Welcome to CROWD Church! In this weeks talk we continue our series on Psalms, Ellie Light discusses Psalm 95 and her own personal journey with the passage. Psalm 95 is a chapter of 2 halves, it is a reminder of the tenderness of Gods care but also the Sternness of his call for obedience. Ellie powerfully explores just why this verse is so challenging to Christ followers.

Key Takeaways:

1. Balancing Praise and Obedience: Psalm 95 beautifully captures the duality of our relationship with God – one of joyful praise and thanksgiving, as well as a call to sincere obedience. Ellie Light emphasizes the importance of not only celebrating God's goodness but also responding to His commands with a willing heart.
2. God's Personal and Relational Nature: Through her reflections, Ellie highlights how Psalm 95 reveals God's deep care for us. He holds both the depths of our sorrows and the heights of our triumphs, reminding us that He is intimately involved in every aspect of our lives. This relational aspect of God invites us to trust Him more fully.
3. The Consequences of Disobedience: The latter part of Psalm 95 serves as a stern warning against hardening our hearts and turning away from God's guidance. Ellie draws parallels with the Israelites' experiences, urging us to remain faithful and obedient. She also points out the logical consequences of disobedience – missing out on the peace and rest that come from following God's plan.

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Psalm 95

I found it quite tricky actually to choose a psalm. Um, I had one that immediately came to mind and I thought, oh, no. Too challenging. Too challenging for myself, . Um, and after, um, flicking through a lot of different psalms, looking for something that was encouraging and affirming and uplifting, um, I kept coming back to this psalm.

Here we go. So Psalm 95. Come, let's sing to the Lord. Let's shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let's come to him with thanksgiving. Let's sing psalms of praises to him, for he is the Lord. He is a great God, a great King above all Gods. He holds in his hands the depths of the earth and the mightiest of mountains.

For there your ancestors tested and tried my patience even though they saw everything that I did. For 40 years I was angry with them and I said they are a people whose hearts turn away from me and they refuse to do what I tell them. So in my anger I took an oath. They will never enter my place of rest.

Um, already just reading that through, I felt so moved by little parts of it that I'd not been moved by in my, um, in my meditations on it before this. Um, just the, the wonderfulness of the God that, um, that we know and love, um, that he is. relational and cares about us and gets hurt when we don't collaborate with him.

Let's come to him with thanksgiving. Let's sing psalms of praises to him. Let's remember that he's the God above all other gods and the king above all other kings. Um, and he holds in his hand, this, this bit I think is so tender, that he holds in his hands the depths of the earth. And that makes me think of all the depths of our, all You know, our sadnesses and all of our worries and woes and he's holding them and he's also holding the mightiest of mountains.

Um, And then, so tenderly, we are the people he watches over, the flock under his care. So nice, it's really, it's gentle, it's loving, it feels really fatherly. Um, ooh, and then the second half, um, which comes with this really harsh warning, um, so it's, it's speaking to, um, the story of the Israelites, isn't it, um, So, don't harden your hearts, as Israel did at Meribah, as they did at Mesa in the wilderness.

They forgot what he had done and they chose to mistrust him and disobey him and worship other gods. Um, my dad always, uh, reminded us as we were growing up with the story about cucumbers, um, when that's referenced in, um, in the Old Testament where, um, one of the miracles, one of the many miracles that, that God does for the Israelites is he provides food for them in the desert and that's, um, by way of manna, um, which, uh, kind of miraculously appears overnight, um, and Manna is like a kind of a bread like substance, um, and there's this bit where the Israelites are looking at it and being like, it's not cucumbers though, is it?

You know, God's doing miracles and we're not even noticing or appreciating it. Um, anyway, so ultimately this psalm for me, um, is a timely reminder, um, that there are areas of our lives, or certainly my life, um, [00:07:00] that I just don't want to let God into, that there are things where I'm actively disobeying him or choosing to do my own will because I think I'm smart and clever, um, and I don't want to trust God and I don't know that it's all going to work out, um, whereas I can see my own plan in my head, I can see, well if I do that then it might do this and this and this, but you can't do that with God, you know, sometimes he'll share what he's doing, but, but not often, hey?

