◄ Psalm 95:2 ►
Let us enter His presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to Him in song.
Study Bible
Let us enter His presence with thanksgiving;
This phrase emphasizes the importance of approaching God with a heart full of gratitude. In the context of ancient Israel, thanksgiving was a central aspect of worship, often expressed through offerings and sacrifices (Leviticus 7:12-15). The act of entering God's presence with thanksgiving reflects a recognition of His sovereignty and provision. Theologically, this aligns with the New Testament teaching in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, which encourages believers to give thanks in all circumstances. The concept of entering God's presence also recalls the temple worship in Jerusalem, where the Israelites would come to offer thanks and praise. This phrase can be seen as a type of Christ, who is the ultimate means by which believers enter into the presence of God (Hebrews 10:19-22).

let us make a joyful noise to Him in song.
The call to make a joyful noise highlights the exuberant and expressive nature of worship. In the cultural context of the Psalms, music and singing were integral to worship, as seen in the use of psalms in temple services and religious festivals (2 Chronicles 5:13). This joyful noise is not merely about volume but about the heartfelt expression of joy and reverence for God. Theologically, this connects to the New Testament exhortation in Ephesians 5:19, where believers are encouraged to speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. The phrase also points to the eschatological hope found in Revelation 5:9-10, where the redeemed sing a new song before the throne of God, celebrating His redemptive work through Jesus Christ.

Persons / Places / Events
1. The Psalmist
The author of Psalm 95, traditionally attributed to David, who calls the people to worship and reverence God.

2. The Presence of God
Refers to the spiritual place where believers come to worship and commune with God, emphasizing His omnipresence and holiness.

3. The Congregation of Israel
The original audience of the Psalm, representing the collective body of God's people called to worship.

4. Thanksgiving
A central theme in the Psalm, highlighting the attitude of gratitude and acknowledgment of God's blessings.

5. Joyful Noise
Represents the expression of worship through music and song, a common practice in Israelite worship.
Teaching Points
The Importance of Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is not just a seasonal practice but a daily attitude that acknowledges God's goodness and provision.

Joyful Worship
Worship should be an expression of joy and gratitude, reflecting the believer's relationship with God.

Entering God's Presence
Approaching God with a heart of thanksgiving prepares us to experience His presence more fully.

Community Worship
The call to make a joyful noise is often a communal activity, emphasizing the importance of corporate worship.

Spiritual Discipline
Regularly practicing thanksgiving and joyful worship can strengthen our faith and deepen our relationship with God.
Bible Study Questions
1. How can you incorporate thanksgiving into your daily prayer life, and what impact might this have on your relationship with God?

2. In what ways can you make a "joyful noise" to the Lord in your personal and communal worship settings?

3. Reflect on a time when entering God's presence with thanksgiving changed your perspective or situation. What did you learn from that experience?

4. How does the practice of thanksgiving and joyful worship influence your interactions with others in your faith community?

5. Consider the connection between Psalm 95:2 and Philippians 4:6-7. How can these scriptures guide you in dealing with anxiety or stress?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Philippians 4:6-7
This passage encourages believers to present their requests to God with thanksgiving, paralleling the call in Psalm 95:2 to enter God's presence with gratitude.

Colossians 3:16
This verse speaks about teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, which connects to making a joyful noise to God.

Hebrews 13:15
This scripture emphasizes offering a sacrifice of praise to God, which aligns with the joyful and thankful worship described in Psalm 95:2.
Sermons
Christ the Rock of Our SalvationJ. W. Hardman, LL.D.Psalm 95:1-11
Inciting One Another to Praise GodPsalm 95:1-11
Praise the Outcome of Divine InfluencePsalm 95:1-11
PsalmodyJ. W. Reeve, M.A.Psalm 95:1-11
Public Worship - its Necessity and AdvantageC. Short Psalm 95:1-11
The Genesis of PraiseW. G. Horder.Psalm 95:1-11
The Grandest of Creature ServicesHomilistPsalm 95:1-11
The Invitatory PsalmS. Conway Psalm 95:1-11
The VeniteD. Laing, M.A.Psalm 95:1-11
People
Psalmist
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Aloud, Extol, Face, Holy, Joy, Joyful, Joyfully, Let's, Melody, Music, Noise, Praise, Praises, Presence, Psalms, Shout, Song, Songs, Thanksgiving
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 95:2

