August 4 — Psalm 95

O come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and the dry land, which his hands have formed. O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker! For 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! Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, when your ancestors tested me, and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work. For forty years I loathed that generation and said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they do not regard my ways.” Therefore in my anger I swore, “They shall not enter my rest.”

In Christian liturgies, Psalm 95 has been used as an invitatory, an invitation to worship — and the Lutheran church is no exception. Psalm 95 is used in our Service of Morning Prayer as a summons to a worshipful day. The Psalm, or hymn identifies G-d as sovereign of all and as shepherd of the church, and then teaches that true worship is the devotion of life, trust, and obedience to our One G-d.

Now, it sounds like the Psalmist is stating the obvious — the Lord is a Great G-d — in his hands are the depths of the earth. O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!” I realize those of you reading this devotion would say “Of course our G-d is all of these things” — but it is good to remind ourselves of this reality every morning.

We all have raised obstacles against G-d and maintained some resistance to our obedience. Yet G-d’s love has kept after us and won us. There is not one of us who has not fought against G-d at some time in our lives. Therefore we have nothing to praise in ourselves. We have not added anything to our salvation. We are all like stubborn sheep who go according to their own ways. As Isaiah accurately puts it, “All we like sheep have gone astray.”

Too often we begin a day without the encouragement of the words that G-d has given to us — Old or New Testament — the Psalms or the words of Jesus. The Psalmist pleads with the people to listen to the words of our G-d — just as I plead with people today to do just the same.

Let us pray:

God our maker, you guide us as the sheep of your fold. When we stray into rebellion and unbelief, bring us back and restore us, that we may follow your ways and listen to the voice of our shepherd who gives us eternal life, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.

Amen.