Q2. Psalm 95

[Jacinth]

God deserves praise and thanksgiving always. Now the Israelites lose faith even after Gods intervention to supply their needs. Did they really know God as a loving father and one who patiently led them to Canaan. Hardness of heart may imply that they were spiritually blinded by their flesh and self seeking ways. Did God break through this hardness for the future generation by allowing only children to enter. To bring God to such anger is horrible and to not fathom their Makers love is unbelievable. Did the children change their ways. God is always reaching out as we reach out to thank HIM for being a loving creator. HE asks for belief in HIM and obedience. If we rest in Him then we can hear what He desires from us on this earth:....ultimately to serve through love...

[cheeky82bloke]

Q2. (Psalm 95) In Psalm 95 we are commanded to worship the Lord. What are the reasons why we should worship contained in this psalm? Why do you think the warning in verses 8-11 is included in this psalm? How does this fit with the earlier elements of the psalm?

A2. (Psalm 95)

Psalm 95 says we should worship because:

the LORD is a great God.

And a great King above all gods,

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.

For He is our God,

And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand

verses 8-11 are included because if today you heard His voice, you should not harden your heart by quarreling with nor testing the Lord, because of temptation. It fits as the most important part, the first part says to worship and says how great God is. And then in the end it warns against rebelling against God and warns against not trusting God.

[hanks]

Q2. (Psalm 95)

In Psalm 95 we are commanded to worship the Lord. What are the reasons why we should worship contained in this psalm?

We are to worship Him for He is the Great God, and King above all the idolatrous gods. He is the Creator of all; our Maker, and we are His people.

Why do you think the warning in verses 8-11 is included in this psalm?

If it was not for the hardened hearts of the Israelis they would also be worshipping Him for leading them into green pastures, protected, and provided for. Our Lord was angry because they tried and tested Him with their ingratitude and stubbornness.

How does this fit with the earlier elements of the psalm?

In this psalm we are told how to worship. The act of worship besides coming before God with thanksgiving in our hearts, also entails surrender and submission. Verse 8-11 is included as a warning against hard and disobedient hearts. It is worship that we will find our hearts softening.

[Moody Grad]

Q2. (Psalm 95) In Psalm 95 we are commanded to worship the Lord. What are the reasons why we should worship contained in this psalm? Why do you think the warning in verses 8-11 is included in this psalm? How does this fit with the earlier elements of the psalm?

We commanded to worship our "great God," "the Rock of our salvation," "the King above all gods," "our Maker," and our Shepherd. We should worship because He made us, he cares for us, and he is our Lord. The warning is included to show that worshiping God is not optional. He is a jealous God who will not accept anyone who does not worship Him. The psalm previously exhorts the reader to worship the Lord for the wondrous things He has done. The Israelites saw God's wondrous works but still refused to bow down and worship Him.

[JanMary]

Q2. (Psalm 95) In Psalm 95 we are commanded to worship the Lord. What are the reasons why we should worship contained in this psalm?

He is the Rock of our Salvation; for the gift of salvation; for His presence; because He is great; He hears us; He holds the creation in His hands; His power and strength; He is creator; He made us; He is our God; He speaks to us; He's a God Who desires relationship with His children. He is our Shepherd and guide.

Why do you think the warning in verses 8-11 is included in this psalm?

Rather than being thankful for their deliverance from Egypt and slavery, their hearts were hardened, they were grumblers and murmurers, rather than praising their God and Savior! We are commanded to worship, so the warning is about disobedience and the heart attitude. Worship is to be a lifestyle not an occasional flurry of words to "get a checkmark in the box".

How does this fit with the earlier elements of the psalm?

He was leading them into the land of promise. Because of their lack of praise and gratitude, which they replaced with whining and complaining, the Lord was angry and swore in His wrath that they would not enter His rest and the promised land. They all died in the wilderness with the exception of Joshua and Caleb.

[Bec]

Q2. (Psalm 95) In Psalm 95 we are commanded to worship the Lord. What are the reasons why we should worship contained in this psalm?

We worship the LORD because of who He is (the LORD ... promise Keeper; Rock of our salvation....rock solid and secure; the One who thought of and secured our salvation; the great God ....great in wisdom, power, omnipresence; great King above all gods ...ruler, sovereign, wise counsel, judge, superior, more worthy of adoration/respect/praise/obedience; the whole earth is created and held by Him; our Maker ... He made not only our physical being & gave us life but also gave us our purpose for living; and we are under His care ....in His pasture, we have His care/provision/protection).

Why do you think the warning in verses 8-11 is included in this psalm?

