Not to provoke the Lord

OCTOBER 28 – NOVEMBER 3, 2014

Topic: "Not to provoke the Lord" Psalms 95: 2-8 This Psalm is a warning to the Jewish believers of Jerusalem to not hesitate in the faith or despise the promises made by God. Paul quotes part of this psalm in Hebrews 4: 3 “Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, “So I declare on oath in my anger, They shall never enter my rest ..." The Psalmist says in Psalms 95:1, "Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord ..." while others sing to their gods, we sing to Jehovah. We love Him, we admire Him, we revere Him; we express our feelings with selected sounds, with the best. Let us use our most noble faculty for the most noble purpose. We come before His presence with praise and gratitude. There is a peculiar grace and glory of the Lord before which men should go WITH THE MOST DEEP REVERANCE. Our worship should refer to the past as well as the future; if we do not bless the Lord for what we have already received, how can we reasonably expect more? Let us acclaim with enthusiasm, pride and joy, with jubilation and euphoria, with rejoice resembling those who succeed in the war. It is to fear if we forget this and not do it in the ordinary services. People have the impression that they should stand before the Lord so serious that they appear to be afflicted and forget that JOY IS ALSO A CHARACTERISTIC OF TRUE WORSHIP. Psalms 95:5 "The sea is his, for he made it ..." This was seen to be true in the Red Sea in which the waters saw their God and obediently separated to make way for His people. "And his hands formed the earth." Let us dwell in this beautiful world and worship the one who is illustrious, visible wherever we go. Let us consider the Lord Jesus Christ as the floor of a temple in which the footsteps of the Deity are found printed, very visible before our eyes if we want to see it. Psalms 95: 6 "Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker." We have to go as joyful "supplicants", but not presumptuous, with the familiarity of children before their father, but reverent, as creatures that we are before the Creator. Posture is not everything, but it is something; prayer is heard even if the knees resist to bend, but it is appropriate for a heart that worships to show reverence inclining the body and bending the knees. Psalm 95: 7 "For He is our God ..." Here we have the essential reason for worship. Jehovah has entered into a covenant with us and throughout the whole world He has separated us to be HIS CHOSEN. If others refuse to offer Him homage we shall rejoice. He is ours, and He is our God. Therefore, we shall love Him; He is our God, therefore, we shall worship Him.

Israel, the favored nation, had become deaf to the Lord’s commandment and through their disobedience they demonstrated that they were not truly His sheep. The psalmist says, "If you hear today his voice." This “today" means that it is in the hour of grace, in the day of mercy, it is when we are tested to find out if we are listening to the voice of our Creator. There are those who do not listen and are in a hurry to not have to listen; they do not want to listen because they have died, this is because of their incredulity. God calls us to not harden our heart and to be attentive to Him to obey and comply with His mandates. If the sea and the land obey Him, don’t become more obstinated than them. OBEY THE ONE WHO CALLED YOU. While mercy reigns may men not rebel, nor show obstination. As Vs. 6 says, “Come, let us bow down in worship; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker." Let us not provoke the Lord’s wrath, before let us rejoice and acclaim His glorious name. Amen.