Psalms · Psalm 95

"Come, let us sing" — "come" to me, like the word "turn aside" — these are the words of the psalmist to Israel.

"Come" — thus will Israel say, each man to his fellow, in the days of the Messiah, that they should sing joyfully to God who saved them. And we have already explained that the words "lechu" and "lecha" [come], in some places, denote an urging to action, not actual walking.

"Come, let us sing to Hashem" — In the future they will urge one another and say, "Come, let us sing," etc.

"Come" — it is a term of urging/exhortation, as in 'and now come, and let us slay him' (Genesis 37:20); and indeed, right next to it appears the word 'let us shout' (nari'a), which is from the language of teru'ah (a shout/blast).

"Come" — these psalms, up to psalm 100, all speak of one subject; they speak of the two kinds of governance by which Hashem guides His world: (1) providence by means of nature, and (2) miraculous providence that is not by means of nature. Psalm 95 is an introduction to the psalms that follow it, making known the difference in this matter between Israel and the nations. After this, Psalms 96 and 97 will speak of the first kind of governance, by means of nature, in which He performs hidden miracles; and in Psalms 98 and 99 it will speak of the second kind of governance, and in these there are statements that are very forceful and exalted. The first two verses [of this psalm] are like a key to the whole subject. — He says, "Come, let us sing to Hashem" — that we should sing to Him: (1) in that He is Hashem, Creator of the world and the Bringer-into-being of all existence; (2) "let us shout for joy" specifically, in that He is "the Rock of our salvation" — this is on account of individual providence, for the shout of joy would occur at the time the king came among the people, when they would shout a great shout, as it says, "What is the meaning of the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they knew that the ark of Hashem had come into the camp" (I Samuel 4:6), and "the people shouted and said, Long live the king" (ibid. 10). Now, the recognition of Hashem and His providence comes about in two ways: (1) recognition of His particular acts by means of His universal ones — meaning, that by first recognizing, through the totality of creation, that there is a Creator who is the Cause of causes, they thereby come to examine His particular acts, [seeing] how they are all arranged with wisdom, kindness, and compassion toward His creatures, and they come to know that He is also the One who watches over and guides the world; and this manner of recognition was particular to the nations. It is in this sense that he calls to the peoples of the world "to sing to Hashem first," for the name Havayah (the Tetragrammaton) indicates the universal creation, and through this we come to recognize also His providence: "and let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation."

"Let us come before" — that we shall give thanks to Him, and our shout of joy shall be with songs, for this is [what] the thanksgiving and the songs [are for], since He is mighty.

"Let us come before" — this denotes an invitation. "With thanksgiving" — with the thanksgiving of the lips, whereby we thank Him for the good that He did for us.

"Let us come before" — Let us hasten ourselves to come before His presence with thanksgiving of the lips, to thank Him for the goodness that is coming.

"Let us come before" — [this describes] the second manner of recognition, by which we grasp His universal acts from His particular ones, and this is particular to Israel — for His individual providence clings to them, and He did many signs and wonders with them, until they recognized from this that He watches over them with a wondrous individual providence, and through this they also recognized that He is the Creator who created everything, for whoever is able to change nature must certainly have created it. This is why, at the standing at Mount Sinai, He began, "I am Hashem your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt," and did not say, "I am Hashem who created the world" — as the Kuzari writes — because we came to know Hashem through the particular acts of good that He did with us and through His providence. This is why it says, "let us come before His presence with thanksgiving" — that first we come with thanksgiving and acknowledgment for His particular acts of good to us, and afterward, "with psalms let us shout for joy to Him" — which is the recounting of His universal praises.

"For [Hashem is] a great [God], and a King above all" — [above] the angels of heaven, for they are His messengers, and they carry out His work.

"For" — this is said about that future time, for at that time no one will be found who denies Him, as they deny now regarding His lack of power or His lack of providence; for then, in the days of the Messiah, it will be recognized and known to all that He is greatly powerful. "And a great King above all gods" — these are the host of heaven, which are called "gods" and rule on earth; and then they will recognize that He is King over them, and they will do nothing except by His mission.

"Gods" — These are the angels above.

