Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace. Recite the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
- No author is noted for this Psalm. It is called “A Thanksgiving Psalm.” It is also referred to as “A Liturgy of God’s Kingship.” It is said to be written by a priest who warns the “congregation” against disobeying God’s laws.”
- It is quoted in Hebrews chapters 3 and 4. Commentators also point to chapter 14 of Revelation, verses 6 to 13, as speaking to the same theme—rest.
- Reference is made in Psalm 95 of an event that occurred following the exodus from Egypt under the leadership of Moses. In the desert of Sinai, the people had no water and began rebelling against Moses, and of course, God.
- The response was then that the people would not enter God’s rest, that is, the Promised Land, the land of Canaan. That generation would die in the wilderness and would not enter across the Jordan River into the land what would be known as Israel.
- The Psalm begins with an invitation to “make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.” The psalmist goes on to lift up the LORD, the great God. But then, at the ending of verse 7 comes a warning, “do not harden your hearts, as a Meribah.” This is where the people rebelled against God.
- Do we hear the Holy Spirit here looking forward to a time of “rest” that was to come, of which the Exodus from bondage in Egypt is a foretaste or prophecy of that “rest” that was to come?
- We remember to words of Jesus in Matthew 11:28: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Jesus is our Sabbath rest, and the word “Sabbath” means rest.