1-2 Oh 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! 3-5 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 his hands formed the dry land. 6-7 Oh 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.

8-9 Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work. 10-11 For forty years I loathed that generation and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart, and they have not known my ways. Therefore I swore in my wrath, 'They shall not enter my rest.'” Psalm 95 From the English Standard Version

The man who wrote this Psalm was speaking to Jewish people long before Jesus Christ came into the world. What was he urging them to do in vs 1-2, and why? (vs 3-5)

The God of Abraham is the only true God and the rightful owner of the world because He is the one who created it. But what special reason does he give for why they ought to kneel before such a mighty God in humble worship? (vs 6-7)

God had chosen them out of the nations to be His own, and cared for them as tenderly as a good shepherd faithfully cares for his sheep. These are still excellent reasons why Christians today gather to give God humble and joyful praise. But in vs 8-9 the writer also gave a very solemn warning. What was he afraid that the people of his generation might do?

To harden one's heart against God means to stubbornly refuse to hear what He is saying and to shut out His words. It's like hanging up on a conversation. He reminds them what happened to people who did that in the days when Moses led them out of Egypt to the land God had prepared for them. How did their rebellious attitude and behaviour affect God? (vs 10-11).

And that's what happened. A whole generation of those people died in the wilderness during those forty years and never got to enjoy the rest from their journey in the wonderful land God had set before them.

I said at the start that he was writing to Jewish people long before Jesus came into the world. But in the New Testament book of Hebrews the writer was speaking to Jewish people (and probably others too) who had heard about Jesus Christ, and who had put their trust in Him as Saviour. But he was also worried that, having started the journey of following Jesus, they may be tempted to give up along the way. So he quoted verses 8-9 of today's Psalm to them, and then said: “Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. You must warn each other every day, while it is still 'today,' so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.” (Hebrews 3:12-14 New Living Translation.)

God's voice still goes out in the world today whenever His word is read or preached. The question each of must answer is - is He getting through? Do I hear and obey what He is saying? We harden our hearts when we know that something we are doing, or are involved in, is displeasing to God, but ignore the warning our conscience is giving us. Oh let us not do do that. And even if things have been tough we mustn’t harden our hearts, but should still come into His presence with thanksgiving and joyful songs of praise - for He is an awesome God, and we are the sheep of His pasture.