THE LORD OUR MAKER Psalm 95:1-6 For He is our God; and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. True worship exalts God to His rightful place, and His rightful place is on the throne of His Sovereignty over this entire world, in the affairs of every creature and especially in the affairs of His chosen people. William Cowper wrote, “The dearest idol I have known, what e’er that idol be, help me to tear it from thy throne, and worship only thee.” Let us give glory to Him alone who is due all glory, all praise, and all honor, now and forever more. O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker (v 6). This exhortation to worship is backed with a motivation that is especially powerful to the Spiritual Israel. Both are described as the people of His pasture and to both He is our God. O come let us worship and bow down. The exhortation is to be humble. The joyful noise is to be accompanied with reverence. We are to worship in such a way that the bowing down shall indicate that we count ourselves to be as nothing in the presence of the all glorious Lord. Let us kneel before the Lord our maker. As we draw near to Him we should remember His great goodness to us and cheerfully confess it. Our worship should have reference to the past as well as to the future; if we do not bless the Lord for what we have already received, how can we reasonably look for more? We are permitted to bring our petitions, and therefore we are honor-bound to bring our thanksgivings. And make a joyful noise unto Him with songs of joy. We should shout as victoriously as those who triumph in war, and as solemnly as those who are struck with His awesomeness. It is not always easy to unite enthusiasm with reverence, and it is a frequent fault to destroy one of these qualities while straining after the other. The perfection of singing is that that unites joyfulness with seriousness, exultation with humility, zealousness with earnestness. The invitation given, O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation is repeated, Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto Him with psalms;; revealing David’s heart. David is in earnest, trying to persuade his people to go up with him to the worship of Jehovah with sound of harp and hymn, and holy delight. The happiness of his exhortation is noteworthy, the noise is to be joyful, and this quality he insists upon twice. It is to be feared that this is too much overlooked in ordinary services. People are so impressed with the idea that they ought to be serious that they put on the appearance of misery and quite forget that joy is as much a characteristic of true worship as solemnity.
Joyful with all the strength I have; My quivering lips should sing.
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