Worship (knowing who God is and what He has done) that results in obedience continues to honor the God that I say I respect and praise. When I fail to obey, I am demonstrating that I really praise and honor myself above Him ... and perhaps Only worship HIM publicly to gain recognition from others and perhaps even because I think that somehow He 'owes' me something.

How does this fit with the earlier elements of the psalm?

The warning takes me back to the worship of Him ... remember who He is, what He has done (created/sustained the world and taken responsibility for my salvation). Because I know these things, it is all the more shameful when I demand things from Him and fail to obey and trust Him.

[antonate]

We worship God because our Father in Heaven seeks such worshipers who worship Him in spirit and in truth. God dwells in the praises of His people. we show great love and honor to our God as we come before him with grateful hearts thanking Him and exalting Him with music and song. God is pleased as we offer sacrifice of thanksgiving in music and song and we make way for our mighty God to answer us with us awesome deeds!!

we worship Him because He is our Maker. As we kneel down and worship our God with our hands lifted up towards Him we acknowledge He is our God and we are His people. we acknowledge that His thoughts and His ways are best for us. we acknowledge that He is the Creator of the whole universe and all things belong to Him. He is our Great and mighty God and He is above all gods.

As we worship this mighty and holy God he speaks to our hearts. He allows our inner most being to hear his gentle voice and in worship he softens our hearts. In worship He makes us obey His voice as he gently speaks to us. Verses 8 to 11 instructs us that obeying God's voice is true worship. Praising God and worshiping him in songs enables us to come into God's presence. when we worship God and as we come into His presence we are able to surrender our ways, our plans and our whole being to Him. Worship enables us to hear his voice and say yes to His ways and not to rebel against His plans and His will for us in our lives.

All our worship becomes fruitful when we listen to Him as he speaks to us in worship. Our coming before God in joyful songs, our bowing down in worship all leads to us hear God's voice and follow His ways and make Him the Lord and King of our lives. Finally accepting God's plans and ways and living in obedience to His will is the highest act of worship we render to our great God, the great King above all gods.

[jesus]

Praise and worship is the highest honor we can render to our God. Psalm 95 praticularly commands us to worship the Lord. It invites us to sing shout aloud and come before the Lord with thanksgiving making melody with music and song. We worship our God because he is our Creator and our Maker. He is above everything and he is great and mighty God. Everything on earth is created by his hand. The deepest sea, and the highest mounatain peak was formed by his hand! Oh we need to kneel down before our Maker because He is our God who desrves our worship. We are his people his creation, a flock under his care. We need to honor praise and worship such a mighty God who is our everything.

The warning in vs 8 to 11 are included to show us that when we honor our God with praise worship making music and melody we also need to be submissive and obedient to his will in our lives. Its not enough we just give him honor with our lips but we truly truly worship him with our lives and actions which match our worship. The Israelites lost the promise though they saw mighty miracles from God because they hardened their hearts against the Lord and started grumbling and murmuring. This brought God's wrath on them.

It shows that worship must include a life which is pleasing in the sight of God ..which bows down to the will of the Father in Heaven.

When we praise and worship with a sincere heart our lives and hearts remain open for God to work in our lives. We must honor our Father by surrendering our lives in his hands however tough it may seem

Presently I am understanding this psalm well because the situations in my life have caused me to sit at the Lord's feet and worship Him. I have no clue as to how life would turn but I am trying to put the worship in practice by just obeying his will

[Angel_dsouza]

Just as in Ps 150 God desires us to praise Him. He also delights when we worship him. Praise and worship go together. its only when we praise our God after we praise our God we can worship our Lord. Revere Him, Adore Him Exalt him in worship. our souls find rest in His presence as we worship him.

we must worship and bow down to our Lord - who is our maker our creator for he created all things and by his will thery were created and have their being. He is worthy of all worship and honor for he is Most Holy - highly exalted.

After knowing and seeing the works of the Lord - yet they hardened their hearts and this made the Lord sad so they did not enter the promise land.

[Rose Marie]

Q2. (Psalm 95) In Psalm 95 we are commanded to worship the Lord. What are the reasons why we should worship contained in this psalm? Why do you think the warning in verses 8-11 is included in this psalm? How does this fit with the earlier elements of the psalm?

The reasons given in this psalm why we should worship the Lord are because God is the greatest of all gods, He is the creator of the natural world in all its splendor, and we are people created by and cared for by Him. In verses 8-11 we are warned that we must obey and trust God and this is included in this psalm because we must remember not to just say we praise Him but then not live as He wants us to. The first and last parts of the psalm are both pertaining to worship - first the outward form of praise and then the inward.

