to His rest. We must quit depending on our own resources; we must quit depending on other, alternate resources. We must come to Jesus for grace, for help, for joy, for fulfillment. We must follow Him in joyful obedience by His Holy Spirit. He provides us with the way to resist temptation. His hand leads us in His ways<\/p>\n Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cOh that you would hear his voice!\u201d<\/p>\n Friends: We preach the way we do – opening up passages, sticking closely to the text \u2013 so that the voice you hear is God\u2019s, not the preacher\u2019s. You have ears to hear. The sounds of His voice have gone out. Now: You must obey.<\/p>\n Come, then: Follow Him. Obey Him.<\/p>\n Admit that you are at best the stupid sheep of His hand: Prone to wander \u2013 but guided by Him, loved by Him, protected by Him.<\/p>\n Come into His rest.<\/p>\n\n
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