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Psalm 95:7-11
New Catholic Bible
Psalm 95:7-11
New Catholic Bible
7 For he is our God,
and we are the people he shepherds,[a]
the flock he protects.
If only you would listen to his voice today:
8 “Harden not your hearts as you did at Meribah,[b]
as on the day of Massah in the wilderness.
9 It was there that your ancestors sought to tempt me;
they put me to the test
even though they had witnessed my works.[c]
10 “For forty years[d] I loathed that generation;
I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray,
and they do not know my ways.’
11 Therefore, in my anger I swore,
‘They will never enter my rest.’ ”[e]
Footnotes
- Psalm 95:7 As the “Maker” of his people (v. 6) because he has brought them into being as his covenant people (see Deut 32:6, 15, 18; Isa 44:2; 54:5), the Lord is also their shepherd, and they are the people he shepherds (see Pss 23:1; 79:13; 100:3; Jer 23:1; 25:36; Ezek 34:21; Jn 10:11-14). If only you would listen to his voice today: see Ps 81:8, 13; Ex 19:5; beginning with these words, verses 7-11 are cited in Heb 3:7-11.
- Psalm 95:8 Meribah: this word means “quarreling” and is the name of the place during the journey in the wilderness where the Israelites “sought to tempt” (v. 9) the Lord; Massah: this word means “testing” and is the name of the place where they tested the Lord (see Ex 17:7; Num 20:13). Scholars assign the first episode to a place near and to the southwest of Sinai and the second to a place near Kadesh-barnea in southern Palestine.
- Psalm 95:9 Had witnessed my works: God’s wonders in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and in the wilderness (see Ex 16; Num 14:11, 22).
- Psalm 95:10 Forty years: Israel was condemned to wander forty years in the wilderness when the people refused to advance into Canaan and opted to return to Egypt instead (see Num 14:1-4, 34). That generation: the adults who were freed from Egypt and made a covenant with the Lord at Sinai (see Num 32:13). Hearts: see note on Ps 4:8. My ways: see note on Ps 25:4-7.
- Psalm 95:11 My rest: where the Lord had his dwelling (see Ps 132:7, 14) in the land of Canaan (see Deut 12:9; Ezek 20:15). In Heb 3:7ff, this rest is interpreted in the spiritual sense of heavenly beatitude.
