PSALM 95

The inspired penman of this psalm, whoever he was, ▼

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This psalm has no inscription, but the Septuagint, Vulgate, Æthiopic, Arabic, and Syriac versions, and the apostle Paul in Hebrews 4:7, ascribe it to David; so that there can be no doubt that it is one of the compositions of the sweet singer of Israel.

in exhorting the Jews to praise God in solemn assembly, states two grounds why God should be praised; the one, that he sustains by his power the world which he created, the other, that he had of his free grace adopted the Church into a gracious relationship with himself. As many take God’s praises into their lips in a hypocritical manner, he exhorts the people at the same time to be sincere, serious, and devoted in the service, and to show by the tenor of their life that they had not been chosen in vain. The more effectually to guard them against hypocrisy, he mentions that their fathers from the beginning had been of a stubborn spirit, and chargeable with ingratitude to God; and he takes notice of the dreadful punishment which fell upon them, and which might well deter their children from following in the footsteps of their rebelliousness.

Psalm 95:1-5

1. Come, let us rejoice before Jehovah; let us make a joyful noise to the Rock of our salvation. ▼ ▼ Horsley reads the second clause, “Let us raise the loud peal of melody to the Rock of our salvation;” on which he has the following note: “The verb  הריע signifies to make a loud sound of any sort, either with the voice or with instruments. In the Psalms it generally refers to the mingled din of voices and various instruments, in the temple-service. This wide sense of the word cannot be expressed otherwise in the English language than by a peripharasis.” Bishop Mant, acting on this notion, has ventured, conformably to it, to specify in his version some of the instruments commonly used in the temple-worship: — “Come, let us sing Jehovah’s praise! To him the pealing chorus raise, With trump, and harp, and cymbals ring; The rock on which our hopes are placed!” 2. Let us come before his face with praise, In psalms let us shout for joy unto him. 3. For Jehovah is a great God, And a great King, above all gods. 4. For in his hand are the deep places of the earth, ▼ ▼ “The deep places of the earth,” which are opposed to the “heights of the mountains,” plainly mean the deepest and most retired parts of the terraqueous globe, which are explored by the eye of God, and by his only. Horsely reads the verse thus, — “The God in whose hand are the nethermost recesses of the earth, Whose also are the inaccessible summits of the mountains.” “This, and the following verse,” says he, “are expositive of the greatness of the Godship of Jehovah, generally mentioned in the lst verse. ‘The God, in whose hand.’ Thus, I have endeavoured to preserve the full force of the Hebrew phrase  אשר בידו.” Bythner’s version of the last member is, “And the strength of the mountains is his.” He derives the noun  ותועפות, vethoaphoth, which he renders strength, from the verb  יעף, yaaph, was wearied; and observes, that this is “a noun plural feminine, weariness, — by antiphrasis, strength: is read four times in Scripture, and is said of mountains, silver, and the unicorn, the weariness and difficulty in overcoming which, denote their great strength.” Pagninus gives a similar rendering. Montanus has  cacumina, the tops, which the Septuagint seems to agree, reading  τὰ ὕ ψη τῶν ὀρέων. And the heights of the mountains are his. 5. For his is the sea, and he made it; And the dry land his hands formed.

 

1. Come, let us rejoice before Jehovah. This psalm is suited for the Sabbath, when we know that the religious assemblies were more particularly convened for the worship of God. It is not individuals among the godly whom he exhorts to celebrate the divine praises in private; he enjoins these to be offered up in the public meeting. By this he showed that the outward worship of God principally consisted in the sacrifice of praise, and not in dead ceremonies. He enjoins haste upon them; by which they might testify their alacrity in this service. For the Hebrew word  קדם, kadam, in the second verse, which I have rendered, let us come before, etc., means to make haste. He calls upon them to speed into the presence of God; and such an admonition was needed, considering how naturally backward we are when called by God to the exercise of thanksgiving. This indirect charge of indolence in the exercise, the Psalmist saw it necessary to prefer against God’s ancient people; and we should be made aware that there is just as much need of a stimulus in our own case, filled as our hearts are with similar ingratitude. In calling them to come before God’s face, he uses language which was also well fitted to increase the ardor of the worshippers; nothing being more agreeable than to offer in God’s own presence such a sacrifice as he declares that he will accept. He virtually thus says, in order to prevent their supposing the service vain, that God was present to witness it. I have shown elsewhere in what sense God was present in the sanctuary.