Psalm 95-96 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Praise to the Lord, and Warning against Unbelief.

95 O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord,
Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving,
Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.
3 For the Lord is a great God
And a great King above all gods,
4 In whose hand are the depths of the earth,
The peaks of the mountains are His also.
5 The sea is His, for it was He who made it,
And His hands formed the dry land.

6 Come, let us worship and bow down,
Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
7 For He is our God,
And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand.
Today, [f you would hear His voice,
8 Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
As in the day of Massah in the wilderness,
9 “When your fathers tested Me,
They tried Me, though they had seen My work.
10 “For forty years I loathed that generation,
And said they are a people who err in their heart,
And they do not know My ways.
11 “Therefore I swore in My anger,
Truly they shall not enter into My rest.”

A Call to Worship the Lord the Righteous Judge.

96 Sing to the Lord a new song;
Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Sing to the Lord, bless His name;
Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.
3 Tell of His glory among the nations,
His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.
4 For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised;
He is to be feared above all gods.
5 For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
But the Lord made the heavens.
6 Splendor and majesty are before Him,
Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.

7 Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
8 Ascribe to the Lord the glory of His name;
Bring an offering and come into His courts.
9 Worship the Lord in holy attire;
Tremble before Him, all the earth.
10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns;
Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved;
He will judge the peoples with equity.”

11 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
Let the sea roar, and all it contains;
12 Let the field exult, and all that is in it.
Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy
13 Before the Lord, for He is coming,
For He is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
And the peoples in His faithfulness.

The psalmist says: O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord, Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.  Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving,
Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.  For the Lord is a great God
And a great King above all gods. For many of us in this current time, the days seem to run together. There is little distinction between week day and week end. One good thing that can be derived from that is that we can do what the psalmist exhorts us to do daily. That today is Sunday means it is just another day for us to come into the presence of God; to joyfully sing and shout in thanksgiving for our salvation. The psalmist continues: In whose hand are the depths of the earth,
The peaks of the mountains are His also.  The sea is His, for it was He who made it, And His hands formed the dry land.  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. God is the God of all of creation, because He is the one who created it. Creation has no will of its own. It responds in obedience to the will of God. We are also His creation. We though have been given a free will. We must choose to worship, bow down and kneel before Him. A time will come when it is no longer a choice. Philippians 2:10-11 says: At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,  and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. The psalmist explains the consequences of disobedience; of failure to acknowledge God. He says: Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, As in the day of Massah in the wilderness, “When your fathers tested Me, They tried Me, though they had seen My work “For forty years I loathed that generation, And said they are a people who err in their heart, And they do not know My ways.  “Therefore I swore in My anger, Truly they shall not enter into My rest.” We have a free will, a right to choose whether we will acknowledge God at this time, but with our choice, comes the consequences of that choice. In Deuteronomy 30:15-20 God says: “See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity;  in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that you may live and multiply, and that the Lord your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it.  But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them,  I declare to you today that you shall surely perish. You will not prolong your days in the land where you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess it.  I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants,  by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”

This day and every day may the words of the psalmist be our prayer and our declaration: Sing to the Lord a new song; Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Sing to the Lord, bless His name; Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.  Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.  For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods.  For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the Lord made the heavens.  Splendor and majesty are before Him, Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.  Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.  Ascribe to the Lord the glory of His name;
Bring an offering and come into His courts.  Worship the Lord in holy attire;
Tremble before Him, all the earth.  Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns;
Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved; He will judge the peoples with equity.”  Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
Let the sea roar, and all it contains;  Let the field exult, and all that is in it.
Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy  Before the Lord, for He is coming,
For He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness
And the peoples in His faithfulness. Amen. Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit. Amen.