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"Oh come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!...Oh 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."

~ Psalm 95:1-2,6-7

 

This psalm, perhaps, can be more clearly seen than other psalms to be written as a corporate call to worship (v.1,2,6).  It is designed as a call to worship God as our Savior (v.1), our great King (v.3), our Creator (v.4-6) and our Shepherd (v.7).  As seen in the verses cited above, there are 10 plural pronouns used within this psalm indicating the corporate nature of this call.

The basic structure of this psalm is divided in two. First in verses 1-8, the psalmist is speaking and then there is a Holy Spirit inspired switch, in mid-sentence, where in verses 9-11 God is now speaking. These verses here where God is speaking may sound very familiar. That is likely because you have encountered them where they are quoted in the New Testament, in Hebrews chapter 3-4. I encourage you to go read those chapters and see the connections made there in their context.

Our worship, our obedience, our joy, our rest and contentment, our gratitude are all matters of the heart. We see this in verse 10. What God desires is our heart. He desires our heart’s rightful view and response to him and to the truth about him. We see these truths clearly and directly in this portion (and in the totality) of God’s Word, which is his revelation of himself to us.

Come with me to worship the LORD...bowing down with thanksgiving…singing and making a joyful noise…surrendering our hearts to him!