Christianity
Psalms 95O Come, Let Us Sing
Summary
Psalm 95 begins as a joyful invitation to sing to the LORD, the rock of salvation and great King above all gods, who holds the depths of the earth and formed the sea and the dry land. It calls worshippers to kneel before their Maker, the shepherd whose flock they are. Then the tone turns to warning: today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the provocation in the wilderness, when that generation tested God and forfeited his rest.
Key verse
“O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.”
Psalms 95:6
Themes
- Invitation to Worship
- God as Maker
- Hardness of Heart
- Entering God's Rest
Text
O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.
For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also.
The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.
O 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. To day if ye will hear his voice,
Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.
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:
Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.
Text: King James Version (1611/1769), public domain.
Across traditions
Christianity
Hebrews 3: Today If Ye Will Hear His VoiceHebrews 3:7 to 4:11 quotes Psalm 95:7 to 11 at length and applies its call of today to Christian readers, interpreting God's rest as a promise still open to believers.
Christianity
Exodus 17: Massah and MeribahExodus 17:1 to 7 tells how Israel quarrelled with Moses over water at the place named Massah and Meribah, the episode Psalm 95 holds up as a warning.
Judaism
Psalm 95 in the JPS 1917 TanakhPsalm 95 begins the Kabbalat Shabbat service, in which Psalms 95 to 99 and 29 are recited on Friday evening to welcome the Sabbath.
Questions about Psalms 95
Why is Psalm 95 called the Venite?
Venite is the psalm's first word in Latin, meaning O come. It has long opened morning prayer in Christian liturgy, including Anglican Morning Prayer and the invitatory of the Catholic Liturgy of the Hours.
What is 'the provocation' in Psalm 95?
Psalm 95:8 in the KJV speaks of the provocation and the day of temptation, translating the Hebrew place names Meribah and Massah. They recall Exodus 17, where Israel quarrelled over water and tested God.