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英文原文
For the expounding of this psalm we may borrow a great deal of light from the apostle's discourse, Heb 3:1-4:16, where it appears both to have been penned by David and to have been calculated for the days of the Messiah; for it is there said expressly (Heb 4:7) that the day here spoken of (Ps 95:7) is to be understood of the gospel day, in which God speaks to us by his Son in a voice which we are concerned to hear, and proposes to us a rest besides that of Canaan. In singing psalms it is intended, I. That we should "make melody unto the Lord;" this we are here excited to do, and assisted in doing, being called upon to praise God (Ps 95:1,2) as a great God (Ps 95:3-5) and as our gracious benefactor, Ps 95:6,7. II. That we should teach and admonish ourselves and one another; and we are here taught and warned to hear God's voice (Ps 95:7), and not to harden our hearts, as the Israelites in the wilderness did (Ps 95:8,9), lest we fall under God's wrath and fall short of his rest, as they did, Ps 95:10,11. This psalm must be sung with a holy reverence of God's majesty and a dread of his justice, with a desire to please him and a fear to offend him.
1-7
Invitation to Praise God; Motives to Praise
邀请赞美神；赞美的动因
¹ 来啊，我们要向耶和华歌唱，向拯救我们的磐石欢呼。
² 我们要以感谢来到他面前，向他欢呼歌颂。
³ 因耶和大为神，为大王，超乎万神之上。
⁴ 地的深处在他手中；山的高峰也属他。
⁵ 海洋属他，是他造的；旱地是他手所造成的。
⁶ 来啊，我们要屈身敬拜，在造我们的耶和华面前跪下。
⁷ 因为他是我们的神；我们是他草场的羊，是他手下的民。
诗人在此处，如别处常行的一样，激发自己和他人赞美神；因为这是当以最活泼的情感尽的本分，而我们对它大有被激发的需要——我们常常退缩冷淡。请留意，
一、神当如何受赞美。1. 以圣洁的喜乐与以他为乐。赞美的歌必须是欢呼（诗 95:1，又诗 95:2）。属灵的喜乐是感恩赞美的灵魂与精髓。神的旨意是（他的恩典如此俯就）：当我们以他为无限完全、无限有福的一位而将荣耀归给他时，我们同时也当以他为乐——视他为我们的父、我们的王、与我们立约的神。2. 以谦卑敬畏与他圣洁的畏惧（诗 95:6）：「我们要敬拜，要屈身，要跪下」——如那些知道我们与神之间有何等无限距离、知道我们何等易惹他怒、何等需要他怜悯的人所当有的样式。身体的操练虽然益处还少，但我们以身体借宗教敬拜中表示敬畏、庄重、谦卑的外在表现来荣耀神，确是我们的本分。3. 我们当以声音赞美神；我们当从那充满爱、喜乐、感谢的心中所存的丰盛，说出、唱出他的赞美——向耶和华唱诗；向他欢呼，用诗篇欢呼——作为自己为他伟大良善所深感动的人，乐意承认如此受感，愿更受其感，并愿作点燃、激发别人同样敬虔热诚的器皿。4. 我们当同心合意地赞美神，在严肃的会中：「来啊，我们要歌唱」；我们要一同向耶和华歌唱——不是别人没有我，也不是我单独一人，而是别人与我一同。我们要一同来到他面前，在他殿的院内，就是他的百姓素来在那里侍候他、等候他显现之处。每逢我们来到神面前，都当带着感谢而来——感谢我们得允如此恩惠；每逢我们有感谢可献，都当来到神面前——将自己摆在他面前，借他所设立的典章将自己呈献给他。
二、神为何当受赞美，我们赞美的内容当是什么。我们不缺乏内容；若我们缺乏心，那就不好了。我们当赞美神，
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因他是大神，是统管万有的主，诗 95:3。他大，所以大受赞美。他是无穷无尽的，在他自己里面有一切完全。（1）他有大能：他是大王，超乎万神之上——超乎一切受任的神祇、一切掌权者之上——他对他们说：你们是神（他管理他们全部，借他们成全自己的旨意，他们都向他交账）——超乎一切假冒的神祇、一切僭越者之上；他能作他们之中没有一个能作的事；他能也必将他们全部饿坏、击败。（2）他大有产业。这下界在此特别提及。我们看那拥有辽阔领土、向全世界称为己有的人为大人物，然而那不过是宇宙中极微小的一部分：那地和其中所充满的都属于他的神是何等大呢——不但如他拥有一切受造之物无可争辩的主权与所有权那样，在他脚下，更在他手中——因他实际指挥并支配一切（诗 95:4）；甚至地的深处，那在我们视线之外——地下的泉源与矿藏——都在他手中；又山的高峰，那在我们所及之外，其上所生长或所牧养的也都属他。这话也可寓意而解：人子中最卑微的，如同地的低处，并不在他的鉴察之下；最伟大的，如同山的力量，也不在他的管制之上。任何受造之物中的能力都是从神而来的，也是为他而用的（诗 95:5）：海洋属他，其中一切也都属他（波浪成就他的话）；它是他的，因他造了它——聚拢其水、定其海岸；旱地虽赐给人子，也是他的，因他仍保留其所有权归己；它是他的，因他的手塑造了它——他的话使旱地露出来。他既是万物的创造者，便无可争辩地是万物的所有者。本诗既是福音之诗，我们很可以认为此处所教我们赞美的，正是主耶稣。他是大神；全能的神是他的称号之一，也是在万有之上，永远可称颂的神。作为中保，他是超乎万神之上的大王；君王借他掌权；天使、有位的、掌权的都服在他脚下；借着他——作为永存的道——万物都是造的（约 1:3），造万物的那一位理当作万物的恢复者与和好者，正合宜（西 1:16,20）。天上地下所有的权柄都赐给他了，万有都交在他手里。正是他一脚踏实海、一脚踏实地的——是海与旱地至高的主（启 10:2），所以我们当向他唱我们的赞美歌，在他面前敬拜、屈身。
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因他是我们的神——不但如对一切受造之物那样对我们有主权，更与我们处于特别的关系中（诗 95:7）：他是我们的神，所以我们理当赞美他；若我们不赞美，谁会呢？他造我们岂不正是为使我们成为他的名和他的赞美吗？（1）他是我们的创造主，是我们存在的源头；我们要在造我们的耶和华面前跪下，诗 95:6。拜偶像的人跪拜自己手所造的神；我们跪拜的是造我们和全世界的神——所以他是我们正当的拥有者；因我们是属他的，不是属自己的。（2）他是我们的救主，是我们福祉的源头。他在此称为拯救我们的磐石（诗 95:1），不但是那奇工的创立者，更是其根基本身，那工程建立在它上面。那磐石就是基督；所以我们要向他唱赞美之歌，向坐宝座的和羔羊唱。（3）我们因此属他，在一切可能的责任之下：我们是他草场的羊，是他手下的民。 一切世人都是如此；他们借那眷顾他们、引导他们的护理得喂养、得带领，正如牧人引导羊群。我们当赞美他，不但因他造了我们，更因他保存维持我们，我们的气息与道路都在他手中。教会所有的儿女更是如此；以色列是他草场的羊，是他手下的民；所以他特别要求他们的敬奉。福音教会就是他的羊群。基督是其中伟大而善良的牧者。我们作为基督徒，借他的手被引到青草地上，借他得保护、得丰盛供给，并完全奉献归他的荣耀与事奉，作他独特的子民；所以在教会中（无论在世人中是否如此）荣耀归给他，直到世世代代（弗 3:21）。
英文原文
Invitation to Praise God; Motives to Praise
¹ O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.
² Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.
³ For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
⁴ In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also.
⁵ The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.
⁶ O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.
⁷ For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.
The psalmist here, as often elsewhere, stirs up himself and others to praise God; for it is a duty which ought to be performed with the most lively affections, and which we have great need to be excited to, being very often backward to it and cold in it. Observe,
I. How God is to be praised. 1. With holy joy and delight in him. The praising song must be a joyful noise, Ps 95:1 and again Ps 95:2. Spiritual joy is the heart and soul of thankful praise. It is the will of God (such is the condescension of his grace) that when we give glory to him as a being infinitely perfect and blessed we should, at the same time, rejoice in him as our Father and King, and a God in covenant with us. 2. With humble reverence, and a holy awe of him (Ps 95:6): "Let us worship, and bow down, and kneel before him, as becomes those who know what an infinite distance there is between us and God, how much we are in danger of his wrath and in need of his mercy." Though bodily exercise, alone, profits little, yet certainly it is our duty to glorify God with our bodies by the outward expressions of reverence, seriousness, and humility, in the duties of religious worship. 3. We must praise God with our voice; we must speak forth, sing forth, his praises out of the abundance of a heart filled with love, and joy, and thankfulness—Sing to the Lord; make a noise, a joyful noise to him, with psalms—as those who are ourselves much affected with his greatness and goodness, are forward to own ourselves so, are desirous to be more and more affected therewith, and would willingly be instrumental to kindle and inflame the same pious and devout affection in others also. 4. We must praise God in concert, in the solemn assemblies: "Come, let us sing; let us join in singing to the Lord; not others without me, nor I alone, but others with me. Let us come together before his presence, in the courts of his house, where his people are wont to attend him and to expect his manifestations of himself." Whenever we come into God's presence we must come with thanksgiving that we are admitted to such a favour; and, whenever we have thanks to give, we must come before God's presence, set ourselves before him, and present ourselves to him in the ordinances which he has appointed.
II. Why God is to be praised and what must be the matter of our praise. We do not want matter; it were well if we did not want a heart. We must praise God,
1. Because he is a great God, and sovereign Lord of all, Ps 95:3. He is great, and therefore greatly to be praised. He is infinite and immense, and has all perfection in himself. (1.) He has great power: He is a great King above all gods, above all deputed deities, all magistrates, to whom he said, You are gods (he manages them all, and serves his own purposes by them, and to him they are all accountable), above all counterfeit deities, all pretenders, all usurpers; he can do that which none of them can do; he can, and will, famish and vanquish them all. (2.) He has great possessions. This lower world is here particularly specified. We reckon those great men who have large territories, which they call their own against all the world, which yet are a very inconsiderable part of the universe: how great then is that God whose the whole earth is, and the fulness thereof, not only under whose feet it is, as he has an incontestable dominion over all the creatures and a propriety in them, but in whose hand it is, as he has the actual directing and disposing of all (Ps 95:4); even the deep places of the earth, which are out of our sight, subterraneous springs and mines, are in his hand; and the height of the hills which are out of our reach, whatever grows or feeds upon them, is his also. This may be taken figuratively: the meanest of the children of men, who are as the low places of the earth, are not beneath his cognizance; and the greatest, who are as the strength of the hills, are not above his control. Whatever strength is in any creature it is derived from God and employed for him (Ps 95:5): The sea is his, and all that is in it (the waves fulfil his word); it is his, for he made it, gathered its waters and fixed its shores; the dry land, though given to the children of men, is his too, for he still reserved the property to himself; it is his, for his hands formed it, when his word made the dry land appear. His being the Creator of all makes him, without dispute, the owner of all. This being a gospel psalm, we may very well suppose that it is the Lord Jesus whom we are here taught to praise. He is a great God; the mighty God is one of his titles, and God over all, blessed for evermore. As Mediator, he is a great King above all gods; by him kings reign; and angels, principalities, and powers, are subject to him; by him, as the eternal Word, all things were made (Joh 1:3), and it was fit he should be the restorer and reconciler of all who was the Creator of all, Col 1:16,20. To him all power is given both in heaven and in earth, and into his hand all things are delivered. It is he that sets one foot on the sea and the other on the earth, as sovereign Lord of both (Re 10:2), and therefore to him we must sing our songs of praise, and before him we must worship and bow down.
2. Because he is our God, not only has a dominion over us, as he has over all the creatures, but stands in special relation to us (Ps 95:7): He is our God, and therefore it is expected we should praise him; who will, if we do not? What else did he make us for but that we should be to him for a name and a praise? (1.) He is our Creator, and the author of our being; we must kneel before the Lord our Maker, Ps 95:6. Idolaters kneel before gods which they themselves made; we kneel before a God who made us and all the world and who is therefore our rightful proprietor; for his we are, and not our own. (2.) He is our Saviour, and the author of our blessedness. He is here called the rock of our salvation (Ps 95:1), not only the founder, but the very foundation, of that work of wonder, on whom it is built. That rock is Christ; to him therefore we must sing our songs of praises, to him that sits upon the throne and to the Lamb. (3.) We are therefore his, under all possible obligations: We are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. All the children of men are so; they are fed and led by his Providence, which cares for them, and conducts them, as the shepherd the sheep. We must praise him, not only because he made us, but because he preserves and maintains us, and our breath and ways are in his hand. All the church's children are in a special manner so; Israel are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand; and therefore he demands their homage in a special manner. The gospel church is his flock. Christ is the great and good Shepherd of it. We, as Christians, are led by his hand into the green pastures, by him we are protected and well provided for, to his honour and service we are entirely devoted as a peculiar people, and therefore to him must be glory in the churches (whether it be in the world or no) throughout all ages, Eph 3:21.
7-11
Warning against Hardness of Heart
警戒心硬
⁷ ——惟愿你们今日听他的话：
⁸ 你们不可硬着心，像当日在米利巴，就是在旷野的玛撒试探神之时；
⁹ 那时你们的祖宗试我探我，并且观看我的作为。
¹⁰ 四十年之久，我厌烦那世代，说：这是心里迷糊的百姓，竟不晓得我的作为；
¹¹ 所以我在怒中起誓说：他们断不可进入我的安息。
本诗的后半，开始于一句之中途，是一段劝勉——劝那些唱福音之诗的人过福音的生活，听神话语之声；不然他们怎能指望他听他们祈祷赞美之声？请看：
一、一切作基督草场之民、他手之羊的人当尽的本分。他指望他们听他的话，因为他曾说过：我的羊听我的声音（约 10:27）。我们是他的民——他们说。你们是吗？那么当听他的话。你们若称他为夫子或主，便当行他所吩咐的事，作他甘心顺服的子民。要听他教义之声、他律法之声；并在两者之中，听他圣灵之声；听了要留意，听了要顺服。要听他的声音，不要听生人之声。「惟愿你们今日听他的话」——有人把这话看作愿望：「但愿你们肯听他的话！」但愿你们如此智慧，为自己行得如此之善；正如「你若知道」（路 19:42），就是说，但愿你知道！基督的话必须今日听——使徒把这着重地应用于福音之日。他正说话给你听之时，你要留心听他，因为这机会之日并不永远持续；所以要趁今日——趁它仍称为今日——之时把握它（来 3:13、15）。听基督的话与信同义。今日你若凭信接受福音的呼召，那很好；但到了明日，恐怕已经太迟。在如此重大的事上，再没有比耽延更危险的了。
二、他们所受警戒之罪——与所要求之信而顺服之耳不相合的罪，就是心硬。你们若听他的话，又要在所听之上得益，便不可硬着心；因为撒在磐石上的种子，从不结果实以至于成熟。犹太人所以不信基督的福音，是因为他们的心硬了；他们既未深觉罪之恶、又未深觉因罪而来的危险，所以不顾念所提供的救恩；他们不肯屈就基督的轭，也不肯顺从他的要求；罪人若心硬，那是他自己的行为（他自己硬了心），他独自当永远担当其咎。
三、他们所受警戒的鉴戒，就是以色列人在旷野中的鉴戒。
1. 「当心不可像他们那样犯罪，免得你们像他们被关在迦南之外那样，被关在永远安息之外。」不要像你们的祖宗，作顽梗悖逆的世代（诗 78:8）。所以此处说：你们不可硬着心，像你们（就是你们的祖宗）当日在米利巴——就是他们与神与摩西争闹之处（出 17:2-7）——以及在旷野试探之日那样（诗 95:8）。他们因不信和怨言，屡次惹动神，以致他们在旷野居住的全部时间可称为试探之日，或称玛撒——那地方的另一名（出 17:7）——因为他们试探主，说：耶和华是在我们中间不是？这是在旷野之中，他们不能自助，只能仰赖神的怜悯；在那里神奇妙地帮助他们，又赐给他们如此切实的权能凭证与恩惠记号，是别时别民所未曾有的。请注意：（1）试探之日就是惹动之日。没有什么比不信他的应许、并因路上似乎有些难处便对成全之绝望，更得罪神。（2）我们越多经历神的权能与良善，我们若不信他，我们的罪就越大。怎么，在旷野之中试探他——我们在那里靠他活着！这既不合理又不近人情，更是忘恩。（3）心硬是我们一切对神的不信、并一切与他的争闹的根源。那不接受神圣启示之印象、又不顺神圣旨意之意图的心，就是硬心——它不肯融化，也不肯屈折。（4）别人的罪当作为警戒，叫我们不要跟随他们的脚步。以色列人的怨言写在经上，正是警戒我们这末世的人（林前 10:11）。
2. 现在请看：
（1）以神之名对不信之以色列人所提的控告（诗 95:9-10）。神在多年之后，仍在此控诉他们对他所行的恶，并以高度的愤慨表达出来。〔1〕他们的罪是不信：他们试神，又探他；他们质问可否信他的话，并要求更进一步的确据，才肯前行进入迦南——便差派探子；当探子使他们灰心，他们便抗议神权能与应许之不足，并要立一个首领回埃及去（民 14:3-4）。这被称为背叛（申 1:26、32）。〔2〕这罪的可加重情节是他们看见了神的作为；他们看见了他为他们出埃及所作的事，更看见了他每日为他们所作的事——就是今日所作的——为他们从天降粮、使磐石出水追随他们；他们不能有比这更确实的神与他们同在的凭证了。在他们，看见也不足以相信，因为他们硬着心——虽然他们已看见法老硬心所得的下场。〔3〕他们罪的根源。请看神把它归咎于什么：这是心里迷糊的百姓，竟不晓得我的作为。人的不信和对神的疑惑，他们的怨言和与他争闹，都是出于他们的无知和错误。第一，出于他们的无知：竟不晓得我的作为。他们看见了他的作为（诗 95:9），他使他作为显给他们看（诗 103:7）；然而他们不晓得他的作为——不晓得他护理的作为，就是他向他们所行的；也不晓得他诫命的作为，就是他要他们向他行的：他们不晓得，他们没有正确地理解，因此也不肯赞同。请注意：人轻看并离弃神的道路，是因为他们不认识它。第二，出于他们的错误：心里迷糊——他们偏离正路；他们在心里退后。请注意：罪就是错误，是实践上的错误，是心里的错误；这样的错误确实存在，与头脑里的错误同样致命。当腐败的情感歪曲了判断，因而引灵魂离开本分与顺服之路，那就是心里的错误。〔4〕神对他们罪的愤慨：*四十年之久，我厌烦那世代。*请注意：神承认之民的罪不仅惹他发怒，更叫他担忧——尤其是他们对他的不信；神又记下他们多少次（民 14:22）、并多久惹他担忧。请看神对惹动他之罪人的忍耐；他被他们惹动四十年，然而那些年日却以下一代得胜进入迦南作为结束。我们的罪若叫神担忧，它们也理当叫我们担忧；罪中没有什么比这更当叫我们担忧的——就是罪叫神担忧。
（2）因他们的罪而加于他们的判决（诗 95:11）：「所以我在怒中起誓说：他们断不可进入我的安息」——详见的判决在民 14:21 等。请看：〔1〕这判决从何而来——从神的怒气而来。他在怒中庄严起誓——他那公正而圣洁的怒；但人不可因此就在自己的怒中——那有罪而兽性之怒中——妄自起誓。神不受我们这样情感的支配；然而经上说他对罪和罪人发怒、大大发怒，为要显明罪的恶意与神治理的公义。那当受一位被惹动的神所施报应之物，确实是恶的。〔2〕判决是什么：他们断不可进入他的安息——他所为他们预备并为他们设计的安息，为他们和他们后裔所设的定居之所，就是凡他们出埃及时被数点的人，在进入迦南之时，除了迦勒和约书亚之外，都不得写在活人之册上。〔3〕判决如何得着坚立：*我起了誓。那不但是心意，更是旨意；起誓显明他旨意的永不更改：主起了誓，决不后悔。*它断绝了任何怜悯存留的念头。神的警诫与他的应许同样确实。
如今以色列的这事可应用于大卫之时他们的后裔——本诗就是那时所写；让他们听神的话，不可像他们祖宗那样硬着心，免得他们若像祖宗那样硬着颈项，神便被惹动，禁止他们在耶路撒冷他殿中之特权——他曾对此说过：*这是我安息之所。*但这事必须应用于我们基督徒，因为使徒如此应用。在我们面前有一个属灵而永远的安息，是应许赐给我们的——迦南是其预表；我们都（至少在口头上）是以这安息为目标；然而许多似乎如此的人却达不到，也必永远不能进入。是什么在他们门上加杠？是罪；是不信——那违背救法、违背我们 appeal 的罪。那些像以色列那样不信神、不信他的权能与良善，并宁要埃及的葱蒜而不要迦南的奶与蜜的人，理当被关在他的安息之外：他们的定案必如此；是他们自己已经决定的。所以我们当畏惧（来 4:1）。
英文原文
Warning against Hardness of Heart
⁷ —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.
