Discovery BoxPsalms 95:1-11
Context95:1 Come! Let’s sing for joy to the Lord!
Let’s shout out praises to our protector who delivers us! 2
95:2 Let’s enter his presence 3 with thanksgiving!
Let’s shout out to him in celebration! 4
95:3 For the Lord is a great God,
a great king who is superior to 5 all gods.
95:4 The depths of the earth are in his hand, 6
and the mountain peaks belong to him.
95:5 The sea is his, for he made it.
His hands formed the dry land.
95:6 Come! Let’s bow down and worship! 7
Let’s kneel before the Lord, our creator!
95:7 For he is our God;
we are the people of his pasture,
the sheep he owns. 8
Today, if only you would obey him! 9
95:8 He says, 10 “Do not be stubborn like they were at Meribah, 11
like they were that day at Massah 12 in the wilderness, 13
95:9 where your ancestors challenged my authority, 14
and tried my patience, even though they had seen my work.
95:10 For forty years I was continually disgusted 15 with that generation,
and I said, ‘These people desire to go astray; 16
they do not obey my commands.’ 17
95:11 So I made a vow in my anger,
‘They will never enter into the resting place I had set aside for them.’” 18
[95:1] 1 sn Psalm 95. The psalmist summons Israel to praise God as the creator of the world and the nation’s protector, but he also reminds the people not to rebel against God.
[95:1] 2 tn Heb “to the rocky summit of our deliverance.”
[95:2] 3 tn Heb “meet his face.”
[95:2] 4 tn Heb “with songs of joy.”
[95:4] 6 tn The phrase “in his hand” means within the sphere of his authority.
[95:7] 8 tn Heb “of his hand.”
[95:7] 9 tn Heb “if only you would listen to his voice.” The Hebrew particle אִם (’im, “if”) and following prefixed verbal form here express a wish (cf. Ps 81:8). Note that the apodosis (the “then” clause of the conditional sentence) is suppressed.
[95:8] 10 tn The words “he says” are supplied in the translation to clarify that the following words are spoken by the Lord (see vv. 9-11).
[95:8] 11 sn The name Meribah means “strife.” Two separate but similar incidents at Meribah are recorded in the Pentateuch (Exod 17:1-7; Num 20:1-13, see also Pss 81:7; 106:32). In both cases the Israelites complained about lack of water and the Lord miraculously provided for them.
[95:8] 12 sn The name Massah means “testing.” This was another name (along with Meribah) given to the place where Israel complained following the Red Sea Crossing (see Exod 17:1-7, as well as Deut 6:16; 9:22; 33:8).
[95:8] 13 tn Heb “do not harden your heart[s] as [at] Meribah, as [in] the day of Massah in the wilderness.”
[95:9] 14 tn Heb “where your fathers tested me.”
[95:10] 15 tn The prefixed verbal form is either a preterite or an imperfect. If the latter, it emphasizes the ongoing nature of the condition in the past. The translation reflects this interpretation of the verbal form.
[95:10] 16 tn Heb “a people, wanderers of heart [are] they.”
[95:10] 17 tn Heb “and they do not know my ways.” In this context the
[95:11] 18 tn Heb “my resting place.” The promised land of Canaan is here viewed metaphorically as a place of rest for God’s people, who are compared to sheep (see v. 7).
