Come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before Jehovah our Maker.
Psalm 95 opens with singing. Then a second "O come" changes the posture, and the reason given for bending the knee is that the LORD is our Maker.
This is not a general song of praise. It is a call for one moment, it names how the welcome should be made, and it says what kind of people will make it.
It is a call to Israel, looking ahead to the soon appearing of the expected Saviour-King. The next Psalm will show that He has come. How are they, His people, to welcome Him? With singing. With confession — that is the literal meaning of the word translated thanksgiving in verse 2. With worship and bowing to the ground. … His people must welcome Him as a willing and obedient people. The end verses are quoted in Hebrews 3 and 4.
"Worship and bow down" is not a figure of speech. It means a body lowered. One writer shows how ordinary that act was between people, and how strict the limit was on who may receive it.
It is a mark of respect between one person and another, very common in the East. Abraham bowed down before the people of the land when he bought a burial place for his dead. It is also an act of reverence to God, Ps. 95:6. But it is strictly forbidden before an idol or image, and it is treated as an act of worship.
The psalm has already given thanks. This call asks for something more.
In people's minds, worship is so often tied to outward ceremonies that they miss what it really is. True worship is a thing of the heart, a feeling of the soul. Prayer is a blessed exercise for all who realise their weakness and need. Thanksgiving is fitting for those who have received great things from God. But worship is higher than either of these, because it looks not only at His works, but at God Himself — at His perfections and glories. Our English word is a shortened form of the Anglo-Saxon "worthship," which means giving honour to one who is worthy.
The verse gives one reason to kneel: He made us. That claim carries a debt, and the same source sets the worshipper beside his opposite.
Man owes allegiance to his Creator. The Psalmist said with reverence, "let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker," Ps. 95:6. But of the wicked it says, "Woe to him who strives with him who formed him," Isa. 45:9.
Older translations read, "Woe to him who strives with his Maker" — the psalm's own word. Kneeling or striving: those are the two options open to a creature, and the psalm asks which one you take.
Bowing the body is not the end of it. One writer ties the kneeling to a sheep's character, and to the warning that comes next in the psalm.
One writer links the Maker of this verse to the Son, who created all things. That lets a believer start Israel's future song now.
We see this creative glory of the Son of the Father's love reaching back before time began. Does that not strike a chord of deepest adoration within our souls at once? Can we not begin now the song of praise that restored Israel will bring to their Creator God, and say to one another, "Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker"? … Then we shall fall down before Him who sits on the throne… and say, "Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created."
- Maker — the reason to kneel is that He made you. A creature owes allegiance to his Creator. The only other option is to strive against Him.
- Bow — the words mean a body lowered. People bowed to one another, but as an act of reverence it belongs to God alone, and it is forbidden before any image.
- Higher — thanksgiving looks at what God has done. Worship looks at God Himself. That is why the psalm's second "O come" asks for more than its first.
- Submit — He made the flock, and He pastures it. A sheep's character is submission, not admiration alone.
- Today — a warning against a hard heart follows the call to bow at once. And the call looks ahead to the day we see the Maker and fall down before Him.
For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. To-day if ye hear his voice,
Psalm 95 has just called Israel to kneel before their Maker. This verse names what He is to them — their own God, with them as His flock — and then, in the same breath, turns to a warning about hearing His voice.
The call to praise comes with a time limit.
Psalm 95 summons Israel to come with joyful songs and thanksgiving before Jehovah. But Jehovah is Israel's Maker, and his God also; and now they may look for rest even after so long a time and continued failure. Until power comes in to judgment, while it is still called today, the psalm calls them not to harden their hearts. They hardened them long ago in the wilderness, and God swore that they should not enter into His rest. For in that great tomorrow God will allow no evil and no rebellious person.
The verse gives two pictures of God's care: pasture and a hand.
The godly delight to confess that the One who made the sea and the dry land is "our Maker" and "our God." They also say, We are His: "We are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand." The people of God tend to look to other sources for the supply of their needs and for protection from their enemies. They are in danger of forgetting that God has pasture to meet every need, and a hand to protect from every foe.
That hand is also where the flock is safe.
The picture of safety for the believer is no longer an earthly fold, as in former days, but the hand of the Good Shepherd. There, in the shadow of His hand, He hides them safely from every foe. That hand of unconquerable might will surround the frail and feeble sheep and protect them from every attack of the enemy. It is the hand that redeemed the ancient people from harsh slavery in Egypt, preserved and defended them through the desert, and brought them into the promised land flowing with milk and honey.
Belonging to such a Shepherd is the reason for the homage asked next. It comes with a condition.
Then the psalm urges them again to do Him homage. It sets His loving relationship to them as their Shepherd before them, as something that may well move them to it. But it adds the necessary condition for this to continue: "today, if you hear His voice!" Without such obedient hearing, people who are not agreed could not walk together. Grace only fulfils such conditions — it does not set them aside.
One writer ties the change of tone to a change of subject.
Notice the transition when the psalm speaks of the Shepherd, and of them as the sheep of His hand. It is simple, happy work to praise while we keep our eyes on the Shepherd. But when we turn to the sheep, we need exhortation... So long as God in His love and grace fills the soul, there can only be praise. When the eye turns from God to man, we need the warning: do not harden the heart, do not be careless or forgetful, as Israel was on the day it provoked Him in the wilderness. In other words, if we are to enter into our rest, we must go on. It is not enough for someone to say, "I was converted ten years ago." How is it today?
How long does that "today" last? It lasts as long as God's patience does.
This word "today" is the expression of the patient activity of God's grace towards Israel right to the end. The people were unbelieving; they have hardened their hearts. Sadly they will go on doing so to the end, until judgment comes in the Person of the Messiah-Jehovah, whom they have despised. But until then God loves to repeat, "Today, if you hear My voice."
That word still stands, so it comes to each reader as a personal offer.
But you may soon pass beyond the reach of that love. It offers you forgiveness, life, and heaven now, but tomorrow may be too late. You are here today, and God's Word says, "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts."... Today is the day of mercy; tomorrow may be the day of doom.
- Maker, then owner. The One who made sea and dry land is "our God." The Maker becomes ours.
- Pasture and hand. Pasture meets every need. The hand keeps off every foe. Forget that, and the flock looks elsewhere.
- Sheep hear. Walking on with the Shepherd has one condition: obedient hearing. Grace fulfils that condition; it does not set it aside.
- Praise, then watch. Look at the Shepherd and you sing. Look at the sheep and you need warning. The test is not a conversion ten years ago, but today.
- Today, not tomorrow. "Today" measures God's patience. It ends when judgment comes. While it lasts, mercy is still calling.