A Call to Worship and Obedience
Centuries before Jesus taught us the Lord’s Prayer, Psalm 95 provided us with a different set of instructions for prayer. This psalm comprises two distinct parts: it starts with an invitation to exuberant worship and then shifts to an invocation of obedience.
The psalmist encourages prayer with exultation, singing loudly, and making joyful noise for the Lord. We are invited to use our whole bodies: to bow down, kneel, listen, worship. It evokes words of nature – of earth, mountains, sea, dry land, wilderness, and pastures – reminding us of the power and wonder of our creator. The language is resonant of Isaiah 35: The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing.
At the same time, the psalm warns against those who do not listen, who do not heed God’s word. It warns that those who take more than they are given and who do not show gratitude will be punished. It directly references the Israelites who wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, and how those who hardened their hearts against the Lord were barred from resting in paradise.
Both Psalm 95 and the Lord’s Prayer are instructional guides for how to pray. Where the Lord’s Prayer is peaceful and reflective and imploring, Psalm 95 is bold and embodied and righteous. Our congregation spends a great deal of time with the Lord’s Prayer; I wonder, in this time of Lent, where can we apply the teachings of Psalm 95 in our worshipful practices? Where do we see God in nature and recognize our Maker’s presence? Can we make resounding joyful noise, emphatically bow down, sing jubilantly to the Lord? Can we use our whole bodies and hearts and souls to praise God at the top of our lungs?
In these 40 days of Lent, can we learn from the Israelites’ 40 years in the wilderness by answering this call to worship and obedience in order to claim our place in the palace of God?
O come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praises!
Courtney Reynolds