Psalm 95:7 NKJV
For He is our God,
And we are the people of His pasture,
And the sheep of His hand.
Today, if you will hear His voice:
“Today,” in the hour of grace, in the day of mercy, we are tried as to whether we have an ear for the voice of our Creator. Nothing is said of tomorrow, “he limiteth a certain day,” he presses for immediate attention, for our own sakes he asks instantaneous obedience. Shall we yield it? The Holy Ghost saith “Today,” will we grieve him by delay? (Spurgeon)
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For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture: Yahweh is also worthy of our humble worship because He is our God. The ancient Hebrew had something of a choice of gods, and it was a deliberate act of allegiance to say, “Yahweh is my God. I belong to Him and He belongs to me – I am like the sheep of His hand.” (Guzik)
i. “The sheep of his hand; which are under his special care and conduct, or government; which is oft expressed by the hand, as Numbers 4:28, 31:49, Judges 9:29.” (Poole)
ii. “The repeated reference to the ‘hand’ of Jehovah is striking. In it are held the deeps: it is…‘forming’ the land, as a potter fashioning his clay: it is a shepherd’s hand, protecting and feeding his flock (Psalm 95:7).” (Maclaren)
iii. “The familiar metaphors of verse 7 express his commitment, which is constant (our God), and his care, which is all-sufficing (his pasture) and personal (his hand). He is no hireling.” (Kidner)
Today, if you will hear His voice: The psalmist once again exhorts us to act, to hear the voice of God in the midst of their worship. God spoke to His people and He gave them and gave us a word of warning. (Guzik)
i. “If you want to worship God, make sure you do not harden your heart against God’s Word, or quarrel with him or test him, as the ancients did.” (Boice)
ii. This word of warning is important enough to be referenced three times in the book of Hebrews (Hebrews 3:7, 3:15, and 4:7). In Hebrews 4:7 the emphasis is on the word today, indicating the urgency of listening to God with a soft heart today.
iii. “This is the uniform time and tense of the Holy Ghost’s exhortations. He saith nothing about tomorrow, except to forbid our boasting of it, since we know not what a day shall bring forth. All his instructions are set to the time and tune of ‘Today, today, today.’” (Spurgeon)
iv. When the writer to the Hebrews quoted this passage in Hebrews 3:7, he specifically attributed it to the Holy Spirit: Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says. He was certain that the words of Psalm 95 were inspired by the Holy Spirit and that the Holy Spirit was Yahweh. (Guzik)
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“For he is our God.” Here is the master reason for worship. Jehovah has entered into covenant with us, and from all the world beside has chosen us to be his own elect. If others refuse him homage, we at least will render it cheerfully. He is ours, and our God; ours, therefore will we love him; our God, therefore will we worship him. Happy is that man who can sincerely believe that this sentence is true in reference to himself.
“And we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.” As he belongs to us, so do we belong to him. “My Beloved is mine, and I am his.” And we are his as the people whom he daily feeds and protects. Our pastures are not ours, but his; we draw all our supplies from his stores. We are his, even as sheep belong to the shepherd, and his hand is our rule, our guidance, our government, our succor, our source of supply. Israel was led through the desert, and we are led through this life by “that great Shepherd of the sheep.” The hand which cleft the sea and brought water from the rock is still with us, working equal wonders. Can we refuse to “worship and bow down” when we clearly see that “this God is our God forever and ever, and will be our guide, even unto death”?
But what is this warning which follows? Alas, it was sorrowfully needed by the Lord’s ancient people, and is not one whir the less required by ourselves. The favored nation grew deaf to their Lord’s command, and proved not to be truly his sheep, of whom it is written, “My sheep hear my voice:” will this turn out to be our character also? God forbid. “Today if ye will hear his voice.” Dreadful “if.” Many would not hear, they put off the claims of love, and provoked their God. (Spurgeon)
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For he is our God – Not only the God whom we worship as the true God, but One who has revealed himself to us as our God. We worship him as God – as entitled to praise and adoration because he is the true God; we worship him also as sustaining the relation of God to us, or because we recognize him as our God, and because he has manifested himself as ours.
And we are the people of his pasture – whom he has recognized as his flock; to whom he sustains the relation of shepherd; who feeds and protects us as the shepherd does his flock. See the notes at Psalms 79:13; compare Psalms 23:1-3.
And the sheep of his hand – The flock that is guided and fed by his hand.
Today if ye will hear his voice – His voice calling you; commanding you; inviting you; encouraging you. See this passage explained in the notes at Hebrews 3:7-11. The word “today” here means “the present time;” now. The idea is, that the purpose to obey should not be deferred until tomorrow; should not be put off to the future. The commands of God should be obeyed at once; the purpose should be executed immediately. All God’s commands relate to the present. He gives us none for the future; and a true purpose to obey God exists only where there is a willingness to obey “now,” “today;” and can exist only then. A purpose to repent at some future time, to give up the world at some future time, to embrace the Gospel at some future time, is “no obedience,” for there is no such command addressed to us. A resolution to put off repentance and faith, to defer attention to religion until some future time, is real disobedience – and often the worst form of disobedience – for it is directly in the face of the command of God. “If ye will hear.” That is, If there is a disposition or willingness to obey his voice at all; or, to listen to his commands. See Hebrews 3:7. (Barnes)
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Today if ye will hear his voice — Today you have no time to lose; tomorrow may be too late. God calls today; tomorrow he may be silent. This should commence the eighth verse, as it begins what is supposed to be the part of the priest or prophet who now exhorts the people; as if he had said: Seeing you are in so good a spirit, do not forget your own resolutions, and harden not your hearts, “as your fathers did in Meribah and Massah, in the wilderness;” the same fact and the same names as are mentioned Exodus 17:7; when the people murmured at Rephidim, because they had no water; hence it was called Meribah, contention or provocation, and Massah, temptation. (Clarke)
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1599 Geneva Bible
7 For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his [a]hand: today, if ye will hear his voice,
Footnotes
- Psalm 95:7 That is, the flock, whom he governeth with his own hand. He showeth wherein they are God’s flock, that is, if they hear his voice.
Posted on 10/24/2024 by Bill
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