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Selected Verse: Psalms 95:7 - King James

Verse	Translation	Text
Ps 95:7	King James	For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice,

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
This relation illustrates our entire dependence (compare Psa 23:3; Psa 74:1). The last clause is united by Paul (Heb 3:7) to the following (compare Psa 81:8),

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

This relation illustrates our entire dependence (compare Psa 23:3; Psa 74:1). The last clause is united by Paul (Heb 3:7) to the following (compare Psa 81:8),

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
For he is our God - Not only the God whom we worship as the true God, but One who has revealed himself to us as our God. We worship him as God - as entitled to praise and adoration because he is the true God; we worship him also as sustaining the relation of God to us, or because we recognize him as our God, and because he has manifested himself as ours. And we are the people of his pasture - whom he has recognized as his flock; to whom he sustains the relation of shepherd; who feeds and protects us as the shepherd does his flock. See the notes at Psa 79:13; compare Psa 23:1-3. And the sheep of his hand - The flock that is guided and fed by his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice - His voice calling you; commanding you; inviting you; encouraging you. See this passage explained in the notes at Heb 3:7-11. The word "today" here means "the present time;" now. The idea is, that the purpose to obey should not be deferred until tomorrow; should not be put off to the future. The commands of God should be obeyed at once; the purpose should be executed immediately. All God's commands relate to the present. He gives us none for the future; and a true purpose to obey God exists only where there is a willingness to obey "now," "today;" and can exist only then. A purpose to repent at some future time, to give up the world at some future time, to embrace the Gospel at some future time, is "no obedience," for there is no such command addressed to us. A resolution to put off repentance and faith, to defer attention to religion until some future time, is real disobedience - and often the worst form of disobedience - for it is directly in the face of the command of God. "If ye will hear." That is, If there is a disposition or willingness to obey his voice at all; or, to listen to his commands. See the notes at Heb 3:7.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
The second decastich begins in the midst of the Masoretic Psa 95:7. Up to this point the church stirs itself up to a worshipping appearing before its God; now the voice of God (Heb 4:7), earnestly admonishing, meets it, resounding from out of the sanctuary. Since שׁמע בּ signifies not merely to hear, but to hear obediently, Psa 95:7 cannot be a conditioning protasis to what follows. Hengstenberg wishes to supply the apodosis: "then will He bless you, His people;" but אם in other instances too (Psa 81:9; Psa 139:19; Pro 24:11), like לוּ, has an optative signification, which it certainly has gained by a suppression of a promissory apodosis, but yet without the genius of the language having any such in mind in every instance. The word היּום placed first gives prominence to the present, in which this call to obedience goes forth, as a decisive turning-point. The divine voice warningly calls to mind the self-hardening of Israel, which came to light at Merמbah, on the day of Massah. What is referred to, as also in Psa 81:8, is the tempting of God in the second year of the Exodus on account of the failing of water in the neighbourhood of Horeb, at the place which is for this reason called Massah u-Merı̂bah (Exo 17:1-7); from which is to be distinguished the tempting of God in the fortieth year of the Exodus at Merı̂bah, viz., at the waters of contention near Kadesh (written fully Mê-Merı̂bah Kadesh, or more briefly Mê-Merı̂bah), Num 20:2-13 (cf. on Psa 78:20). Strictly כמריבה signifies nothing but instar Meribae, as in Psa 83:10 instar Midianitarum; but according to the sense, כּ is equivalent to כּעל. Psa 106:32, just as כּיום is equivalent to כּביום. On אשׁר, quum, cf. Deu 11:6. The meaning of גּם־ראוּ פעלי is not they also (גם as in Psa 52:7) saw His work; for the reference to the giving of water out of the rock would give a thought that is devoid of purpose here, and the assertion is too indefinite for it to be understood of the judgment upon those who tempted God (Hupfeld and Hitzig). It is therefore rather to be rendered: notwithstanding (ho'moos, Ew. 354, a) they had (= although they had, cf. גם in Isa 49:15) seen His work (His wondrous guiding and governing), and might therefore be sure that He would not suffer them to be destroyed. The verb קוּט coincides with κοτέω, κότος. בּדּור .ען, for which the lxx has τῇ γενεᾷ ἐκείνη, is anarthrous in order that the notion may be conceived of more qualitatively than relatively: with a (whole) generation. With ואמר Jahve calls to mind the repeated declarations of His vexation concerning their heart, which was always inclined towards error which leads to destruction - declarations, however, which bore no fruit. Just this ineffectiveness of His indignation had as its result that (אשׁר, not ὅτι but ὥστε, as in Gen 13:16; Deu 28:27, Deu 28:51; Kg2 9:37, and frequently) He sware, etc. (אם = verily not, Gesen. 155, 2, f, with the emphatic future form in n which follows). It is the oath in Num 14:27. that is meant. The older generation died in the desert, and therefore lost the entering into the rest of God, by reason of their disobedience. If now, many centuries after Moses, they are invited in the Davidic Psalter to submissive adoration of Jahve, with the significant call: "To-day if ye will hearken to His voice!" and with a reference to the warning example of the fathers, the obedience of faith, now as formerly, has therefore to look forward to the gracious reward of entering into God's rest, which the disobedient at that time lost; and the taking possession of Canaan was, therefore, not as yet the final מנוּחה (Deu 12:9). This is the connection of the wider train of thought which to the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews Heb 3:1, Heb 4:1, follows from this text of the Psalm.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