[Old Jerry]

I think that the reason that the command to worship is in the psalm is because it is in a poet setting and in that setting it is easier to remember what was being said. We have always used poetry to express our love.

I think that the warning that is at the end of the psalm is there to remind us that if we are to worship God then we should be will to follow his laws. This fits with the earlier elements of the psalm in that if we love God we will do as He tells us to.

[paulajean]

Q2. (Psalm 95)

A.)In Psalm 95 we are commanded to worship the Lord. What are the reasons why we should worship contained in this psalm?

B.) Why do you think the warning in verses 8-11 is included in this psalm?

C.)How does this fit with the earlier elements of the psalm?

A. We should worship God because he created the Earth, the seas, the mountains and dry land. He is our Creator too. He loves us.

B. & C. I believe the warning is included to remind us what can happen to us. This is what happened to the Isaelites. If we we have ungrateful hearts, if we do not worship or submit to Him, if our hearts are hardened, or test Him we will not find rest in Him. The first part of this Psalm shows us what to do to avoid the warning of verses 8-11.

[Clarence]

Q2. (Psalm 95) In Psalm 95 we are commanded to worship the Lord. What are the reasons why we should worship contained in this psalm? Why do you think the warning in verses 8-11 is included in this psalm? How does this fit with the earlier elements of the psalm?

 

The reasons given for worship contained in this psalm are:

(Psalm 95:3) For the Lord is the great God

King above all gods

His hand is in the depths of the earth and the mountain peeks belong to him (v 4)

He made the sea and the dry land (v 5)-He is the God of creation (Genesis 1:1).

 

The psalmist then exhorts the people (and us) not to harden our/their hearts before God, by being disobedient- there were consequencs for doing this. Because God created the earth and everything in it, everything belongs to him, therefore we are commanded to give him the rightful place in our hearts.

[Barbiemac]

We worship God because He is our creator and everything is in His hands. He shepherds us and watches over us. We are warned to not hardened our hearts toward Him our creator, if we do we will miss out on His best for us.

[WinstonY]

Q2. (Psalm 95) In Psalm 95 we are commanded to worship the Lord. What are the reasons why we should worship contained in this psalm?

The reasons we should Worship the Lord our God include: 

1. The greatness of God.

2. God is the creator, he has created each of us and the entire world and universe.

3. He is the rock of our salvation

4. We are the people of God, the Sheep of his pasture.

5. For God has delivered his people from slavery in Egypt

 

Why do you think the warning in verses 8-11 is included in this psalm?

verses 8-1 are introduced buy an if clause which is informing the reader not to fall into the same type of sins as they did the people of Israel in the 40 years in the desert. These former slaves head very quickly and easily follow me back into the wave that they had followed in Egypt. often when they were having some difficulties in the desert they would moan and complain about their situation and that God was not good enough to them. We too also often complain when we are beset by difficulties of various kinds. We think God is not good enough to us. But we must remember that a certain amount of suffering is part of our Christian Heritage for Jesus himself suffered. So if the God of this world suffered so why should we complain about suffering?

 

How does this fit with the earlier elements of the psalm?

Both speak to the power of God.

 

 

 

[Ms. Joanne]

On August 18, 2007 at 11:00 AM, Pastor Ralph said:

Q2. (Psalm 95) In Psalm 95 we are commanded to worship the Lord. What are the reasons why we should worship contained in this psalm? Why do you think the warning in verses 8-11 is included in this psalm? How does this fit with the earlier elements of the psalm?

We worship you oh Lord for you are our God, our King.  We worship you in thanksgiving for everything you have created, for everything you have given us.  We worship you for you have given us our life.  we need to worship you even when things are not going our way.  For in the Thanksgiving and praises during the hard times is for us to show you our faith in you that all things will turn out according to your will.  Keep on worshipping God through the good and especially the bad or we risk alienation from you.

[Paulhoward]

Some of the reasons we are to worship God according to this Psalm , starts with the fact that Fod created us and , like the angels one of our purposes is to offer worship to God. Another reason is that He is our king, ruler. He is also our shepherd and He cares for us. Also because of the salvation on which we stand.

