Psalms 95:7-11

Psalms 95:7-11

[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,  [8] Harden  not your heart,  as in the provocation,  and as in the day  of temptation  in the wilderness:  [9] When your fathers  tempted  me, proved  me, and saw  my work.  [10] Forty  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:  [11] Unto whom I sware  in my wrath  that they should not enter  into my rest. 

What does Psalms 95:7-11 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

Israel, however, had been a wayward flock in the past. This led the writer to warn the people to avoid the sins that had resulted in the wilderness wanderings, "the world"s longest funeral march." [1] At Meribah (lit. strife; Exodus 17:1-7; Numbers 20:2-13) and Massah (lit. testing; Exodus 17:1-7) Israel tested God by demanding that He provide for them on their terms. They should have simply continued to trust and obey God. Perhaps the writer mentioned these rebellions and not others because they so clearly reveal the ingratitude and willfulness that finally resulted in God sentencing that generation to die in the wilderness. Their actions betrayed the fact that they had not learned God"s ways, specifically, that He would do what was best for them in His own time and way. That generation could have entered into rest in the land of milk and honey. Likewise, believers who fail to follow their Good Shepherd faithfully can look forward to a life of hardship and limited blessing. In view of the urgency of this exhortation, the writer began it by calling for action "today."
The writer to the Hebrews quoted Psalm 95:7-11 in order to urge Christians to believe God and move ahead in faith. Not obtaining rest, for the Christian, means failing to enter into all the blessings that could have been his (or hers) if he (or she) had faithfully trusted and obeyed God.
This psalm is a sober reminder that praise needs to connect with trust and obedience. It also anticipates the time when those who follow the Shepherd faithfully will reign with Him in His beneficent rule over the earth (cf. Psalm 2; 2 Timothy 2:12 a; Revelation 3:21; et al.).