Psalm 95--Let Us Sing Songs of Praise

Psalm 95
English Standard Version

Let Us Sing Songs of Praise
95 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.”

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The LORD is great and greatly to be praised!  Why?  Simply because He is (and also because of what He has done, but mostly because of who He is).  He is the Uncreated One who is King over all creation.  By His power we can enter His presence to offer praise to Him.  (Note that this isn't possible without the forgiveness of our sins, as we would not be able to enter His presence in our defiled state).  This is why He is called The Rock of Our Salvation.

"The mountains are His.  The valleys are His.  The stars are His handywork too" comes to mind when I read verses 4 and 5, though they are talking about earth and sky and sea and everything in them belong to the LORD.   We are then to make a choice--bow down before our King and do not be rebellious like those who died wandering in the wilderness, for they hardened their hearts against the LORD and rebelled against Him and tested Him (and they lost).  Even though the LORD did mighty works to save them from Egypt and give them food and water and clothing and everything else they needed, they refused to obey Him and follow His direction.  For this reason, the LORD swore of that generation, "They shall never enter My rest."  The book of Hebrews picks this up and says this was about them not going to heaven (our Sabbath rest) and not so much about not going into the Promised Land.  If the LORD is calling us today, we should not resist, lest we too be like that wicked generation that did not enter His rest.