Psalm 95
1 O come, let us sing unto the Lord: Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. 2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, And make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. 3 For the Lord is a great God, And a great King above all gods. 4 In his hand are the deep places of the earth: The strength of the hills is his also. 5 The sea is his, and he made it: And his hands formed the dry land. 6 O 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. To day if ye will hear his voice, 8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, And as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: 9 When your fathers tempted me, Proved me, and saw my work. 10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, And said, It is a people that do err in their heart, And they have not known my ways: 11 Unto whom I sware in my wrath That they should not enter into my rest.
Watch the hands!
Somehow, I missed those hands in past readings of Psalm 95. Like a spectator of a magic trick, like a victim of a skilled pick pocket, I got distracted looking elsewhere and failed to follow the hands.
It is understandable to look elsewhere in this Psalm, there are several notable truths in these 11 verses. There is the call to sing and make a joyful noise, the command for exaltation of the creator and sustainer of all and even a warning to not harden one’s heart. In past reading’s I focused on these thoughts and more and in doing so, I missed those hands.
Watch the Hands
Psalm 95:4 In his hand are the deep places of the earth: The strength of the hills is his also.
Those marvelous hands of the maker didn’t just decorate the exterior of his creation. He dug out deep places, he planted treasures and wonders within the earth and under the sea. Like a true craftsman he did thorough work on details that may forever go unseen.
Psalm 95:5 The sea is his, and he made it: And his hands formed the dry land.
His hands made it all, scooping out valleys and making mountaintop views. His unusually great green thumb planted plentiful trees and fields of flowers to garnish this globe. Yes, the flood of Noah’s day and the massive shifts of the earth’s crust have changed the original topography of the earth but considering the beauty of the faded masterpiece can you imagine the greatness of the original work of this artist’s hands?
Psalm 95:7 7For he is our God; And we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice,
What does sheep of his hand mean? I am told that a good shepherd would pass his hands through the wool of very one of his lambs at the end of the day checking for wounds, ticks and thorns. Each lamb got individualized attention from their caretaker.
Ah, dear reader, pay attention to those hands! Those strong hands that are big enough to make the universe, that created all that we see and even that which we can’t, are gentle enough to care for you and me.