Worship and Warning, A Meditation on Psalm 95

To casually read through Psalm 95 you would think that there were two separate psalms that were spliced together. The first half seems to have a far different character from the second half. It begins with a call to worship our Creator God for his goodness, his sovereignty, and his salvation. Yet, beginning in verse 8, the psalm turns to a dire warning of judgement. I will not suggest that these were two documents that were spliced together haphazardly. Rather, the psalm does cohere together. It make sense as it is.

Throughout the book of Psalms, there are often two ways presented. Beginning with Psalm 1, the psalmist contrasts the way of the blessed man whose delight is in the Law of God and the way of the wicked who will not stand in the judgement. This theme flows throughout the book of Psalms. I believe that we can look at Psalm 95 through this lens and the pivotal verse is verse seven.

  Psalm 95:1 Oh come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
 2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
 3 For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
 4 In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also.
 5 The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.
 6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!
 7 For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice,
 8 do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
 9 when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
 10 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."
 11 Therefore I swore in my wrath, "They shall not enter my rest."

Verse 7 causes me to struggle. Now I know that the verse divisions were not original, so it doesn't really bother me that in the English translation it appears that there is a sentence that begins in verse 7 and ends in verse eight. Originally the text would have been purely consonantal, and it would have run together without even spaces dividing the words. I'm thankful for the way our modern language has made it easier to read things with spaces, vowels, and punctuation. However, when I look at verse 7 in the Hebrew text, the verse is one whole sentence, separate from verse eight. This was a judgement call. The Masoretes, who gave our current Hebrew texts the vowel pointing and accent system appear to have thought that the end of verse seven belonged with the beginning. This does not necessarily mean that the Masoretes were right. The Septuagint (LXX), the Greek translation of the Old Testament--the one which was often quoted by the New Testament authors--clearly took the end of verse 7 along with verse eight.

What's the difference? If verse 7 is to be taken as a whole it says, "He is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the sheep of his hand, today, if you hear his voice." There's a subtle difference here, isn't there? I'm not going to suggest that this is definitely the right way to read this text. The commentaries I've looked at do not take it this way, and a friend of mine who is finishing his PhD in Old Testament isn't convinced either. However, I will say that it has at least alerted me to the idea that the end of verse 7 is a transition between the worship and the warning of the overall psalm.

The two ways are contrasted in the Psalm. It begins with a call to worship. It calls us to give a cry for joy--like a war cry that is triumphant in battle to the LORD, the God of our salvation. It calls us to worship him because he is above all other gods, and he created all things, and he holds all things in his hand. It calls us to bow down and prostrate ourselves in front of the face of our Maker, BECAUSE He is OUR God, and we are the people of His pasture. Herein lies the reason for praise. These are the things that the psalmist is saying to the righteous. However, he transitions with a conditional clause. IF you hear his voice. This reminds me of when Jesus said, "my sheep here my voice." We are his sheep, and we are the ones being called into his worship--IF we hear his voice.

In contrast, if we don't hear His voice, it is our own fault--it is because we have hardened our heart. Here the psalmist warns the people of God not to be like the generation that died in the wilderness. We must persevere, and not harden our hearts. We must believe on him and not put him to the test (maybe with our grumbling like the rebels at Meribah). He warns that that generation had a heart that wandered, and I too feel, like Robert Robinson the author of Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, that I am often prone to wander, and "prone to leave the God I love." Here the psalmist gives us a warning not to be like that, and the consequence is that we may not enter his rest.

So, to boil this down I would say it all hinges on our response to God's voice--which we hear in the Bible. When we hear his word, does it cause us to rejoice? Does it cause us to worship? Or, do we respond with hardness? Do we come up with reasons why we think it isn't a big deal? Do we justify and rationalize reasons why it doesn't apply to us.

Today, let us hear the warning from the psalmist. Listen to his voice, and you are his sheep. Harden your heart, and he never knew you.

Revive Us Again, A Meditation on Psalm 85

Psalm 85:1 To the choirmaster. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. LORD, you were favorable to your land; you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
2 You forgave the iniquity of your people; you covered all their sin. Selah
3 You withdrew all your wrath; you turned from your hot anger.

This Psalm begins with a recollection of God's saving acts in the past. The author recalls that the Lord has been favorable to his "land." This brings to mind the land which God created in Genesis 1 as well as the land that was promised to Abraham and his family. He also recalls how God had restored the "fortunes" of Jacob. The precise translation of this word, "fortunes" is debated because the Hebrew could come from two different roots. The KJV renders it "captivity," while the ESV renders it "fortunes." Regardless of which rendering, it seems that the verse is a reference to the Exodus of God's people, the sons of Jacob being brought out of Egypt and given a land.

You "forgave" is literally, you "lifted" the iniquity or guilt of your people. It was lifted up and taken away. You "covered" all their sin shows that God has covered it up and hidden it from his view. The word "all" must not be forgotten. He didn't merely cover some of his people's sin, he covered all of it.

Then it says that God gathered up all of his fury. His fury had troubled his people, yet he gathered it up and restrained it from troubling them any longer. He also "turned" from his hot anger. The word "turn" is repeated several times in this psalm. It was the word used to say that God "restored" the fortunes of Jacob, and it occurs several more times. When speaking of human beings it can mean repentance, and here it is used of God to say that he changed his inclination toward his people. He had been angry with them, but he turned from this anger.

 4 Restore us again, O God of our salvation, and put away your indignation toward us!
 5 Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger to all generations?
 6 Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?
 7 Show us your steadfast love, O LORD, and grant us your salvation.

In the word "restore" we see another repetition of the word "turn." It says that God had "turned" from his anger, and now the prayer begins, "turn us." Turn us, or cause us to repent. If we are to experience the joy of God's salvation, and his indignation is to be put away, he must work in our hearts and cause us to repent.

