Psalm 95 (NRSV)
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Verse 1O come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
Verse 2Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
Verse 3For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
Verse 4In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also.
Verse 5The sea is his, for he made it, and the dry land, which his hands have formed.
Verse 6O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
Verse 7For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. O that today you would listen to his voice!
Verse 8Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
Verse 9when your ancestors tested me, and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
Verse 10For forty years I loathed that generation and said, "They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they do not regard my ways."
Verse 11Therefore in my anger I swore, "They shall not enter my rest."
Devotion
Yesterday we visited the Israelites in the wilderness as they complained about the lack of water. After God slaked their thirst, we learned that Moses called that place Massah and Meribah, for, as the text says, the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, "Is the Lord among us or not?" Today's Psalm recalls that incident. It seems that God was sensitive about those who tested the Lord.
Yet the balance of the Psalm, the first seven verses, is so upbeat that it has become the principal song in the service of Morning Prayer: "Come, let us sing to the Lord, let us shout for joy to the rock of our salvation." Even though the memory and reality of wilderness remains, it is remembered in the broader, more uplifting context of praise and thanksgiving. It is appropriate to recollect our past and anticipate the future. But in the present it is right to sing the song: "For you, Lord, are a great God."
Prayer
O Lord, memory of the past is rich and hope for the future is uplifting. In the present, however, we joyfully sing the song, for we are the people of your pasture and the sheep of your hand. Amen.