One sure way of appreciating God’s excellence is to meditate upon the titles by which He reveals Himself in Scripture. Psalm 95 presents Him as the Rock, v. 1, the King, v. 3, and (implicitly) the Shepherd, v. 7. What does it mean to speak of God as a rock?
- It clearly suggests the idea of strength and stability. Israel, moving through a hostile wilderness towards the land of promise, needed to know that the God who had redeemed them was a God of unshakeable power. Other nations had their deities, but they were as nothing compared with Jehovah, Deut. 32. 31; Psa. 95. 3. Whether we look down, or up, or all around, we see what His hands have made, vv. 4, 5.
- He is the “rock of our salvation”, v. 1; Deut. 32. 15; does it not dispel all doubts to know that salvation is firmly grounded? Before we were saved, we were sinking deep in the quicksands of sin, but, like David, we have been gloriously rescued, Psa. 40. 2. If we are on the Rock, we cannot be moved.
- A rock speaks of shelter, for God is “the rock of my refuge”, Psa. 94. 22. When Moses desired to see God’s glory, he was sheltered in the cleft of a rock, covered from the dazzling sight of divine splendour by God’s own hand, Exod. 33. 21, 22. Today believers are both on and in the rock Christ Jesus, for our position “in Christ” is the guarantee of eternal acceptance in God’s sight, Eph. 1. 6. What better refuge from the storms of trials and temptations than the Lord Jesus.
- The rock portrays supply, out of a rock God provided life-giving water for His thirsty people, Exod. 17. 6. Thus the God of enduring strength is also the God of shepherd care who abundantly meets His children’s needs. But note that the rock had to be smitten before the streams could flow. Worship can never bypass Calvary; there is not a single blessing we receive which does not stem from the atoning death of Christ, Rom. 8. 32.
What, then, should be our response? Psalm 95 encourages worship, v. 1; thanksgiving, v. 2; reverence, v. 6; and sensitivity to God’s voice, v. 8. May we lean upon the Rock and enter fully into His rest, v. 11.
“And that Rock was Christ”, 1 Cor. 10. 4.
