Psalm 95 - Bob Mallett
Psalm 95
Don’t stop me if you’ve heard this one before. A man had been marooned on a desert island for 25 years. He was rescued by a passing ship. The captain of the ship asked him how long he’d been on the island. He said 25 years. The captain asked “where do you live?” The man pointed to 3 buildings on the hillside, “the one in the middle” he said. “And what’s the one on the right?” the captain asked. That’s the church I worship in” the man replied. “And” asked the captain, “what’s the one on the left?” “Oh, that’s where I used to worship”
That rather poor joke raises the question; the formalities of worship, the place, the time, the words we use, how much do they matter? It’s relevant because some of what we’ll be doing this evening will be an expression of worship.
This psalm 95 has for hundreds of years been used by the Christian church as a call and a guide to worship. And as we read through the psalm we can see why. v1-2 reflects the goodconventional things we associate with worship. Then there’s an acknowledgement of God’s attributes that make Him worthy of our worship (v 3-7). But then comes v 8-11 and this doesn’t sound like worship at all! A paraphrase might be, don’t harden our hearts because if we do, we’ll be excluded from God’s rest, essentially from enjoying eternity with Him. What has that got to do with worship? What have hardened hearts got to do with songs of praise?
Well, I think the answer is that it’s not the formalities of worship that are important, although they can provide a helpful context; worship is essentially a heart condition.
This psalm identifies 2 ingredients of such worship:
First, acknowledging God as He really is, not as we might like Him to be v 1-6;
And second, not letting unbelief and disobedience set in and disable our worship v7-11.
Acknowledging God for who He is.
I you go to Canada as you get off the plane, you used to be handed a leaflet, and on the back of it were the words “Beware of the bears”. Now I have a sentimental view of bears; they’re soft and cuddly and enjoy picnic baskets. I have made bears into what I want them to be. I’ve forgotten what they are really like. Quite dangerous really.
We do the same with God. We make Him in our minds how we want Him to be, into Someone who fits our moral compromise and pragmatic life styes. We like Him because He’s a bit like us. But, of course, He’s not.
One of my favourite quotes is from the French philosopher, Voltaire. He said “God created man in His own image, but man has more than reciprocated”
This psalm describes 3 attributes of God’s character which we need to acknowledge if we wish to approach Him and worship Him as He is.
v3-5 We acknowledge God’s creative sovereignty. There are all kinds of theories as to how life, the world and the universe (and everything beyond it) began, but whichever one meets with our approval, it must have these 3 cornerstones. (i) God made it, (ii) it belongs to God,and (iii) God rules over it. He’s the King of the universe and our role and relationship is defined by that Kingship.
We have to shift our minds into overdrive to begin to appreciate what kind of God this is. He’s not controllable by the likes of us. His power is awesome.
Second, v6-7, we acknowledge God’s character of love and faithfulness to His promises. That is implicit from that beautiful picture in v7 of the loving care and promised protection of this shepherd, an identity Jesus took upon Himself.
And thirdly God’s holiness (v10-11). We acknowledge He is intolerant of evil, which flows from unbelief and disobedience. He will not compromise with it.
This is our God. We acknowledge and admire Him for who He really is and the benefits He lavishes on us, and we enjoy Him. And our enjoyment of Him spontaneously overflows into praise. As C S Lewis put it “I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment. Our delight in a friendship or a book or a film is incomplete until it is expressed”.
Beware of hardened hearts
Our second ingredient of worship is in v8-11. Beware of hardened hearts. That process startsand finishes with unbelief. And that’s fatal.
Psalm 95 cites the example of the Israelites. For them the hardening of their hearts was a progressive illness. God had delivered them from slavery in Egypt, during which they had seen demonstrations of His power and faithfulness that beggar belief, the parting of the Red Sea, the pass-over, the plagues. But at Meribah and Massah, they demonstrated quarrelsome and rebellious unbelief.
Most of us, when we see the sun rise every morning believe it will rise again tomorrow as well – that’s the inductive principle of reasoning – we believe it will happen because we’ve never been let down before. The Israelites, however, despite seeing God keep His promises without fail time and time again, refused to take Him at His word that He would love them and look after them in the wilderness. Unbelief in His love and faithfulness is a sure way to outrage God. It’s not fitting, it’s shameful. It’s the opposite of worship.
But what happened to the Israelites could equally well happen to us. v7 says “Today, if you hear His voice.” Those words bring the whole issue bang up to date. The hardened heart is a modern day disease too.
It starts with an irrational lack of belief that God is who He says He is and will do what He says He will. The letter to the Hebrews tells us that it is sins deceitfulness that fuels that process. Then our hearts go astray (v10) We begin compromising our moral behaviour, until it becomes a habit. And it culminates in a culture of unbelief and a fixed attitude of disobedience to God.
A hardened heart becomes impervious to God’s voice and leads to increasing ignorance of His ways because it has no disposition to listen. We stop communicating with God (reading our bibles, praying); if we come to worship and our hearts are already calcifying, we are losing sight of who God really is.
If we want to express our relationship with Him, in worship, it’s not God who changes to fit our definition of what that means – it’s us, our hearts that have to attune to Him.
As I was preparing this, I realised how close to this hardness of heart I have come at times.Thank God for His abundant provision of grace and righteousness through Jesus.
Why not spend a few moments quietly acknowledging our God as He truly is and opening our hearts to Him in worship.