The psalmist asks a series of rhetorical questions expecting a negative answer. He expects God to say, "no, my anger will not last forever, it will not extend to all generations, but I will 'revive' my people that they would rejoice in me." To revive uses the word for "turn" again. It literally says, "Return our life." That's what revival is. When we pray for revival, we are asking God to give life to that which is dead. When the psalmist asks for revival, he is expecting God to act, and he gives a God-centered justification for his request. He bases his plea in the desire that God would be delighted in.

The psalmist then asks that God would show, or reveal, or make seen his "steadfast love." This word has been the subject of much scholarship. It is to be understood as the covenantal loyal love of God. God is in a covenant with his people, and he must show his love with them because he has promised to. The psalmist is asking to see revival on the basis of God's own promises.

 8 Let me hear what God the LORD will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints; but let them not turn back to folly.
 9 Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him, that glory may dwell in our land.
 10 Steadfast love and faithfulness meet; righteousness and peace kiss each other.
 11 Faithfulness springs up from the ground, and righteousness looks down from the sky.
 12 Yes, the LORD will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase.
 13 Righteousness will go before him and make his footsteps a way.

After recounting God's saving acts in the past and asking that God would do it again on behalf of his people, the psalmist ends with an expression of confidence that God will act. He requests that he would hear from God and confidently states that God would speak peace to his people. He follows this statement with the hope that the sinful people would not again return to the false confidence of trusting in their own righteousness. Rather, says that the one who fears God will experience his salvation.

"Steadfast love" is God's loyal covenantal love, and faithfulness is word for truth we often translate as truth. So in verse 10 we see that God's love and truth meet together. These are attributes that at first blush seem to be opposing one another, yet they meet together here. Then righteousness and peace kiss each other. Again, we see two attributes of God, his righteousness and justice set against peace, and they kiss each other. This verse is describing the reconciliation of what seems irreconcilable--God's justice and his grace. Verse 10 describes what we see in the cross as God's justice was satisfied and the guilty were reconciled with God.

In verse 11, truth comes up from the ground, and righteousness looks down--and God's people are not destroyed by it because they are sheltered under his merciful covenantal love. Verse 12 says that the Lord will give what is good and the land will give produce. This hearkens back to Genesis 3. The results of the curse included that the land would not produce as it should, but here we read of an expected reversal of this curse--where the land will produce good.

Finally we see that righteousness is personified as someone who walks before God and makes a way. Jesus IS righteousness personified, and he specifically said that he is the way.

The Righteous Judge

Years ago, the most commonly quoted Scripture verse was probably John 3:16; however, in our culture today, it is probably now “Judge not.” These two words are not quoted within their full context as a warning against harsh or hypocritical judgment, rather they are thrown up as a trump card against any kind of moral critique. Christians are told to speak the truth in love, and sometimes that means warning others about their sin, yet often the warning is met with this “trump card,” as an absolute prohibition against judging. 

Similarly, someone might respond, “you can’t judge me, only God can judge me.” This response misunderstands the nature of God. It is true, God is the ultimate judge, yet when used in this way it seems to suggest that God will not do so, when the opposite is clearly taught in Scripture. God is a righteous judge, and he is furiously angry with sinners. To say, “only God can judge me” in a flippant way is to take God’s name in vain. Only a practical atheist could say such a thing without trembling at the thought. 

Yet the thought of God as the righteous judge is a good thing for the believer. In Psalm 7 we see David express his praise to God because of his righteous judgement.

David finds his refuge in God and trusts that he will be vindicated of false accusations as the righteous judge punishes his accuser.

Apparently, David was falsely accused by this Cush, a Benjaminite. We don’t know who this is. He is not mentioned in the narrative stories about David. However we do read of at least two times when David’s life is in danger as he is pursued by an enemy. It could be while he is pursued by Saul, who was also of the tribe of Benjamin, or it could be during his flight from his son Absolom. Or, it may be following the death of Saul, when one of Saul’s relatives was falsely accusing David of unjustly murdering Saul.

Here's What the text says: 

O LORD my God, in you do I take refuge; save me from all my pursuers and deliver me,

2 lest like a lion they tear my soul apart, rending it in pieces, with none to deliver.
 3 O LORD my God, if I have done this, if there is wrong in my hands,
 4 if I have repaid my friend with evil or plundered my enemy without cause,
 5 let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it, and let him trample my life to the ground and lay my glory in the dust. Selah
 6 Arise, O LORD, in your anger; lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies; awake for me; you have appointed a judgment.
 7 Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you; over it return on high.
 8 The LORD judges the peoples; judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me.
 9 Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end, and may you establish the righteous-- you who test the minds and hearts, O righteous God!
 10 My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart.
 11 God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day.
 12 If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword; he has bent and readied his bow;
 13 he has prepared for him his deadly weapons, making his arrows fiery shafts.
 14 Behold, the wicked man conceives evil and is pregnant with mischief and gives birth to lies.
 15 He makes a pit, digging it out, and falls into the hole that he has made.
 16 His mischief returns upon his own head, and on his own skull his violence descends.
 17 I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High. (Psa 7:1-17 ESV)

The fact that God a just judge is a problem for the unrepentant. This text warns that God is sharpening his sword and bending his bow--ready to exact punishment upon sin. This is unpopular, but if the Bible is to be taken as a consistent whole, it's the truth.

On the other hand, it is a good thing for believers that God is a just judge.This isn't because we are righteous ourselves, but because our punishment has already been carried out. That's what the cross was for. God would have been unjust to let sin go unpunished, so we needed a substitute. Jesus took our place on the cross and we have been imputed with his righteousness. It is also a good thing because who would want to live in a world where God was unjust? We want to know that evil is vanquished.