Tehillim 95

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Wednesday Morning and Friday Night

This is the sixth of the eleven Psalms attributed to Moses. He tells the Jewish people to join him in singing to G-d and blowing shofar to the Source of Israel's salvation. Let us greet G-d with thanks and songs of praise because He is great and rules above all. All the mysteries of the universe are under His control and the highest heights are in His grasp. He made the waters and gathered them into seas; likewise, He spread out the land and caused it to be inhabited.

And so, Moses says, let us bow down before the One Who made us, our G-d and our shepherd. He would bring our redemption today if we would just listen to His words, the Torah. So do not be stubborn as the Jews were at various instances in the desert, when they provoked G-d. They insisted on doing this, even though they had seen the miracles He had wrought for them. Because of this trait, He led them in the desert for forty years and brought their children into the land of Israel instead of them.

As we mentioned in the previous chapter, the first three verses of this Psalm are appended to the end of Psalm 94, the Psalm for Wednesday. Additionally, this Psalm, L'chu N'ran'na, is the first of the Psalms said in Kabbalas Shabbos, Welcoming the Sabbath. Wednesday is the midpoint of the week so, in a sense, adding these verses is a form of preparing for the coming Shabbos.

Author: Rabbi Jack Abramowitz