Reliance of Obedience in Worship

Psalms 95

1 Oh come, let us sing to the LORD!
Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving;
Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.

3 For the LORD is the great God,
And the great King above all gods.

4 In His hand are the deep places of the earth;
The heights of the hills 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 will hear His voice:
8 "Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion,
As in the day of trial in the wilderness,
9 When your fathers tested Me;
They tried Me, though they saw My work.

10 For forty years I was grieved with that generation,
And said, 'It is a people who go astray in their hearts,
And they do not know My ways.'
11 So I swore in My wrath,
'They shall not enter My rest.'"

Such a song of rest in the LORD, of faith which trusts and acts accordingly by joyful, willing obedience in following Him according to His word!  As the psalmist exclaimed, let us come together and sing with joy and gladness to our Lord, the Rock of solid assurance which is His salvation to deliver and keep us as His chosen people (1 Peter 2:9) in Christ.  We should worship thankfully and loudly in expressing our great joy in Him by singing together of the mercies of the Lord forever, as the song goes.  He alone is the great God and sovereign King over all creation, and is worthy of glory, honor, and praise (1 Peter 1:7).  He rules in omnipotence with mercy and grace for the humble who acknowledge Him and His work (John 6:29), and who lift up His name in its magnificence with joyful song.  This desire is what fills the heart of the redeemed.  We see His hand of creation and sustaining of the entire universe, from far-flung universes and galaxies to the smallest particle making up our being, that which He spoke into existence and which He breathed His life into the dust of the first man.  He reigns, and our response is unstoppable, to humbly bow and worship our God in the beauty of holiness (1 Chronicles 16:29, Psalm 96:9).  We are truly the sheep of His pasture, led by His mighty hand (1 Peter 5:6-7), who hear our Master’s voice and listen.  We do not harden our hearts by turning a deaf ear to His word in rebellion by testing God instead of trusting. We find our rest in Him and in His work (Hebrews 4:1, 9-10), not doubting and making Him prove His mercy and goodness.  Those in the wilderness out of the bondage of Egypt (symbolic of sin’s bondage) did not know God’s ways and rebelled in disbelief of the heart.  They did not enter His rest; we who believe and trust in His work according to His word have entered it forever.  That is worthy of humility with a thankful heart of worship and a holy obedience to please our Savior God.  Amen.