The latter part of this psalm, which begins in the middle of a verse, is an exhortation to those who sing gospel psalms to live gospel lives, and to hear the voice of God's word; otherwise, how can they expect that he should hear the voice of their prayers and praises? Observe,
I. The duty required of all those that are the people of Christ's pasture and the sheep of his hand. He expects that they hear his voice, for he has said, My sheep hear my voice, Joh 10:27. We are his people, say they. Are you so? Then hear his voice. If you call him Master, or Lord, then do the things which he says, and be his willing obedient people. Hear the voice of his doctrine, of his law, and, in both, of his Spirit; hear and heed; hear and yield. Hear his voice, and not the voice of a stranger. If you will hear his voice; some take it as a wish, O that you would hear his voice! that you would be so wise, and do so well for yourselves; like that, If thou hadst known (Lu 19:42), that is, O that thou hadst known! Christ's voice must be heard to-day; this the apostle lays much stress upon, applying it to the gospel day. While he is speaking to you see that you attend to him, for this day of your opportunities will not last always; improve it, therefore, while it is called to-day, Heb 3:13,15. Hearing the voice of Christ is the same with believing. To-day, if by faith you accept the gospel offer, well and good, but to-morrow it may be too late. In a matter of such vast importance nothing is more dangerous than delay.
II. The sin they are warned against, as inconsistent with the believing obedient ear required, and that is hardness of heart. If you will hear his voice, and profit by what you hear, then do not harden your hearts; for the seed sown on the rock never brought any fruit to perfection. The Jews therefore believed not the gospel of Christ because their hearts were hardened; they were not convinced of the evil of sin, and of their danger by reason of sin, and therefore they regarded not the offer of salvation; they would not bend to the yoke of Christ, nor yield to his demands; and, if the sinner's heart be hardened, it is his own act and deed (he hardening it himself) and he alone shall bear the blame for ever.
III. The example they are warned by, which is that of the Israelites in the wilderness.
1. "Take heed of sinning as they did, lest you be shut out of the everlasting rest as they were out of Canaan." Be not, as your fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, Ps 78:8. Thus here, Harden not your heart as you did (that is, your ancestors) in the provocation, or in Meribah, the place where they quarrelled with God and Moses (Ex 17:2-7), and in the day of temptation in the wilderness, Ps 95:8. So often did they provoke God by their distrusts and murmurings that the whole time of their continuance in the wilderness might be called a day of temptation, or Massah, the other name given to that place (Ex 17:7), because they tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us or is he not? This was in the wilderness, where they could not help themselves, but lay at God's mercy, and where God wonderfully helped them and gave them such sensible proofs of his power and tokens of his favour as never any people had before or since. Note, (1.) Days of temptation are days of provocation. Nothing is more offensive to God than disbelief of his promise and despair of the performance of it because of some difficulties that seem to lie in the way. (2.) The more experience we have had of the power and goodness of God the greater is our sin if we distrust him. What, to tempt him in the wilderness, where we live upon him! This is as ungrateful as it is absurd and unreasonable. (3.) Hardness of heart is at the bottom of all our distrusts of God and quarrels with him. That is a hard heart which receives not the impressions of divine discoveries and conforms not to the intentions of the divine will, which will not melt, which will not bend. (4.) The sins of others ought to be warnings to us not to tread in their steps. The murmurings of Israel were written for our admonition, 1Co 10:11.
