Psalms 95:7-11

7 For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, the sheep under His care. Today, if you hear His voice,

8 do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, ^[a] in the day at Massah in the wilderness, ^[b]

9 where your fathers tested and tried Me, though they had seen My work.

10 For forty years I was angry with that generation, and I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray, ^[c] and they have not known My ways.”

11 So I swore on oath in My anger, “They shall never enter My rest.” ^[d]

Psalms 95:7-11 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 95

This psalm, though without a title, was written by David, as appears from Heb 4:7, and to him the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions ascribe it. It belongs to the times of the Messiah, as Kimchi observes; the apostle applies it to the Jews of his time, and bespeaks them in the language of it, Heb 3:7-11, and in which time Israelites, believers in Christ, are called upon to serve and worship him, in consideration of his greatness in himself, and his goodness to them. Theodoret thinks that David spoke prophetically of King Josiah and his times; and wrote it in the person of him, and the priests of God.

Footnotes

• [a]. LXX as you did in the rebellion; Meribah means quarreling; see Exodus 17:7; cited in Hebrews 3:15 and Hebrews 4:7.
• [b]. LXX in the day of testing in the wilderness; Massah means testing; see Exodus 17:7.
• [c]. LXX They always go astray in the heart
• [d]. Cited in Hebrews 3:7–11, Hebrews 4:3, and Hebrews 4:5