We have heard and we have read already from Psalm 139. And if you remember, the last verses that were read to us in Psalm 139 were these verses that David, the king of Israel, was asking the Lord. He says, Search me, O God, and know my heart. and try me and know my thoughts, verse 23, and then verse 24, and see if there is any wicked way in me and lead me in a way everlasting. Now, put your finger here and go back now to Psalm 95. Let me read this Psalm. It's also a very short Psalm, Psalm 95, and we, have two major points that the Psalmist of Israel was writing when he was writing this and the children of Israel, our people of all were singing these Psalms as they were approaching the presence of the Lord. And so we read in Psalm 95, O come and let us sing unto the Lord. Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. For the Lord is great. He's a great God and a great king above all gods. In his hand are the deep places of the earth. The strength of the hills is his also. The sea is his and he made it. And his hands formed the dry land. Oh come, verse six, once again, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord, our maker. For he is our God and we are his people, the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice, harden not your hearts as in the provocation and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness. when our fathers or when your fathers tempted me and they provoked me and they saw my work. 40 years was I grieved with this generation and said, it is a people that do air in their hearts and they have not known my ways. And so we continue at the end. of this psalm and he says in verse 11, unto whom I swear in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest. And I'll stop here with the end of this verse 11 of Psalm 95. I just want to link, beloved brothers and sisters, the last statement that David said in Psalm 139 verses 23 and 24 with Psalm 95. In Psalm 139, David said at the end, Search me, O God, and know my heart, and try me, and know my thoughts, and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in a way everlasting. You see, one of the beautiful characters in the life of the children of Israel were people, men and women of God who turned to the Lord and sought his will, even though at time in their life they failed him. We know the way in which David behaved in a certain portion of time in his own life, and yet God calls David a man after God's own heart. God redeems people, he brings people to himself just like you and I. Sinners by nature, people who need forgiveness of sins, people who stumble in their lives and they go sometimes sadly astray, and yet the Lord is the one that loves us and cares for us and he sent the darling of his bosom to this world, Yeshua, Jesus, the Messiah, in order to provide salvation for us. And one of these men were men such as David. David was the king of Israel. Moses was the lawgiver that God had given for the nation of Israel. Abraham was the father of the nation of Israel. They were not perfect men. They were just like you and I. people who needed forgiveness from the Lord, people who needed the grace of the Lord in their lives. And it is so interesting, beloved brothers and sisters, that Psalm 95 is one of these psalms that were written, we don't have here in the beginning of this psalm, we don't have here the knowledge of who is the one that actually wrote this psalm, but we know from the book of Hebrews that the book of Hebrews attribute this psalm to King David. And in actuality, it was David who wrote Psalm 95 as it is quoted in the book of Hebrews. In the New Testament. And when David was writing this psalm, and to remind you that all the psalms that were written, in Hebrew it is called tehillim or mizmorim, these are songs that the nation of Israel was singing. They were singing the Bible, they were singing the word of God as they were living their life and their families, when they were marching and going to the temple in the city of Yerushalayim, they were singing the Psalms that are found in the scripture. In fact, later on you find out that there are many psalms, about 15 psalms of ascent, they called in Hebrew, shir ha ma'alot. The word ascent, ma'alot in Hebrew means they were going up and up and up in the city, climbing onto the city of Yerushalayim, and they were going up further to the temple of the Lord, to Mount Moriah, where the temple was, they were singing. And they were singing songs of praises unto God. Psalm 95 is a beautiful psalm. It is a psalm of exhortation. It is a psalm that exhorts God's people in twofold ways. Number one, in verses one to seven, David, who by divine inspiration was writing this psalm, he is writing this psalm, and through his writing, by divine inspiration, he is exhorting God's people to give praises and sing unto the Lord. God's people are called to be a people who sing unto the Lord. Just put your finger here for a moment and turn with me to the book of Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 7. I just want to make sure that I don't neglect to read to us this verse that applies or that gives us the indication that Psalm 95 was a psalm that was written by David, Melech Yisrael, David the King of Israel. In Hebrews chapter four, the Hebrew author wrote to his brethren in verse seven and he said again, he said in verse seven, he limiteth a certain day saying, in David, Notice that, and he's quoting in verse 7b what was written in Psalm 95. Today, after so long a time, as it is said today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. And he's quoting Psalm 95, and we will read that a little bit later on in verse eight. But notice, beloved brothers and sisters, that in verses one to seven, there is an exhortation to praise God. You know, we have so many reasons that you and I ought to praise God for. There are so many reasons to give thanks to the Lord in our