"For [Hashem is] a great God" — this explains the difference between these two manners of recognition. To the nations, Hashem is "a great God and a great King" (El [God] indicates power and ability, and Melekh [King] indicates governance and rule). The nations first recognize that He is "a great God above all gods" — that He possesses ability and is supreme over all gods, meaning, over all the powers of nature, since He created everything; and through this they recognize that He is "a great King above all gods," meaning, that He guides everything through His providence.

"and the heights" — An expression of height, like a bird that flies [up high].

"In whose hand" — since he had mentioned the host of heaven, he says that the depths of the earth are also in His domain, as are the high mountains upon the earth. "To'afot" [heights] — [means] strength. And some say it means like "horns."

"The depths" [mechkarei] — the mem is vocalized with a segol. And just as the heavens are high, and the earth is in His hand, and He is King over them, so too the depths of the earth are in His hand; and he uses concerning them the term "mechkar" [searching-out], in the manner of the phrase: "and the foundations of the earth are searched out below." "And the heights of the mountains are His" — he mentioned the depths of the earth, and now he mentions the heights of the earth, which are the high mountains; this is the meaning of "and the heights of the mountains are His."

"The depths of the earth" — The things hidden in the earth, which are searched out with knowledge in order to understand them. "And the heights" — The heights of the mountains, they are His.

"The depths" — from the language of searching and probing. "And the heights" — a term for elevation/loftiness, named for the bird that soars at the height of the air.

(4-5) "In whose [hand]" — the sense of the verses is: "to all gods, He is a great God and a great King" in that "in His hand are the depths of the earth," and in that "the sea is His, and He made it" — for by these, they [the nations] grasp Him by means of His universal acts, since He created earth, mountains, and seas. But we, "let us bow down and bend the knee and bless Him," in that "He is our God and we are the people of His pasture" — that is, by means of His particular acts and the particular good He does for us. Now a great difference is explained here: for the nations recognize Him only by means of His universal acts — that is, in that they see that He established existence with wondrous wisdom and for a purpose, and through this they also recognize that He watches over the persistence and continuation of creation. But they grasp only that He sustains creation and maintains it according to the natural laws that He established at the time of creation, and likewise, according to their understanding, He did everything that He did to establish the world solely by His own will, and it has no connection with the acts of free choice of human beings. This is what is meant by their recognizing that "in His hand are the depths of the earth" — that these are in His hand and His power, and that they are in His hand, not in the hand of man, meaning, that this does not depend on their deeds; "and the heights of the mountains are His also" — for even though the earth changed after the first creation and gave rise to mountains and hills (for the mountains came into being after the [initial] creation), nevertheless this is not attributed to the earth's own choice and will, but is ascribed to Him — to Hashem alone — to the natural laws that He established in the earth, by which mountains come to stand through earthquakes or the settling of places and the like. Likewise, "[the sea] which is His" — this too is ascribed to Him: that which, after the first creation, He said, "let the waters be gathered," and the sea and the dry land came to be.

"Whose" [the sea is His] — in this verse he mentioned the sea and the dry land, for they are like a single sphere, by conclusive proofs from the science of nature.

"Whose" — he mentioned the earth in general, and now he mentions, in particular, the sea and the dry land, for everything is His — meaning, in His hand and in His domain. "And He made it" — He arranged it so that the waters would be gathered to one place, and He formed the dry land so that every living and growing thing would be upon it. And since everything, above and below, is in His hand, it is in His power to raise up and to bring low whomever He wishes; and He made us lowly in the exile, and now He has raised us up.

"And He made it" — He established it in its place, to be gathered in one place.

"He made it" — a term for preparing, as in 'and he hastened to prepare it' (Genesis 18:7).

"let us kneel" — Heb. נברכה, an expression of (Gen. 24:11): “He made the camels kneel (ויברך).”

"Come" — since he had mentioned that He is King, we are therefore obligated to bow down before Him. "Let us kneel" [nivrachah] — like "and he kneeled upon his knees." And the meaning of "our Maker" is that He made the sea and the dry land, which are the general [wholes], and from them He made the particulars.

