A Call and a Desperate Plea

This morning, as I was reading out of the Psalms, I got stuck on Psalm 95. I read it once through and stopped. What in the world had I just read? It was amazing! I read it again. Oh, how I knew it was amazing, but I wanted to let the gravity of what it was saying to sink in.

And then I read it again, one phrase at a time...

"Come, let us sing to the Lord!"  (v. 1a)

...It was a call to sing to God, and it was no ordinary call.

"Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation." (v. 1b)

I began to wonder, "what should make you so excited that you could shout?" It must be pretty exciting!

"Let us come to Him with thanksgiving." (v. 2a)

We certainly have every reason to give Him thanks! That one is something we all know, but so easily forget.

"Let us sing psalms of praise to Him." (v. 2b)

It was becoming apparent to me that the writer's heart was full... He was calling people to come sing, shout with joy, give thanks, and sing praises to God... But why?

"For the Lord is a great God, a great King above all gods." (v 3)

Here is one reason! He is God! And not only is He God, but He is a GREAT God, and a GREAT King. That alone demands our worship.

"He holds in His hands the depths of the earth and the mightiest mountains." (v. 4)

Shouldn't that make your jaw drop? Nobody else in this world can do that! 

"The sea belongs to Him, for He made it. His hands formed the dry land, too." (v. 5)

Wait a second! HE owns the sea! He actually made it! Imagine that! And His hands sculpted the land around it. How can we not praise Him? How can He not also hold all of our confidence?

"Come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker."

Now the writer goes back to calling us to worship, but this time he goes so far as to say, "get on your knees and bow before Him. HE MADE YOU!" 

"For He is our God. We are the people He watches over, the flock under His care."

Ah, so here is what was getting the writer all excited! Do you see it? This God he has been describing as so powerful that we should fall to our knees in worship to Him, this God who has created everything and everyone, the one who can hold all of creation in the palm of His hand -this amazing God- is personally involved in YOUR life!

Don't you get it? How is it that one so powerful can be so intimately involved in our lives? Psalm 25:14 says He shares His secrets with those who fear Him. Psalm 37:23 says He delights in every detail of your life. He's not just "up there", watching to see what happens next, but He takes an active part in your life, and HE desires to speak to you about it! The very next phrase in Psalm 95 says this:

"If only you would listen to His voice today!"

How desperate the writer sounds. He goes from calling us to worship, to begging us to listen to God's voice. 

It goes on to say these sobering words:

"The Lord says, 'Don't harden your hearts as Israel did... For there your ancestors tested and tried my patience, even though they saw everything I did.... "They will never enter my place of rest."'"

You see, as Christians, circumstances will always come our way, and there in the middle of every storm, God seeks to speak to us in a still, small voice. He wants to show you who He is and He wants to assure you that He WILL help you through it, but you have to be still and listen, and let Him lead you to His place of rest. You won't get there any other way. 

Then when He speaks to you, your heart, like the writer of this Psalm, will be so full, that you will want to sing, shout, worship and give praise to Him with everything you have!

Why? Because God is not one that feeds doubt. No, that's what Satan does. God is the One who feeds your faith. Just go to Him and let Him be the Anchor that holds your life in place by His mighty power, so that you can be free to live a life that calls people to worship!