Um, And there are times when I know that I'm doing things that are actively against what um, he is calling me to do, what he is, um, what his best plans are for me. And in those moments I'm really quick to recall the grace of God. I'm really quick to be like, oh, but it's okay, you know, because Jesus has died for me and, um, and it's all going to be fine in the end and God loves me and All of that.

So, you know, the, the consequence in, in this psalm that, um, The Israelites are given is that, um, they are locked away from entering his place of, his place of rest. That's, that's huge. Um, and similarly, we, you know, we, we are, if we're pulling ourselves away from God's plan for us, which is good, then we're going to be pulling ourselves away from the fruits of the spirit and the, you know, the environment of the kingdom of God.

Um, so sort of just on a, in a logical way, it, it makes sense. Um, You know, aside from the punitive stuff that I don't really want to get into because I don't really understand it.

Very nice. And, you know, we're, um. kind of you can you can really see the grace of it and in my head that's okay well that's everything goes and everything's fine um and then you read the second half of it and I jump to oh well nothing's fine and I've got to you know I've got to obey absolutely everything I've not got I've got to not get everything um wrong and I've got to toe the line um and ultimately that isn't um that isn't the way that God worked um thankfully And, um, wonderfully we have a God who is, um, relational and intimate and knows us, um, very, very well.

Um, and it is not a case of you're in or you're out, um, with, with the whole grace situation, um, which I'm very grateful for. Um, and. Also, this verse, uh, this Psalm 95 is referenced in Hebrews as well, so after, you know, after Jesus has been and gone, um, and it kind of reinforces the significance of this verse, the, um, the threat of it, I suppose.

It's today. You ought to encourage one another. I think that's lovely. Um, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. And then, uh, chapter 4, verse 1, and chapter 4, verse 11. Um, therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you Um, and then similarly in verse 11, that let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will befall, um, by following their example of disobedience, their example of disobedience being the Israelites.

Um, and then just to land on a slightly lighter, more encouraging note, um, uh, in, uh, Hebrews, where is it gone? Fourteen? Is it fourteen? I've lost the verse, but I'm going to read it off the screen. Um, it says, Therefore, since we have a great high priest who is ascended into heaven, Jesus, the Son of God, let, let, Therefore, since we have a great High Priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess, for we do not have a High Priest who is unable to [00:13:00] empathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are, yet he did not sin.

Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Um, so all those verses together, the Psalms and the New Testament, um, I think for me it's just a really, a really helpful reminder that Yes, God is good and, and he wants us to be joyful and celebrate and worship him.

And he wants us to obey him. . He wants us to, you know, follow his will for us because it's good and it will lead us to a place of rest. Um, and also an acknowledgement in Hebrews here that it's hard . Um, you know, it's hard to hold both of those things in place. It's hard to trust God sometimes. It's hard to obey him.

Um. is a really encouraging thing. Um, so I've just got a couple of thoughts to leave you with, um, as you go about your day. Um, where, where might you be being disobedient? Are there things that come to mind of, actually I'm, I'm keeping God out of that bit because I want to be in control of that. Um, is there anything practical you can do about those situations?

Is there other people that you can invite into those, um, parts of your life? Um, are there ways you can encourage one another? That's one of the lovely bits. Um, in, Hebrews, what was it, uh, But encourage one another, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.

And then finally, one last point, which is, how rested are you feeling? We've been looking at Sabbath rest, um, as a small group lately, and, um, I, it's not even been in my, my mind to think about how my obedience and my, um, trust in God, um, has changed. in the kind of day to day might be linked to how successful my rest is, um, and so I might, I might be considering [00:16:00] how, you know, my, my obedience to God in the rest of the week might impact how my rest is experienced on the Sabbath.

Um, so I shall just end with a quick prayer, um, and I've gone a little bit over the time, so apologies. Um, Father, I thank you that you sent Jesus to live on this earth and experience life as we do. Um, thank you that it is not, that you understand that it is not straightforward for us to, um, obey you.

In Jesus name, Amen.