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.
Psalm 95:1-2
Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our maker; for He is our God
and we are the people of His pasture, the flock under His care.
Psalm 95:6-7a
Matthew Henry commented upon the 100
th
Psalm with words that are appropriate for this 95
th

Psalm as well. In fact his observation could be applied to any of the Songs of Praise which are contained
in the Book of Psalms. This song of praise should be considered a prophecy, and even used as a
prayer, for the coming of the time when all people shall know that the Lord, He is God. Henry focuses
our attention on three elements of the Psalms. These are that they are songs of praise, prophecies, and
prayers. Some Psalms focus more fully on one element over the others, but all three elements are
usually present in each one.
Psalm 95 uses the word come in at least two ways to push forward the different approaches
that it follows. In the first verse the word come is used as an invitation. We are invited to come along
with others into the joy that results from rightly knowing the Lord God. It is as if the Psalmist is saying to
us, Come let us walk together into the joyful procession that goes into the presence of the Lord. Such
a procession involves joyful singing and thanksgiving as we come to the Lord. There is one thing about
invitations however is that they must be responded to by those who receive them. Just recently I had
the privilege of teaching some children in a VBS program and an invitation was sent out to many to
come and join us as we learned together about the Lord. Many were invited, a much smaller number of
children responded to the invitation. Those who refused the invitation missed out on a wonderful,
joyful time of learning about the Lord.
The Psalmist issues the invitation but it is up to each of us to respond and to join in the joyful
singing and worship that we give together to the Lord our redeemer. We are invited to join in. For
various reasons some of us refuse to respond and consequently we miss out on the joy that the Lord
gives to us as we praise Him. There is more here however. In verse two the word come is used in a
different way, as it also is in verse six. Here it is used to call us into the presence of the Lord. Let us
come into His presence. Come, let us enter His presence in worship. Here to Psalmist offers prayer
and a prophetic word from the Lord. When we enter into the presence of the Lord we are confronted
with His awesome holiness as He calls us to not only walk with Him but to obey His call upon our lives.
When we hear His voice we must obey Him. This is not an optional suggestion; it is the command of the
Lord. The Psalmist, and the author of the book of Hebrews (Hebrews 3:7-4:13) use to call us to a life of
faith that first of all listens for Gods voice as it is found in the Christ Centred reading of the Word of
God, but then in faith responds to what we hear with obedient faith. Way back in the Old Testament
books of Exodus (Exodus 17:7) and Numbers (Numbers 20:13) we read about people who heard Gods
voice but who refused to believingly obey what they heard. That is not to be the case with us.
Gods Word to us today is that we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. He was given as the sacrifice
of atonement for us. We are called to receive His gift of grace offered to us by faith, which means that
we fully rest our hopes for all future life upon Him.
His invitation is that we come to the Lord Jesus Christ in faith receiving Him as the sacrificial
offering for our sin, so that we might live eternally in His life. Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord.