Psalms 95:3

For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. FOR THE LORD IS A GREAT GOD, AND A GREAT KING ABOVE ALL GODS - not that the pagan gods are realities (Psalms 96:4). The expression is adapted to the contrast drawn to the pagan view of Yahweh as a petty god inferior to their own gods. In Psalms 95:4 the idol gods are virtually denied not only superiority, but even existence. For the Lord has as his own alike the heights and the depths of the earth, the sea, and the land, so that nothing is left for them; and, as they have nothing, they must themselves be nothing....

3._For Jehovah is a great God_. By these words the Psalmist reminds us what abundant grounds we have for praising God, and how far we are from needing to employ the lying panegyric with which rhetoricians flatter earthly princes. First, he extols the greatness of God, drawing a tacit contrast between him and such false gods as men have invented for themselves. We know that there has always been a host of gods in the world, as Paul says, “There are many on the earth who are called gods,” (1 Corinthians 8:5.) We are to notice the opposition stated between the God of Israel and all others which man has formed in the exercise of an unlicensed imagination. Should any object, that “an idol is nothing in the world,” (1 Corinthians 8:4,) it is enough to reply, that the

1-7 Whenever we come into God's presence, we must come with thanksgiving. The Lord is to be praised; we do not want matter, it were well if we did not want a heart. How great is that God, whose the whole earth is, and the fulness thereof; who directs and disposes of all!, The Lord Jesus, whom we are here taught to praise, is a great God; the mighty God is one of his titles, and God over all, blessed for evermore. To him all power is given, both in heaven and earth. He is our God, and we should praise him. He is our Saviour, and the Author of our blessedness. The gospel church is his flock, Christ is the great and good Shepherd of believers; he sought them when lost, and brought them to his fold....

Verse Psalms 95:3. _FOR THE LORD_ IS _A GREAT GOD_] Or, "A great God is Jehovah, and a great King above all gods;" or, "God is a great King over all." The Supreme Being has _three_ names here: אל EL, יהוה JEHOVAH, אלהים ELOHIM, and we should apply none of them to _false gods_. The _first_ implies his _strength_; the _second_ his _being_ and _essence_; the _third_, his _covenant relation_ to mankind. In public worship these are the views we should entertain of the Divine Being....

FOR THE LORD IS A GREAT GOD - For Yahweh is a great God. The object is to exalt Jehovah, the true God, as distinguished from all who were worshipped as gods. The first idea is that he is “great;” that he is exalted over all the universe; that he rules over all, and that he is to be worshipped as such. AND A GREAT KING ABOVE ALL GODS - This does not mean that he is a great ruler of all other gods, as if they had a real existence, but that he is king or ruler far above all that were worshipped as gods, or to whom homage was paid. Whoever, or whatever was worshipped as God, Yahweh was supreme over all things. He occupied the throne; and all others must be beneath him, and under his dominion. If the sun, the moon, or the stars were worshipped - if the mountains or the rivers - if angels good or bad - yet Yahweh was above all these. If imaginary beings were worshipped, yet Yahweh in his perfe...

EXPOSITION THIS is a liturgical psalm, probably composed for the temple service, and still used in the synagogue as one of the Friday evening Psalms which introduce the sabbath. The Western Church has adopted it into its daily "Order for Prayer"—a position which it continues to occupy in our own Matins. It consists of two parts (verses 1-7 and verses 7-11), so strongly contrasted, that separatist critics suggest an accidental combination of two quite unconnected fragments (Professor Cheyne). But a deeper and more penetrating exegesis sees in the composition two trains of thought, purposely set over against each other—one joyous, the other plaintive; one setting forth the "goodness" of God, the other his "severity" (Romans 11:22); one inviting to joy and thankfulness, the other to self-examination and repentance; one calling to mind God's greatness and loving

FOR THE LORD IS A GREAT GOD,.... Christ is truly and properly God, wherefore divine service is to be performed unto him; particularly singing psalms, setting forth therein his greatness and glory: and he is a great one; great in power, wisdom, justice, truth, mercy, and grace; greatness is to be ascribed unto him, and worship given him, because of his greatness, Titus 2:13 AND A GREAT KING OVER ALL GODS; he is King of the whole world; his kingdom ruleth over all; he is King of kings, and Lord of lords; he is King of saints, the government of the whole church is upon his shoulders, which he exercises in the most wise, powerful, and righteous manner imaginable; he is above all that are called gods, all the nominal and fictitious deities of the Heathens; above all civil magistrates, who are gods by office; and above the angels, who have this name,...

Psalms 95:1. _O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation._ The worship of God should always be joyful, hence there is to be much singing in it. God is not like Baal, who can be worshipped with crying and lamentation, and the cutting of the flesh with knives. We who believe in him regard him not as the destroyer or the avenger, but as «the rock of our salvation.» You who have hidden in that rock can truly praise him. Psalms 95:2. _Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving,_ Let us not be afraid to stand in the immediate presence of God; on the other hand, let us not worship him with lightness and frivolity, but let us come before his presence with due reverence and solemnity; and when we come, let it be «with thanksg

Psalms 95 In Anticipation of His Coming _ 1. Singing unto Him? (Psalms 95:1)_ 2. Let us worship and bow down (Psalms 95:6) It is a call to Israel in anticipation of the soon appearing of the expected Saviour-King. The next Psalm will show that He has come. How are they, His people, to welcome Him? With singing, with confession (this is the literal translation of thanksgiving in Psalms 95:2), with worship and prostration. And there is the warning now not to harden their hearts, not be like their fathers who could not enter into His rest. His people must welcome Him as a willing, as an obedient people and such will be the

XCV. A HYMN OF PRAISE. The greatness of God in nature. A warning from the history of Israel in the wilderness. There is no cogent reason for dividing the Ps. into two. For Massah and Meribah. see Exodus 17:1 ff. and Numbers 20:1 ff. PSALMS 95:4. HEIGHTS: (not strength, _mg.)._ The poet contrasts the deep places of the earth with the mountain peaks....