‘For the Lord is the great God…’ (Psalm 95:3)
Read Psalm 95
It is said that King Henry VIII once said of this Psalm that it was ‘a song stirring to the praise of God…’ and certainly as we begin to read through this Psalm there’s no doubt that it is effectively a call to worship, particularly so in the first half of the Psalm. Look at how many times in these verses we are called to come and worship the Lord. But why is God worthy of such worship? The Psalmist gives two main reasons.
First of all, God is the creator and sustainer of all life. He is the King above all gods – He is the supreme power. All of the earth, from the highest mountains to the deepest oceans, they are all the work of His hands. But not only did God create all things even now He controls the natural order of all things. Essentially, God is our Maker, that is why He is worthy of our praise and worship and based just on this answer how can we not come before Him in worship?
Yet God is not only a great God who created all things; for all His power, might and majesty He is also our God. In words similar to those our Lord Himself spoke in John’s Gospel we see that God is our Shepherd and we are His sheep. This all might and powerful God who created us also cares for us and longs to look after us. How wonderful is it to know that.
However, the Psalm doesn’t end there because not only are we called to worship God, in the final verses we see that we are also called to hear His Word – and note how this comes after the verse about God being our Shepherd, again similar to Jesus words about His sheep knowing His voice. Also, as we have seen in other Psalms it’s almost as if God Himself is talking to us here – and again we have some historical context here referring back to the time of the Exodus when the people continually refused to listen to God.
Psalm 95 at its simplest level is a call to worship and listen to the Lord. However, there is so much in here and its words speak not only to the people at that time but also look back to the time of the Exodus and potentially forward to the time of the Good Shepherd, again showing how the whole of Scripture is so intricately connected. – the living Word of God indeed.
Lord, we thank You for Your loving care over us and ask that You help us not only to listen for Your Word but also, as best we can, to faithfully obey it and share Your love with all people. In Jesus name…Amen.
Question Of The Day: Which of the Prophets called by God was a Herdsman before being called by God?