“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.

“Oh come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.” Psalm 95:1-2.

Psalm 95:1-2 above are shown to maintain context. The next verses 3 through 5 are an interlude extolling the greatness and glory of God the Creator. This post will cover the rest of Psalm 95:3-11.

“For the Lord is the great God, and the great King above all gods. In His hand are the deep places of the earth; the heights of the hills are His also. The sea is His, for He made it; and His hands formed the dry land.” Psalm 95:3-5.

This section describes the authority of God and the extent of His reign on earth. What appears to be left out is the rest of creation, the heavens above including the third heaven the location of God’s throne, why this is so, I do not know.

However, the best answer is likely that these verses describe everything that impacts our lives here on earth; whether Israelite, Christian or unbeliever.

“For the Lord is the great God, and the great King above all gods.” The great God, Father, and Creator is above all gods, which do exist, but they are not true gods in the sense that they should have any authority over man.

So Baal, Molech, Chemosh, Zeus, Allah, Beelzebub, Shiva, Kali, or any of the other millions of Hindu gods are demons not the one and true God of creation.

How can I be so arrogant as to say such a thing? It is simple; it is God who says such things!

“Therefore know this day, and consider it in you heart, that the Lord Himself is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.” Deuteronomy 4:39.

“Do not fear, nor be afraid; have I not told you from that time, and declared it? You are My witnesses. Is there a God besides Me? Indeed there is no other Rock; I know not one.” Isaiah 44:8.

“For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens, who is God, who formed the earth and made it, who has established it, who did not create it in vain, who formed it to be inhabited: ‘I am the Lord, and there is no other.’” Isaiah 45:18.

“Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.” Isaiah 45:22.

“For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised; He is also to be feared above all the gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens.” 1 Chronicles 16:25-26.

“For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens.” Psalm 96:5.

“The Lord will be awesome to them, for He will reduce to nothing all the gods of the earth; people shall worship Him, each one from his place, indeed all the shores of the nations.” Zephaniah 2:11.

“What am I saying then? That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything? Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons.” 1 Corinthians 10:19-20.

“They [Israel] sacrificed to demons, not to God, to gods they did not know, to new gods, new arrivals that your fathers did not fear. Of the Rock who begot you, you are unmindful, and have forgotten the God who fathered you.” Deuteronomy 32:17-18.

“You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe – and tremble!” James 2:19.

The conclusion is simple, either God is a colossal liar, and not worth anyone’s consideration or all the gods of the people are a lie energized by demons.

Folks need to act like adults and speak the truth one way or the other, but please, no more simpering, “Christians are a collection of narrow minded bigots who think their God is the only one.” It’s pathetic.

“In His hand [in His possession] are the deep places of the earth; the heights of the hills are His also.” Psalm 95:4.

We now consider His sovereignty.

How deep the deep places are is not specified, as though it mattered, but it has to include all of the earth. Does God’s hand extend below the tectonic plates that shift below us and create such devastating earthquakes? If this is so, God is in control of the very ground beneath our feet.

Does His hand extend into hell below?

“Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. Psalm 139:7-8.

“The dead tremble, those under the waters and those inhabiting them. Sheol is naked before Him, and Destruction has no covering.” Job 26:5-6.

“The heights of the hills are His also.” Though, technically hills are not mountains the term has been used to include mountains (Mount Everest, 29,029 ft. about 5.5 miles high), in this verse it literally refers to “the foundations of mountains” according to Strong’s Concordance.

The King James Version renders this verse as:

“In His hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills [mountains] is His also.” Psalm 95:4.

No matter where you go God is there.

“Am I a God near at hand,” says the Lord, “And not a God afar off? Can anyone hide himself in secret places, so I shall not see him?” says the Lord; “Do I not fill heaven and earth?” says the Lord.” Jeremiah 23:23-24.

We have seen God’s sovereignty above, next we view His stupendous power to create.

“The sea is His, for He made it; and His hands formed the dry land.” Psalm 95:5.

Anyone who has seen a storm at sea or on the shore and viewed its power either in the movies or first hand will attest to the irresistible violence it can inflict; yet God made this, and controls it. Can you or I control the sea?

“And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But He [Jesus] was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, ‘Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?’ Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace, be still!’ And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, ‘Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?’ And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, ‘Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!’” Mark 4:37-41.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1.

“Oh 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.” Psalm 95:6-7a.

Having confessed our sins to God and entered God’s presence with thanksgiving, our hearts rise up in praise and thanksgiving, and our voices are lifted up in joyful songs of worship.

When we consider God’s sovereignty, omnipresence, and power over all the earth; we fall to our knees in true worship of the One who not only deserves it, but gave His only begotten Son to make us His sons and daughters.

“For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand.” Psalm 95:7a.

Just as God shepherded the children of Israel in the wilderness; so the good shepherd guides His flock in the world today.

“I [Jesus] am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.” John 10:11.

“I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.” John 10:14-16.

“God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high…” Hebrews 1:1-3.

It is unfortunate that the last phrase, “Today, if you will hear His voice” in verse 7 was not put as the first phrase of verse 8, because that is where it fits. For this reason the following final verses will include this phrase.

“Today, if you will hear His voice: ‘Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, as in the day of trial in the wilderness, when your fathers tested Me; they tried Me, though they saw My work. For forty years I was grieved with that generation, and said, “It is a people who go astray in their hearts, and they do not know My ways.” So I swore in My wrath, “They shall not enter My rest.”’” Psalm 95:7b-11.

This last sentence is quoted again in Hebrews chapter 3, and is applied to the Christian.

“So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’” Hebrews 3:11.

This means that the Israelites who perished in the wilderness would wander, rather than enter into the rest to be found in God’s loving care.

This is then applied to Christians in the next two verses.

“Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” Hebrews 3:12-13.

While these final verses in Psalm 95 seem to be a change in the subject, they actually compliment the psalm’s call to worship God. These last four verses are telling the Israelites to worship God for the reasons given in the first seven verses.

They were to bear in mind the calamities that fell upon their forefathers because of their lack of faith in the Lord God who took them out of the land of Egypt with a promise that He would give them a land of their own.

This lack of belief in God’s ability to care for them cost them their chance to enter into the rest which they would have found in their own homes in their own land. A land blessed and watched over by God.

As for the application found in the book of Hebrews chapter 3 the idea is similar. The Christian does not have a land to inherit; in fact we are called strangers and sojourners in Hebrews chapter 11.

But, we do have access to what might be called cruise-control, life would be much smoother if the Christian would do what the Israelites did not do in the desert, trust God and seek God in everything, bringing all our cares to Him in prayer, and leaving them with Him.

Granted, this is often difficult, and there may be times when we just cannot let go of a problem, but if we would determine to have a childlike trust in Him for everything, if possible, we would enter into His rest from the cares of this world.

“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27.

The more we learn to turn over to Him the greater the rest and the greater will be our thanksgiving and joy as we sing to the Lord.

Again, look at these verses quoted earlier and consider what God means by them. Can you see how you may enter into God’s rest right here on earth?

“Therefore I was angry with that generation, and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways.’ So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’” Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” Hebrews 3:10-13.

Again, the Israelites did not enter their rest because of a lack of trust in God’s ability to care for them.

Christians today suffer much distress and anxiety because they have accepted the Lord Jesus as their Savior and shepherd, but will not let Him lead or care for them.

“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.” Colossians 2:6-7.

Psalm 95:3-11 taken from godisrevealed.com posted on 2-2-15 updated on 1-7-23.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.