     5420   music
     7963   song
     8352   thankfulness
     8676   thanksgiving

Psalm 95:1-2

     5355   invitations
     8609   prayer, as praise and thanksgiving

Psalm 95:1-3

     8624   worship, reasons

Library
Covenanting According to the Purposes of God.
Since every revealed purpose of God, implying that obedience to his law will be given, is a demand of that obedience, the announcement of his Covenant, as in his sovereignty decreed, claims, not less effectively than an explicit law, the fulfilment of its duties. A representation of a system of things pre-determined in order that the obligations of the Covenant might be discharged; various exhibitions of the Covenant as ordained; and a description of the children of the Covenant as predestinated …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

O Come, Loud Anthems Let us Sing
[1180]Park Street: Frederick M. A. Venua, c. 1810 Psalm 95 Tate and Brady, 1698; Alt. DOXOLOGY O come, loud anthems let us sing, Loud thanks to our almighty King, And high our grateful voices raise, As our Salvation's Rock we praise. Into his presence let us haste To thank him for his favors past; To him address, in joyful songs, The praise that to his Name belongs. For God the Lord, enthroned in state, Is with unrivaled glory great; The depths of earth are in his hand, Her secret wealth at his …
Various—The Hymnal of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the USA

Weighed, and Found Wanting
'And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. 2. And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron; and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness! 3. And wherefore hath the Lord brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt? 4. And they said one …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Covenanting a Duty.
The exercise of Covenanting with God is enjoined by Him as the Supreme Moral Governor of all. That his Covenant should be acceded to, by men in every age and condition, is ordained as a law, sanctioned by his high authority,--recorded in his law of perpetual moral obligation on men, as a statute decreed by him, and in virtue of his underived sovereignty, promulgated by his command. "He hath commanded his covenant for ever."[171] The exercise is inculcated according to the will of God, as King and …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

Temporary Hardening.
"Lord, why hast Thou hardened our heart? "--Isa. lxiii. 17. That there is a hardening of heart which culminates in the sin against the Holy Spirit can not be denied. When dealing with spiritual things we must take account of it; for it is one of the most fearful instruments of the divine wrath. For, whether we say that Satan or David or the Lord tempted the king, it amounts to the same thing. The cause is always in man's sin; and in each of these three cases the destructive fatality whereby sin poisons …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

Epistle xxxi. To Phocas, Emperor .
To Phocas, Emperor [218] . Gregory to Phocas Augustus. Glory to God in the highest who, according as it is written, changes times, and transfers kingdoms, seeing that He has made apparent to all what He vouchsafed to speak by His prophet, That the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will (Dan. iv. 17). For in the incomprehensible dispensation of Almighty God there are alternate controlments of mortal life; and sometimes, when the sins of many are to be smitten, …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

Fundamental Oneness of the Dispensations.
Hebrews iii. i-iv. 13 (R.V.). "Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High-priest of our confession, even Jesus; who was faithful to Him that appointed Him as also was Moses in all his house. For He hath been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, by so much as he that built the house hath more honour than the house. For every house is builded by some one; but He that built all things is God. And Moses indeed was faithful in all his house as a servant, …
Thomas Charles Edwards—The Expositor's Bible: The Epistle to the Hebrews

Twentieth Sunday after Trinity the Careful Walk of the Christian.
Text: Ephesians 5, 15-21. 15 Look therefore carefully how ye walk [See then that ye walk circumspectly], not as unwise, but as wise; 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17 Wherefore be ye not foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And be not drunken with wine, wherein is riot, but be filled with the Spirit; 19 speaking one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; 20 giving thanks always for all things …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. III

The Shepherd and the Fold
... Thou hast guided them in Thy strength unto Thy holy habitation.' EXODUS XV. 13. What a grand triumphal ode! The picture of Moses and the children of Israel singing, and Miriam and the women answering: a gush of national pride and of worship! We belong to a better time, but still we can feel its grandeur. The deliverance has made the singer look forward to the end, and his confidence in the issue is confirmed. I. The guiding God: or the picture of the leading. The original is 'lead gently.' Cf. …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Arguments Usually Alleged in Support of Free Will Refuted.
1. Absurd fictions of opponents first refuted, and then certain passages of Scripture explained. Answer by a negative. Confirmation of the answer. 2. Another absurdity of Aristotle and Pelagius. Answer by a distinction. Answer fortified by passages from Augustine, and supported by the authority of an Apostle. 3. Third absurdity borrowed from the words of Chrysostom. Answer by a negative. 4. Fourth absurdity urged of old by the Pelagians. Answer from the works of Augustine. Illustrated by the testimony …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

Covenanting a Privilege of Believers.
Whatever attainment is made by any as distinguished from the wicked, or whatever gracious benefit is enjoyed, is a spiritual privilege. Adoption into the family of God is of this character. "He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power (margin, or, the right; or, privilege) to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name."[617] And every co-ordinate benefit is essentially so likewise. The evidence besides, that Covenanting …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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