Joy and Joy in Hardship – Ps 95

Joy.  It is actually all over the Old Testament, lavish in the worship at the temple, and is to be the heart of the worshiper.

I remember one church I went to in another country and at the same time, like clockwork, everyone fell on the ground crying.  It was so strange and bazar.  This wasn’t worship that came out of contrition or of a moving service.  I’ve been in those before and they can be powerful.  But this was like something weird where on cue everyone laid down on the floor and began to wipe their eyes.  It had a weird vibe to the whole place.

It made me think that perhaps the pastor and the church didn’t understand the gospel.  Yes, contrition and repentance is necessary and that often is accompanied by tears.  But joy is the fruit and the mark of the Christian life.  Joy.  A deep, abiding joy.

(Rom 14:7) – for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

This psalm is all about joy (almost).

“Come, let us shout joyfully to the LORD, shout triumphantly to the rock of our salvation!” (Ps 95:1).

The psalmist continues on as to why so much joy.  Because He is the great God over all the heavens, all the earth, all the rulers of the land.  He is our God and we are His people, the sheep under his care (Ps 95:7).  Beautiful words.

And then all of a sudden it seems to shift.  The words go into warning.

“Do not harden your hearts as at Meribah, as on that day at Massah in the wilderness, where your fathers tested Me; they tried Me, though they had seen what I did” (Ps 95:8-9).  That generation did not enter the promised land.

What was their crime?  What did they do that the psalmist is warning us against?

First of all they say one of the greatest miracles of all of history–deliverance from Egypt and the parting of the Red Sea.  The whole world heard about it and trembled.  For Israel, they experienced it.

But as soon as they got in the desert and they found there wasn’t much food or water, they began to panic.  Instead of humbling themselves and crying out to God, they tore into their leaders (history repeats).  They blamed, they attacked, they accused Moses and they accused God.  After all God did, they were certain they were going to be left in the desert to die of no food or water.  What kind of leader leads a whole nation in a desert without proper preparation?  What kind of God takes them out in the desert only to kill them?  They complained, accused and blamed–activities that will always harden the heart,

Recently I’ve moved into my own unpleasant situation.  The other day I was on the phone and I couldn’t believe what came out of my mouth.  Anger and cursing towards God.  How could he do this?  How could he ask this of me again?  I was shocked at what I said and repented.  I’m so sorry Lord.

When we are lead into difficult times, ones with great suffering and ones where we will truly not make it without a miracle of God, it becomes scary.  Really scary.  When this happens instead of worshiping and looking to God for a miracle, thanking him for what he has done in the past and trusting Him for what is to come, our fear kicks in.

This psalm is about joyfully praising God.  But it’s about doing so in in any every circumstance.  Whether living in comfort or living in suffering.  It’s easy to agree to when in times of relative comfort, and a whole other thing when we are suffering sometimes even to the point of death.

But let’s not forget.  The world is on fire.  Let’s pray.  Our lives may be on fire.  Let’s worship and seek him.  Everything may be collapsing, let’s still rejoice.

He is still God.  We are still the sheep of his pasture.

Let’s keep our hearts soft.