lives. First of all, we can praise the Lord for the fact that we can breathe. Paul said in Acts chapter 17, in whom we move and live and have our being. Just think about that. The very fact that you and I can breathe and that we can get up in the morning and begin a new day. This in itself is a reason to give thanks to God. But yet we can just give a pile of reasons why we can give thanks to the Lord for everything in our life. Those of us that are married, we can thank the Lord for our wife or our husband. We have children, thank the Lord for the children. Those of us that have family, we can give thanks to the Lord for the family. Those of us that are Having a measure of health can give thanks to the Lord for the measure of health that He had given to us, for the job that He gave us, for the friends that He gave us. Even, beloved brothers and sisters, even when we have challenges in our lives, we are called to give thanks to the Lord because we know that everything, all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose. And while sometimes we don't feel like giving thanks, we have so many reasons to give thanks. And above all, we have forgiveness of sins. Our sins have been washed away by the blood of the lamb, our Lord and our Messiah, Yeshua himself. So notice what, The psalmist David says in verses one and two, he began by notice with this exhortation to praise God in verses one to seven. David is inviting everyone. He says, O come, notice verse one and two. O come, let us sing unto the Lord. Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving and make a joyful noise unto him with songs. Notice three times he used the word let us. You know, David was the kind of a man that was an encourager among the people of Israel. Wonderful to have this kind of men and women, brothers and sisters in the midst of the people of God that are continuously encouraging the people of God to let us move forward. Let us continue on to follow the Lord. Let us three times sing unto the Lord, he's saying to them in verse one. Let us make a joyful noise unto the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving. And by the way, David had many, many challenges in his life. Although he was the king of Israel, apparently he had many challenges with his children. He had challenges with the nation as a nation that oftentimes did not always followed him. He himself failed God in his life. and there's a consequence to come because of the sins that he have committed. And David could say, I messed up. What's the use? I'm not going to continue on. Look at that mess I've made. And you know, when he repented in Psalm 51, the Lord forgave him and restored him. and David could enjoy the presence of the God of our fathers in his own life in spite of the fact that he messed up. You know there's a verse in 1 John 1 9 that says if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. See, you and I can speak of ourselves. We know in our hearts how many times we failed the Lord. But where are you going to turn? Does that mean that everything now is done and finished and we cannot continue on? But there is an encouragement to continue on. And David was that kind of a man. He doesn't only speak about himself and saying, I am going to sing unto the Lord, and I am going to make a joyful noise unto the rock of my salvation, and I am the one that is going to come before his presence with thanksgiving. Yes, he was going to do so, and he surely did so, but he had an attitude of a servant of the Lord, and he wanted this to be in the life of the nation of Israel. and any godly brother or godly sister in this present age of the church age in which you and I live in today, the responsibility and the delight, actually it is a delight of the servant of the Lord is to encourage the brothers and sisters, let us press on. Let us sing to the Lord, let us make a joyful noise to the notice, the rock of our salvation. And of course he's speaking about the God of Israel and you and I know that the Lord Jesus the Messiah is that rock that came from heaven to provide salvation for us. And then it says in verse two, let us come before his presence with thanksgiving and make a joyful noise unto him with songs. Turn with me to Ephesians chapter five. In Ephesians chapter five, the Apostle Paul was the very kind of a servant like David of old. And Apostle Shaul, Paul, when he was writing to the Ephesian believers, he's saying to them in Ephesians five, verses 18, 19, and 20, he said, praying always. with all prayer and supplication in the spirit and watching their unto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. In verse 19 he said, and for me that utterance may be given unto me that I may open my mouth boldly and make known the mystery of the gospel. You notice that? Paul is encouraging the believers at Ephesus, praying always, with all prayer, supplication in the spirit, and not just watching the round two, with all perseverance, supplication for all saints. Wonderful to see how the apostle Paul is also encouraging the believers at Ephesus. Turn to Colossians chapter three. And notice that in Colossians chapter three, we read the same thought here in verse 16. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, the word of the Mashiach, let it dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with songs and hymns and spiritual song, singing with grace in your hearts unto the Lord. You see, how good to know and to see it in the life of both the apostle Paul and also in the life of King David. They were the men, the kind of men, and praise God for these kind of people that wrote that the Lord raised in the midst of his people, whether it is Israel, our nation, or whether it is the assembly, the church of the living God. How wonderful for us to learn from this. So notice that singing, and also thanksgiving. Just a question for all of us, are you thankful? for what the Lord have done for you? I'm asking myself, am I thankful for what the Lord had provided for me in spite of the challenges that we experience in our life? 1 Peter 5.18 says, 1 Thessalonians 5.18 says, in everything give thanks. In everything. That's what David is saying to Israel. But notice now, in verses three, four, and five, he's kind of building up and he says, here are some of the reasons as to why we are to give thanks to God. And in verses five, and sorry, verses three, four, and five, he's giving us some reasons. What does it say in verse 3? For the Lord is a great God, and He is a great King. He is above all gods. In His hands are the deep places of the earth. The strength of the hill is his also. The sea is his and he made it. And his hand formed the dry land. You know why King David is saying to our people of all, the people of Israel, we ought to give thanks to God and we ought to sing to him? Because he's the creator of all things. He's the creator of the universe. He sang here in order for three, the Lord is a great God. In Hebrew, El Gadol. Great God. He's so great that he's a king above all, and notice the last word, all gods, man-made gods. Idols. man-made gods. I don't know if you remember, but when we were studying just recently the book of Revelation, in Revelation chapter 17 and chapter 18, there was the judgment of Babylon that will take place in the coming days. And God will judge Babylon because Babylon throughout the ages from the time of the fall of men. Babylon, or in Hebrew, Babel, representing confusion. Men, or people of humanity, is trying to be right with God and they're creating for themselves all sorts of man-made gods. If it's not a little idol that sits on the table, they worship the sun, they worship the moon, they worship the stars. And throughout the ages, people made for themselves gods trying to reach to heaven. And yet they don't realize that all these man-made gods, all these idols have no value. They can't wash your sins away. They can't produce anything. Psalm 115 say, they cannot speak though they have mouth. They cannot heal, though they have ears. They cannot see, though they have eyes. You know, they have these little images that they make, like a god, that they cannot do anything. You know, Abraham, our father, was worshiping other gods before God, the great God, had chosen him and brought him out of Mesopotamia to become a father of the nation of Israel. We have a reason to sing unto the Lord. And David inviting us, he says, look, you can sing unto the Lord. You can make a joyful noise unto the rock of our salvation. And we can come before him, before his presence with thanksgiving and to make a joyful noise unto him with songs. And here is the reason because the Lord is El Gadol, great God. You know we read of the Lord Jesus in John chapter 1, all things were made by him and without him was nothing made which was made. He is the creator of the universe. And how wonderful for us to worship the true in living God. But there's another reason why David is calling Israel to sing unto the Lord and to make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation and to come before his presence with thanksgiving. You know another reason why? He's giving us this next reason. It is found in verses six and seven, the first part of verse seven. And listen to this, this is precious. Because in verse six it says, oh come, once again, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our maker. And then he give us the word for once again. For, listen to this, he is our God and we are his people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. You know why we are to praise God? Because he is our shepherd. He is the shepherd of Israel. He is not only a creator, The one who made all things by the word of his power is not only this great God that by his hands the deep places of this earth were made and the strength of the hills are also his, but he's beyond being a creator, he became a shepherd. And you remember what we returned with me to John 10. And I'm sure you know these verses, perhaps you know them by heart. God is called the shepherd of Israel in the scripture, in the Psalms. But listen to what we read about our Lord Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah, in John chapter 10. We read in verse 11, John 10 and verse 11, I am the good shepherd, Yeshua said. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. You know, I never understand it. How is it possible that the creator of the universe became a man and became a shepherd? And as a shepherd, he gave his life for the sheep. You know, brothers and sisters, You and I became redeemed. We are redeemed because the shepherd gave his life for us. When the Lord Jesus entered the Messiah, when Yeshua came into this world, why do you think he was born to the virgin Miriam? He was born to the Virgin Miriam in order that he will live a life here in a way that will be pleasing to God and ultimately will be led to the shameful cross, to the Roman cross, to the altar where he will become the redeemer, the shepherd of the flock of the sheep. I am the good shepherd. We read in John chapter 10 in verse 11, the shepherd I give is my life for the sheep. But the hireling, he's not a shepherd, verse 12 of John chapter 10, whose own sheep are not, he sees the wolf coming and he leaves the sheep and he fleeth and the wolf catches them and scatter the sheep. The Highling flees because he is an Highling and he does not care for the sheep. Again Yeshua said of himself in verse 14, I'm the good shepherd and I know my sheep and I'm known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so I know the Father. And notice that verse 15, and I lay down my life for the sheep. Notice what he says in verse 17 of John 10. Therefore does my father love me, because I lay down my life that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my