2. Now here observe,
(1.) The charge drawn up, in God's name, against the unbelieving Israelites, Ps 95:9,10. God here, many ages after, complains of their ill conduct towards him, with the expressions of high resentment. [1.] Their sin was unbelief: they tempted God and proved him; they questioned whether they might take his word, and insisted upon further security before they would go forward to Canaan, by sending spies; and, when those discouraged them, they protested against the sufficiency of the divine power and promise, and would make a captain and return into Egypt, Nu 14:3,4. This is called rebellion, De 1:26,32. [2.] The aggravation of this sin was that they saw God's work; they saw what he had done for them in bringing them out of Egypt, nay, what he was now doing for them every day, this day, in the bread he rained from heaven for them and the water out of the rock that followed them, than which they could not have more unquestionable evidences of God's presence with them. With them even seeing was not believing, because they hardened their hearts, though they had seen what Pharaoh got by hardening his heart. [3.] The causes of their sin. See what God imputed it to: It is a people that do err in their hearts, and they have not known my ways. Men's unbelief and distrust of God, their murmurings and quarrels with him, are the effect of their ignorance and mistake. First, Of their ignorance: They have not known my ways. They saw his work (Ps 95:9) and he made known his acts to them (Ps 103:7); and yet they did not know his ways, the ways of his providence, in which he walked towards them, or the ways of his commandments, in which he would have them to walk towards him: they did not know, they did not rightly understand and therefore did not approve of these. Note, The reason why people slight and forsake the ways of God is because they do not know them. Secondly, Of their mistake: They do err in their heart; they wander out of the way; in heart they turn back. Note, Sins are errors, practical errors, errors in heart; such there are, and as fatal as errors in the head. When the corrupt affections pervert the judgment, and so lead the soul out of the ways of duty and obedience, there is an error of the heart. [4.] God's resentment of their sin: Forty years long was I grieved with this generation. Note, The sins of God's professing people do not only anger him, but grieve him, especially their distrust of him; and God keeps an account how often (Nu 14:22) and how long they grieve him. See the patience of God towards provoking sinners; he was grieved with them forty years, and yet those years ended in a triumphant entrance into Canaan made by the next generation. If our sins have grieved God, surely they should grieve us, and nothing in sin should grieve us so much as that.
(2.) The sentence passed upon them for their sin (Ps 95:11): "Unto whom I swore in my wrath, If they shall enter into my rest, then say I am changeable and untrue:" see the sentence at large, Nu 14:21, etc. Observe, [1.] Whence this sentence came—from the wrath of God. He swore solemnly in his wrath, his just and holy wrath; but let not men therefore swear profanely in their wrath, their sinful brutish wrath. God is not subject to such passions as we are; but he is said to be angry, very angry, at sin and sinners, to show the malignity of sin and the justice of God's government. That is certainly an evil thing which deserves such a recompence of revenge as may be expected from a provoked Deity. [2.] What it was: That they should not enter into his rest, the rest which he had prepared and designed for them, a settlement for them and theirs, that none of those who were enrolled when they came out of Egypt should be found written in the roll of the living at their entering into Canaan, but Caleb and Joshua. [3.] How it was ratified: I swore it. It was not only a purpose, but a decree; the oath showed the immutability of his counsel; the Lord swore, and will not repent. It cut off the thought of any reserve of mercy. God's threatenings are as sure as his promises.
Now this case of Israel may be applied to those of their posterity that lived in David's time, when this psalm was penned; let them hear God's voice, and not harden their hearts as their fathers did, lest, if they were stiffnecked like them, God should be provoked to forbid them the privileges of his temple at Jerusalem, of which he had said, This is my rest. But it must be applied to us Christians, because so the apostle applies it. There is a spiritual and eternal rest set before us, and promised to us, of which Canaan was a type; we are all (in profession, at least) bound for this rest; yet many that seem to be so come short and shall never enter into it. And what is it that puts a bar in their door? It is sin; it is unbelief, that sin against the remedy, against our appeal. Those that, like Israel, distrust God, and his power and goodness, and prefer the garlick and onions of Egypt before the milk and honey of Canaan, will justly be shut out from his rest: so shall their doom be; they themselves have decided it. Let us therefore fear, Heb 4:1.
为讲解本诗,我们可从使徒在来3:1-4:16的论述中借得许多亮光;在那里我们既看见本诗乃大卫所写,又看见它是为弥赛亚的日子而设;因为那里明说(来4:7)此处所论及的「日子」(诗95:7)当理解为福音的日子,在此日子中神借他的儿子向我们说话——其声音是我们理当留心听见的——并向我们提议一个在迦南安息之外的安息。唱诗的本意有二:一、我们当「向耶和华歌唱」;此处我们既受激励如此行,也蒙扶助如此行——我们被呼召来赞美神(诗95:1,2),因他是伟大的神(诗95:3-5),也是我们施恩的恩主(诗95:6,7);二、我们当以此教导、劝戒自己与彼此;此处我们受教与警告,当听神的声音(诗95:7),不可像旷野中的以色列人那样硬着心(诗95:8,9),免得我们如他们一般落在神的震怒之下,并失去他的安息(诗95:10,11)。唱这首诗必须怀着对神威严的圣洁敬畏、对他公义的敬惧,怀着讨他喜悦的渴望与得罪他的恐惧。