Praise is certainly not as exhuberant as it should be. It is necessary if you are English as I am , to get past cultural inhibitions. Also as an Anglican we are not known for loud praise!!!!! However ever since I was first filled with the Spirit I have always enjoyed modern praise & worship. Putting on some music, sometimes on my own using a Psalm to launch out, even singing in the Spirit or with a new song. We have only been in our present church six months, but the vicar who is new & his wife who is a worship leader are trying to encourage everyone. MAy God bless them in it

[Godswriter]

Q2. (Psalm 95) In Psalm 95 we are commanded to worship the Lord. What are the reasons why we should worship contained in this psalm? Why do you think the warning in verses 8-11 is included in this psalm? How does this fit with the earlier elements of the psalm?

Because He created the earth and He is our salvation. He watches over us. To guide us and let us know what not to do as Christians. It is to warn us not to be like the Israelites and forget that God knows everything we do and can sometimes become displeased with us over our groanings and complaining about things that we can't control. It speaks of God's power and authority and justice. 

[Lottie]

Q2. (Psalm 95) In Psalm 95 we are commanded to worship the Lord. What are the reasons why we should worship contained in this psalm? Why do you think the warning in verses 8-11 is included in this psalm? How does this fit with the earlier elements of the psalm?

We are to worship the Lord because He is our Lord and He is the shepherd. He is the Rock of our salvation. He is a great God, He is greater or the king over all the other smaller gods. He is our creator or maker and he is Yahweh our Lord.

I think the warning is included to remind us what happens when we become disobedient. When we forget like the Israelites, did what He has done for us. When we doubt that He can do what he says and refuse to listen like they did. It reminds us of the severe penalty we pay when we refuse to listen and instead complain like they did. They dishonored God by their actions. It is not just words but actions and how we live each day that shows if we really worship Him like we say we do. If we say we love Him and are disobedient then we become liars.

This last part is included to show us that true worship is not just singing, praising, and being submissive on the outside but it must generate from the heart to be real and genuine. Real worship and love for God come from the inside out.

[MICHELLE OXLEY]

study of Psalms.docx

[Rosesam]

Q2. (Psalm 95) In Psalm 95 we are commanded to worship the Lord. What are the reasons why we should worship contained in this psalm? Why do you think the warning in verses 8-11 is included in this psalm? How does this fit with the earlier elements of the psalm?

We worship the Rock of our salvation with thanksgiving and making a joyful noise unto Him with psalms. Because He is a great God and a great King. He holds the deep places of the earth, and the seas and the dry lands. Moreover He is our Good Shepherd who laid down His life for us, His sheep. He is not only our Creator, but our Redeemer and hence has full ownership over our lives. He is not a slave master, but our Father, who loves us dearly. So dearly that He did not spare His Son, but gave Himself up freely for us. So what else will He withhold from us? Nothing. So this great God deserves our praise and nothing should separate us from His love. And the overflow of that love from our lives will be in the form of praise.

Praise is not only an outward expression, but a reality of our inward submission to our God. If it just outward expression, it will be just empty, meaningless words. But when it is mixed with faith and believes His words, and puts trust in Him, it is an expression of prostrating before the Maker and expressing our faith in what He says. This says that we are truly submitted to the Lordship of the Lord in our lives, and that we are dethroning the lord of self, and giving the rightful place to the King and Redeemer of our lives.

The earlier elements of this psalm declares the reason why He needs to be worshiped. He is the King and worthy of our worship. Moreover, He is our rightful owner and the reason we exist is to worship Him. So we need to do express worship both inwardly and outwardly, to the One who is our Maker and Shepherd and who is worthy of our worship. As the Israelites did, the consequences of rebellion in our hearts, would be that we would not enjoy the rest that He has promised, when we do not submit ourselves to His authority and Lordship.

[Francine Douglas]

In Psalm 95 we are commanded to worship the Lord. What are the reasons why we should worship contained in this psalm? 

• God is God above all gods
• God is creator of heaven and earth 
• God is the creator of man and we are His people 

 

Why do you think the warning in verses 8-11 is included in this psalm? 

• because worship unto God begins in the heart which is grounded in obedience to God. Therefore, worship here is being clarified for the Christian believer to keep us in alignment with God’s purpose for us. 

 

How does this fit with the earlier elements of the psalm?

• it reinforces that we are God’s people created to worship Him. 

[Krissi]

What are the reasons we are commanded to worship the Lord?

• He is the Rock of our salvation
• He is great, a King above all gods.
• He rules the earth which He created

What are the reasons why we should worship?

• He is our God: we are His people
• We are under His care

Why do you think the warning is included in this psalm?

The warning is an example of what happens when we do NOT worship, when our hearts are hardened. It lets us know the consequence of trying God -- His anger -- and how God is willing to punish us our entire lives if we are self-involved, test Him and let our hearts go astray. This is a God to fear!

"They shall never enter my rest."

Never.