father. You see why we are called to sing unto the Lord? Not only because He's the Creator, He made all things, He's El Gadol, but even further, much more, that we have reason to sing to him because, notice that we just read in verse seven, the first part of Psalm 95, for he is our God and we are his people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. Have you ever had an opportunity to visit a place where you have the shepherd lead the flock? In Israel, when we were young, we used to see this beautiful picture you can see on the hills there in Judea, in Jerusalem, outside of the city. You see that even on the way down to the Dead Sea, you can see some of the Bedouins or the Arabs who are still living with sheep around them, and they are leading the sheep, and they all follow after the shepherd. And that's what happened in the history of Israel. God was not only the creator, but he became the leader of the nation and Israel became the sheep that belong to the shepherd. You and I today who are part of the ecclesia of the assembly of the living God, you and I today became his sheep. And he is the one who is our shepherd. David elsewhere said, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. How wonderful to know that, beloved brothers and sisters. And so now, just quickly, Now that David was exalting the people of Israel to praise God for the simply two express reasons, number one, because who God is as a creator, and number two, who God is as the redeemer, as a shepherd. Now in these last verses, verses 7B to verse 11, there is an additional exaltation that the believers of the nation of Israel, and you and I today, are not only exalted to praise him, but we are exalted to hear the voice of the Lord in our life day by day. And not to harden our hearts. Our hearts sometimes can be so hardened. Our hearts sometimes can be so dry, you might say. Not responding, not responding to the touch of the Spirit of God. And that's why sometimes the Lord allows us to go through trials and difficulties in our life because we just don't want to listen. I don't have to tell you that, I know my own heart. Every one of us know our own hearts. So notice what David is saying. In the next verses, verses 7b, 8 and 9, he says in verse 7b, today. And he make a reference to something that happened in the history of the people of Israel. He's saying, today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, And then he gives them the two examples in the history of Israel. As in the provocation. And he continue, as in the day of temptation in the wilderness. And then verse nine, when your fathers tested me, when your father tested me and they proved me and they saw my work. See, David is taking the nation of Israel to some historical event that took place when our forefathers came out of the land of Egypt, and on the way from Egypt to the land of Canaan, they again and again provoke the Lord. They grumble. Let me ask you a question. Do you grumble? I know how many times I'm dissatisfied. So we don't look at Israel to say how bad they were and how good we are. But there's a great lesson for that. David says, listen, today, if you will hear his voice, do not harden your heart in the provocation and in the day of temptation in the wilderness. And he takes, this is David, he's going back to two separate events that happened in the history of Israel. One of them is recorded in Exodus chapter 17 and the other one is recorded in Numbers chapter 20. The one took place in the beginning of the journey of the people of Israel and the other took place just before the people of Israel enter into the promised land. And these two events that he's mentioning is the events when there was no water in the wilderness. You know, I took many people to visit the land of Israel, and we were oftentimes traveling with a five-star bus. Very comfortable, air-conditioned. Even in the heat of the desert, we are comfortable. We have water to drink. We are just about ready to go to a restaurant to eat lunch. We are going to go to a hotel to stay overnight. We're in a comfortable condition. But when the people of Israel were traveling between Egypt to the land of Israel, to the land of Canaan, they did not travel in a five-star bus. They were walking in the wilderness and they did have a hard time. In a time when there was no water to drink, they began to grumble before the Lord. Why did you take us out of Egypt? You should have left us in the land of Egypt. Why did we come out, you know, like we would complain a time in our life? And then 39 years later, the same situation. There was no water in that wilderness. And again, they were chiding with God and they were complaining to Him. And I can tell you, brothers and sisters, if you and I were there, we would have done the same thing. But you see, God, In his love for his people, somehow he allows them to experience these things. And sometimes the Lord will allow us to experience some challenges in our life. And we would say, why, Lord? Why? You should have left me to be there. You should have allowed me to do that. Why? And you remember like Elijah said, I wish you killed me. I wish I died. And yet, Israel rebelled against the Lord. And you remember the story that happened there how in the first place God said to Moses, Moses you take the rod and you smite the rock and there will be water that is coming out of the rock and Israel drank and God satisfied his people. 