The second decastich begins in the midst of the Masoretic Psa 95:7. Up to this point the church stirs itself up to a worshipping appearing before its God; now the voice of God (Heb 4:7), earnestly admonishing, meets it, resounding from out of the sanctuary. Since שׁמע בּ signifies not merely to hear, but to hear obediently, Psa 95:7 cannot be a conditioning protasis to what follows. Hengstenberg wishes to supply the apodosis: "then will He bless you, His people;" but אם in other instances too (Psa 81:9; Psa 139:19; Pro 24:11), like לוּ, has an optative signification, which it certainly has gained by a suppression of a promissory apodosis, but yet without the genius of the language having any such in mind in every instance. The word היּום placed first gives prominence to the present, in which this call to obedience goes forth, as a decisive turning-point. The divine voice warningly calls to mind the self-hardening of Israel, which came to light at Merמbah, on the day of Massah. What is referred to, as also in Psa 81:8, is the tempting of God in the second year of the Exodus on account of the failing of water in the neighbourhood of Horeb, at the place which is for this reason called Massah u-Merı̂bah (Exo 17:1-7); from which is to be distinguished the tempting of God in the fortieth year of the Exodus at Merı̂bah, viz., at the waters of contention near Kadesh (written fully Mê-Merı̂bah Kadesh, or more briefly Mê-Merı̂bah), Num 20:2-13 (cf. on Psa 78:20). Strictly כמריבה signifies nothing but instar Meribae, as in Psa 83:10 instar Midianitarum; but according to the sense, כּ is equivalent to כּעל. Psa 106:32, just as כּיום is equivalent to כּביום. On אשׁר, quum, cf. Deu 11:6. The meaning of גּם־ראוּ פעלי is not they also (גם as in Psa 52:7) saw His work; for the reference to the giving of water out of the rock would give a thought that is devoid of purpose here, and the assertion is too indefinite for it to be understood of the judgment upon those who tempted God (Hupfeld and Hitzig). It is therefore rather to be rendered: notwithstanding (ho'moos, Ew. 354, a) they had (= although they had, cf. גם in Isa 49:15) seen His work (His wondrous guiding and governing), and might therefore be sure that He would not suffer them to be destroyed. The verb קוּט coincides with κοτέω, κότος. בּדּור .ען, for which the lxx has τῇ γενεᾷ ἐκείνη, is anarthrous in order that the notion may be conceived of more qualitatively than relatively: with a (whole) generation. With ואמר Jahve calls to mind the repeated declarations of His vexation concerning their heart, which was always inclined towards error which leads to destruction - declarations, however, which bore no fruit. Just this ineffectiveness of His indignation had as its result that (אשׁר, not ὅτι but ὥστε, as in Gen 13:16; Deu 28:27, Deu 28:51; Kg2 9:37, and frequently) He sware, etc. (אם = verily not, Gesen. 155, 2, f, with the emphatic future form in n which follows). It is the oath in Num 14:27. that is meant. The older generation died in the desert, and therefore lost the entering into the rest of God, by reason of their disobedience. If now, many centuries after Moses, they are invited in the Davidic Psalter to submissive adoration of Jahve, with the significant call: "To-day if ye will hearken to His voice!" and with a reference to the warning example of the fathers, the obedience of faith, now as formerly, has therefore to look forward to the gracious reward of entering into God's rest, which the disobedient at that time lost; and the taking possession of Canaan was, therefore, not as yet the final מנוּחה (Deu 12:9). This is the connection of the wider train of thought which to the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews Heb 3:1, Heb 4:1, follows from this text of the Psalm.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
Pasture - Whom he feeds and keeps in his own pasture, or in the land which he hath appropriated to himself. The sheep - Which are under his special care. Today - Forthwith or presently.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
For he is our God - Here is the reason for this service. He has condescended to enter into a covenant with us, and he has taken us for his own; therefore: - We are the people of his pasture - Or, rather, as the Chaldee, Syriac, Vulgate, and Ethiopic read, "We are his people, and the sheep of the pasture of his hand." We are his own; he feeds and governs us, and his powerful hand protects us. To-day if ye will hear his voice - To-day-you have no time to lose; to-morrow may be too late. God calls to-day; to-morrow he may be silent. This should commence the eighth verse, as it begins what is supposed to be the part of the priest or prophet who now exhorts the people; as if he had said: Seeing you are in so good a spirit, do not forget your own resolutions, and harden not your hearts, "as your fathers did in Meribah and Massah, in the wilderness;" the same fact and the same names as are mentioned Exo 17:7; when the people murmured at Rephidim, because they had no water; hence it was called Meribah, contention or provocation, and Massah, temptation.

