The Treasury of David

By brucesbiblepage on August 5, 2024

Psalm 95

Exposition
Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings
Hints to the Village Preacher

TITLE. This Psalm has no title, and all we know of its authorship is that Paul quotes it as "in David." (Heb 4:7.) Indeed, this may merely signify that it is to be found in the collection known as David's Psalms; but if such were the Apostle's meaning it would have been more natural for him to have written, "saying in the Psalms; "we therefore incline to the belief that David was the actual author of this poem. It is in its original a truly Hebrew song, directed both in its exhortation and warning to the Jewish people, but we have the warrant of the Holy Spirit in the epistle to the Hebrews for using its appeals and entreaties when pleading with Gentile believers. It is a psalm of invitation to worship. It has about it a ring like that of church bells, and like the bells, it sounds both merrily and solemnly, at first ringing out a lively peal, and then dropping into a funeral knell as if tolling at the funeral of the generation which perished in the wilderness. We will call it THE PSALM OF THE PROVOCATION.

DIVISION. It would be correct as to the sense to divide this psalm into an invitation and a warning so as to commence the second part with the last clause of Ps 95:7: but upon the whole, it may be more convenient to regard Ps 95:6 as "the beating heart of the psalm, "as Hengstenberg calls it, and make the division at the end of Ps 95:5. Thus it will form (1) an invitation with reasons, and (2) an invitation with warnings.

Verse 3. For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. No doubt the surrounding nations imagined Jehovah to be a merely local deity, the god of a small nation, and therefore one of the inferior deities; the psalmist utterly repudiates such an idea. Idolaters tolerated gods many and lords many, giving to each a certain measure of respect; the monotheism of the Jews was not content with this concession, it rightly claimed for Jehovah the chief place, and the supreme power. He is great, for he is all in all; he is a great King above all other powers and dignitaries, whether angels or princes, for they owe their existence to him; as for the idol gods, they are not worthy to be mentioned. This verse and the following supply some of the reasons for worship, drawn from the being, greatness, and sovereign dominion of the Lord.