Thoughts for the Day

A Call to Worship and Obedience

O 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!
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 the dry land, which his hands have formed.

O 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.

O that today you would listen to his voice!
Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
when your ancestors tested me,
and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
For forty years I loathed that generation
and said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray,
and they do not regard my ways.’
Therefore in my anger I swore,
‘They shall not enter my rest.’

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

From childhood onwards I sang Psalm 95 pretty much every Sunday in church, for it was a time before the Parish Communion movement, and most Sundays the service was Matins with its glorious mix of hymns and canticles. I particularly loved Psalm 95, otherwise known as the Venite, with its joyous opening words: "O come, let us let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!" It always lifted my spirits. Since then I have been an advocate that the first hymn (or modern song) in worship should be something that gathers the congregation together in joyous expectation as they turn their thoughts to God.

There has always been a problem though, of whether we sang the first seven verses or the whole psalm, many clergy not liking the last half. But the latter is important, for having been called to worship, the voice of God breaks in demanding that "today" those present listen to His voice, and not harden their hearts and turn away from Him. The "you" is us! We are to listen out for God's prompting and not ignore His wishes, as happened in the wilderness when the people didn't trust God, at Meribah. That event was to lead to 40 years in the wilderness and Moses and Aaron would be unable to enter the promised land (Numbers 20.1-13)

Notice the last line in the Venite: "They shall not enter my rest." The letter to the Hebrews that we have been looking at recently speaks of "God's rest", and one of the meanings of this is the "Peace of God". In other words we are to renew all our efforts to seek God and embrace His wishes for our lives now, before it is too late.

↠ Can we turn to God with joy this morning, and ask His will for our life this day.

Lord God,
we turn to You this day
with joy in our hearts,
and praise on our lips.
We thank You that You are with us,
walking alongside us,
and guiding us into the future.
May we learn to listen to Your prompting
and obey Your word,
and eventually come to our rest.
Amen.