18. Let us Listen to the Lord

A meditation of psalm 95

Psalm 95 is an invitation to come to the presence of Yahweh, joyfully praise and thank Him, and also to listen to Him. Here we see the picture of a group of people approaching the throne of God. First, the leader of the group encourages the group to praise and thank God (vs. 1 – 8), and then God Himself talks to the group of people (vs. 9 -11).   

The leader asks his/her people to come to Yahweh’s presence, and kneel down before Him. They also have to sing joyfully to the Lord praising and thanking Him. Then they need to be quiet and listen to God.

The leader gives several reasons to the group why they have to praise and thank Yahweh. This is the one God who really deserves our praise because He is the great God, the king of all gods. The poet does not deny the existence of other gods, but affirms that Yahweh is like a king who rules over all other gods.

Once the poet secures Yahweh’s place in relation to the other gods, he/she goes on to explain how Yahweh is related to the world. The poet sees three-fold relationship between Yahweh and the world.

Yahweh is the creator of the world.
Yahweh is the owner of the world.
Yahweh holds the world in His hands.

Now the poet moves on to explain how we (the people assembled at Yahweh’s presence) are related to Yahweh. Here also the poet sees several ways in which Yahweh is related to us.

1.      Yahweh is our creator.
2.      Yahweh is our God.
3.      Yahweh is our shepherd.
4.      Yahweh is the rock of our salvation.

Finally, the poet comes to the heart of this psalm. The leader concludes his/her explanation, and stops for Yahweh to speak to the people directly. Yahweh advises them not to harden their hearts as their forefathers did.  It is not enough to praise and thank God, we should also be willing to listen to Him, and live according His will. If we are not willing to listen to Yahweh, our praise and thanks are empty and meaningless.

This idea reappears in Jesus when he asked people to have a heart like a good field but not like rocky places.  He also said that those who enter the Kingdom of God are not the ones who call Jesus “Lord, Lord” but those who do the will of God.

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