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⁸ Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee: O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me;

⁷ Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice,

¹ Maschil of Asaph. O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever? why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture?

³ He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

⁷ Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice,

⁷ Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice,
⁸ Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
⁹ When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.
¹⁰ Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.
¹¹ So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)

¹ A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
² He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
³ He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

¹³ So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks for ever: we will shew forth thy praise to all generations.

¹ Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.

¹ Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;

⁹ For ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which the LORD your God giveth you.

²⁷ How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.

³⁷ And the carcase of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel; so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel.

⁵¹ And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until thou be destroyed: which also shall not leave thee either corn, wine, or oil, or the increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee.

²⁷ The LORD will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed.

¹⁶ And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.

¹⁵ Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.

⁷ Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness.

⁶ And what he did unto Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben: how the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and all the substance that was in their possession, in the midst of all Israel:

³² They angered him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes:

¹⁰ Which perished at Endor: they became as dung for the earth.

²⁰ Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people?

² And there was no water for the congregation: and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron.
³ And the people chode with Moses, and spake, saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the LORD!
⁴ And why have ye brought up the congregation of the LORD into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there?
⁵ And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink.
⁶ And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they fell upon their faces: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto them.
⁷ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
⁸ Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink.
⁹ And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him.
¹⁰ And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?
¹¹ And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.
¹² And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.
¹³ This is the water of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the LORD, and he was sanctified in them.

¹ And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD, and pitched in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to drink.
² Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the LORD?
³ And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?
⁴ And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me.
⁵ And the LORD said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go.
⁶ Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.
⁷ And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?

⁸ Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee: O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me;

¹¹ If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain;

¹⁹ Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men.

⁹ There shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any strange god.

⁷ For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice,

⁷ Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

⁷ For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice,

⁷ And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?