Psalms 95:1-11 (NKJV)
1 Oh come, let us sing 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 the great God, And the great King above all gods.
4 In His hand are the deep places of the earth; The heights of the hills are His also.
5 The sea is His, for He made it; And His hands formed the dry land.
6 Oh 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, if you will hear His voice:
8 “Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, As in the day of trial in the wilderness,
9 When your fathers tested Me; They tried Me, though they saw My work.
10 For forty years I was grieved with that generation, And said, ‘It is a people who go astray in their hearts, And they do not know My ways.’
11 So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’ “
The call to shout, exalt, and praise the great God who created all things is not merely a helpful suggestion—it’s a requirement. It is the prerequisite to entering the rest found in His promises. God’s goodness is immeasurable, but the discovery of it comes on the other side of obedience.
For Israel, that obedience was as simple as following God’s direction to cross the Jordan into the promised land. When the people magnified and acknowledged the reality of His love—revealed through His mighty works—their hearts were softened and positioned to obey. But when their focus shifted to the giants and the walled cities, their praise diminished, and so did their faith. The greatness of God, who far exceeds every obstacle, was resisted instead of trusted.
If only they had kept alive the voice of praise that rose after crossing the Red Sea—singing of His deliverance and unexplainable wonders—their hearts could have continued trusting His promise.
Even now, there remains a rest for us in the promises of new life in Christ. That rest is accessed in an atmosphere of praise, where the Giver, Deliverer, and Redeemer is lifted far above all earthly powers. When the mouth is filled with His praise, the heart becomes soft, willing, and ready to follow His ways.