39 years later, it is the same thing. Israel were complaining and God said to Moses, Moses only speak to the rock, don't smite the rock. And yet Moses, because of his anger with his people who were rebellious, he actually hit the rock twice. Water came. But because of his disobedience, Moses did not enter into the promised land. He died. on the other side of the Jordan River. But the lesson is tremendous, beloved brothers and sisters. God does not want us to have a hard heart. He wants us to soften our heart. For those who are not believers as yet, They need to soften their heart to know that God loves them and He provided the Mashiach, Yeshua, to die for their sins and to bring them into a relationship with God because the only way to receive forgiveness of sins is on the basis of the shed blood of our Lord Yeshua, Jesus, the Messiah. For the believers, like you and I, that already believe God wants us to have a tender heart, not to harden our hearts. We have a soft heart. Today, notice that. I'm reading verse seven at the end. Today, not tomorrow, today if you will hear his voice, harden not your heart as it took place in Israel's history, in the provocation and in the temptation in the wilderness. When your fathers tempted me and they proved me and they saw my work, What did they see? Moses hit the rock and out of it came water. God provided for them. God met the need of his nation whom he loved so much. So verse 7b and 8 and verse 9, why are we exhorted to hear the voice of God because God do not want us to have a hard heart and to realize that we need to have a tender heart to hear his voice and to listen to him. But here's the second, and I'm going to stop with that. The second reason, as it says here in verse 10 and 11, one that will not have a tender and a soft heart God will have to discipline him or her. You know, like those of us who raise children, how many times we had to say to the children, if you will not obey, I will have to discipline you. And you know, the Bible teaches us that whom the Lord loves, he chastens us and he scourges every son whom he receives. And so here notice the last verses. In verse 10 and 11, for 40 years long was I grieved with this generation and said, it is a people that do err in their heart and they have not known my ways. Unto whom I swear in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest. What does he mean by that? I read this morning the book of Numbers in chapter 13 and chapter 14. And this generation, you know brothers and sisters, the generation that came out of the land of Egypt, they were all under the blood. We might call them in this language of today, they were redeemed, they were forgiven, they were under the blood. But their carcasses, remain in the desert, they died physically. They didn't die spiritually, they didn't die eternally, but they died physically and they did not enter into the promised land to enjoy the blessings that God has for them. And the lesson is tremendous for us, beloved brothers and sisters, because you and I as believers today, if we are not going to Be, if you will, appreciative of God. And if we as believers are going to harden our hearts, we will never be able to enjoy fellowship with the Lord. Oh yes, our sins are forgiven. We are washed by the blood of the Lamb. But a Christian, a Meshichi, who is not walking with the Lord with a tender heart and thankful to the Lord for what the Lord has done for him and for her, he or she can never enjoy the fellowship with the Lord. It's not possible. If we don't judge sin in our life, we cannot enjoy fellowship with the Lord. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We cannot enjoy the Lord Yeshua, Jesus, the Messiah if we are not submissive, if our hearts are hard, and if we are not thankful for what the Lord has done for us. And so in this song, there is a warning. To Israel, of course, and we take it by implication. We can read New Testament passages for this as well. You see, today if you hear his voice, do not hurt your heart as in the day of provocation and in the day of temptation when your fathers tempted me and they proved me and they saw my work, number one. Number two, for 40 years long, this generation grieved me and I said it is the people that do err in their heart and they have not known my ways. How could we know the Lord's way if we just harden our hearts and not have fellowship with him? If we don't read the Bible and don't pray and don't have fellowship with believers, and don't have time for the Lord and the Lord thinks of serving the Lord, how could we enjoy the Lord? It's just not possible. It's not only for Israel, it's also for us. In the days in which we live, unto whom I swear, God said, in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest. The rest here, it's not the rest of salvation. It is the rest of fellowship and enjoyment of the presence of the Lord. You remember what Jesus said, and I'm going to close with that. The two rests that are found in Matthew 11 and verse 27 and 28, Yeshua said, In Matthew 11 and verse 27 he said, come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. This is the rest of salvation. Then in verse 29 I should say now, in verse 28 is the rest of salvation, in verse 29 is the rest of enjoyment of fellowship with the Lord. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find, here's the second rest, ye shall find rest for your soul or unto your souls. There's a rest of salvation. and there is a rest of fellowship and enjoyment of the presence of the Lord. And so, beloved brothers and sisters, we are exhorted to praise God, verses one to seven of Psalm 95, but we are also exhorted to not harden our hearts and to seek fellowship with the Lord. Can you say amen to that? Amen. Our God and our Father, we just want to thank you for your word. Thank you for this passage that is found in Psalm 95. You know our weakness. We know our own hearts. You know our hearts better. And we confess before you that In our walk with thee here in this world, we at times neglect to give thee thanks, and at times we harden our hearts. So we pray that you will help us to have a soft, tender heart, so we will be able to have fellowship with you, to serve you, and to be a blessing to the people of God. We ask that you will bless us this evening, and we ask it in the name of Yeshua, Jesus, our Messiah. Amen.