SOFT (Psalm 95)

A sheep (this one a puzzle piece--thank you, grandsons)

and a strong rock--two major symbols for Psalm 95

(An ongoing series on the 48 psalms recommended for reading during times of “feeling down,” as suggested in pastor-counselor David Seamands’ book, Healing for Damaged Emotions)

The soft strains of a 1980 worship song birthed in southern California always come to mind when I read Psalm 95:

Come, let us worship and bow down,

Let us kneel before the Lord our God our Maker,

For He is our God, and we are the people of his pasture,

And the sheep of His hand (2x)

For a couple years, I lived and worked within a few miles of that song’s origins in the Maranatha! music ministry produced from Calvary Chapel, which greatly ministered to the hippie culture of that era.  I wonder how many people realized it was lifted right out of Psalm 95:6-7, or that this psalm has a strong message for hard hearts

So, how can warnings about “hardness” bring any comfort to times we feel down? I think the answer is in looking at place-names attached to an incident from the Exodus 17, when the newly-freed Israelites found themselves facing death because there was no water in the desert. They were blaming God, not worshipping Him.Then God told Moses to strike a certain rock, and out came a huge flow for all. From then on, the location was called “Massah” (meaning “testing”) and “Meribah” (meaning quarreling) because “they tested the LORD saying, ‘Is the Lord among us or not?’” (Exodus 17:7).

DÉJÀ VU ALL OVER AGAIN

Baseball great Yogi Berra was known for his odd sayings, including the redundant “it’s deja vu all over again.” With spiritual maturity comes the ability to see ourselves in the mistakes of the past, such as the grumbling over lack of water. Thanks to living in a country where tap water is chlorinated and tested, I don’t face what the Israelites did with thirst and deprivation. But our culture sends griping and complaining into new areas. That can lead to a high sense of entitlement—what we think God should supply—without simply grateful for what we already have. Constantly I have to ask myself if I can say, with Paul:

I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. (Philippians 4:12)

JUST PRAISE

During that same time that I lived in southern California, I was part of a Fullerton, Calif., church choir that sang a worship concert with the Gaither song, “Let’s Just Praise the Lord.” I still find myself humming that tune and thinking of the words, realizing how praise helps lift me when I am feeling down. When I feel “hard” and besieged, focusing on God’s mercies and greatness help to “soften” my heart. And that is the lesson that opens this psalm with its exhortation to praise God:

Come let us sing for joy to the LORD,

Let us shout aloud  to the Rock of our salvation.

Let us come before him with thanksgiving 

And extol him with music and song. (vv. 1-2)

The psalmist goes on to consider God as Creator of the world (vv. 3-5), then creator of us, humans, by allegory “people of his pasture, the flock under his care” (v. 7). Can you not help but stop here and think of Jesus as the Great Shepherd? Psalm 95 teaches that there are many ways to praise God: sing, shout aloud, extol with music, bow down, kneel... Even silence can be worship: “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).

“Count your blessings,” begins an old hymn, “name them one by one.” When I feel down and a bit hard-hearted, it’s the best spiritual medicine I can take.