Psalm 95 is one of a number of psalms which proclaim the kingship of Yahweh, Israel’s God. Others include Psalms 93, 97 and 99 etc. Psalm 95 proclaims that the Lord is ‘a great king above all gods’ (v. 3). Following the petition of Psalm 94 for the Lord to rise up and judge the earth (Ps. 94:2), Psalm 95 is an invitation to the community to give thanks and praise to Yahweh as king. It calls the community into the presence of God, who is a ‘great God’ and ‘great king above all gods.’ The psalm continues to develop this royal theme by speaking about God as creator. The depths of the earth, the heights of the mountains, the sea and the dry land are the work of God’s hands and are kept in that same hand (vv. 4-5). The first part of the psalm finishes in vv. 6-7a with another call to the community to worship and bow down before the one who is their maker.

Before such a God one can only sing and make a joyful noise, fall down and worship. There are no words that can be uttered, no thought that in such a context is rational and appropriate. The only fitting response is to let what wells up inside burst forth in song.

The last part of the psalm (vv. 7b-11) reads as a response from Yahweh that ‘you’ (pl.) would listen to Yahweh’s voice and not be like those in the wilderness who tested Yahweh. This echoes the use of the wilderness period as one of rebellion against Yahweh. Such rebellion is the subject of the reading from Exodus 17 today (cf. also Pss. 78:17-31; 81:10-13).

At first glance the two halves of the psalm might seem to be at odds with the joyous call to worship mismatched by the anger of God over the people hardening their hearts. But by this very juxtaposition the psalm suggests that the one is strongly countered to the other. It might also seem strange that God seems to detest the complaining of the people in the wilderness. Of course, the stories of the people’s thirst and hunger in the wilderness are meant to be read as a genuine expressions of need. So what was the problem there? It seems it is not so much the complaint about thirst that is the problem. That is not really mentioned in vv. 7b-11. The episode in the wilderness which is the subject of our Old testament reading today is only alluded to by references to the place names Meribah and Massah. What is the problem for God is that the ancestors continually put God to the test ‘though they had seen my work’. The very thing that in the first half of the psalm, the work of God’s hands, called for joyous outburst, in the second half only seems to issue in testing. These people did not ‘regard God’s) ways’ (v. 10). The people do not utter words of trust and faith and they do not experience the rest that God grants (v. 11). The problem was not with the fact that this people called out of captivity in Egypt struggled with the harshness of the wilderness. The problem was in their response in this situation and whether it is focussed on their own need or on the ways of the one who has led them thus far.

Suggestions for the use of the psalm in worship

Parts or all of the first 7 verses of the psalm can be used for a call to worship. They could be used responsively or spoken by the worship leader.

Verses 4-5 could also be used as a refrain during the prayers of the people following each of the main petitions.

Old Testament reading: Exodus 17:1-7

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