"Come" — they will say, each man to his fellow: Come, let us bow down, for we are obligated to thank Him and to bend before Him in every manner of bending. "Let us bow down" [nishtachaveh] — this is the prostration of the entire body on the ground, with the hands and feet spread out. "And bend the knee" [venichra'ah] — this is the bending of the head together with part of the body, like the way we bend during the blessings. "Let us kneel" [nivrechah] — this is the bending of the knees to the ground. "Before Hashem our Maker" — the One who raises us and exalts us, for He is our judge.

"Let us prostrate ourselves" — This is the stretching of the whole body flat on the ground. "And bend the knee" — This is the bowing of the head and part of the body. "Let us kneel" — this is the bending of the knees to the ground. "Our Maker" — He who raises and exalts us.

"Our Maker" — a term for elevation and greatness, as in 'He made you and established you' (Deuteronomy 32:6).

"Come" — but we do not recognize Him first by means of His universal acts, for we, "come, let us bow down and bend the knee before Hashem," not because He created the totality of existence, but because He is "our Maker" — that He made us into a people for Himself — for we grasp Him first by means of His particular acts of good.

"today" — In this world.

"For"... "our God" — from afar; or, "our God" [means] His faithfulness. "And the flock of His hand" — corresponding to "His hands formed" [verse 5]. And the meaning of "today" is that it is connected with "come, let us bow down" [verse 6]: if it is in your heart to listen to His voice, bow down to Him today — if you will listen to His voice; and this is the voice of Hashem.

"For we are the people of His pasture" — [meaning He is the One] who has shepherded us until now. "And the flock of His hand" — [meaning He is the One] who guided us with the rod of His faithfulness. "Today" — He acquired us from the house of bondage, and we became the flock of His hand, and He is our God. "If you would but hearken to His voice" — that you should not be like your fathers, the generation of the wilderness; for as soon as He redeemed them from the house of bondage, they tested Him at Rephidim, just as your fathers did at Meribah.

"The people of His pasture" — For He shepherds and guides us. "And the flock of His hand" — That is to say, like a merciful shepherd who guides the flock with an outstretched hand and not with a staff. "Today" — That is to say, on that day He will guide you thus, if you will hearken to His voice.

"If" — [meaning] 'when'; and likewise 'and if the jubilee year shall be' (Numbers 37).

"For He is our God" — we grasp Him in that He is our God, particular to us, not through the universal creation, but through His particular providence over us — for there is a bond between us and Him: on His side, "that He is our God," and on our side, that we are "the people of His pasture, the flock of His hand" — that He shepherds us as a shepherd shepherds his flock, and has lavished His goodness upon us. There is a further difference here: the Creator's relation to His creatures does not depend on their free choice, for it is a necessary matter, in that He created them, and it is not something that comes about anew, nor something that depends on their will. This is why it says "in whose hand are the depths of the earth" — meaning, that this is a matter that depends on His hand [alone]; and likewise the changes that occurred, such as the mountains, the sea, and the dry land, are ascribed to Him [alone]. But Hashem's relation and bond with His people is a matter that depends on their choice, and is something that comes about anew according to their deeds. This is why it says, but "that He is our God, and that we are His people and the flock of His pasture" is something that comes about anew "today," and depends on our choice: "if you would but hearken to His voice."

"Harden not" — the commentators have erred [in explaining this]. "As in the day of Massah" — and what is correct in my opinion is that this refers to the coming of the spies, and "the strife" is [the incident of] "let us appoint a head [and return to Egypt]." And "Massah" — for there it is written: "and they have tested Me these ten times, and have not listened to My voice."

"As in the day of Massah" — the name of the place was called Massah and Meribah, on account of the quarrel of the Children of Israel and their testing of Hashem, saying: "Is Hashem among us or not?"

"Harden not your heart" — By murmuring against Hashem, as at the Waters of Meribah. "As in the day" — Like at the Waters of Massah in the wilderness; and the matter is repeated in what is stated, for it is the same place, as it is written, "and he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, etc." (Exodus 17:7).

"Harden" — from the language of 'hard.'

"Do not" — Accordingly, it is fitting that "you shall not harden your heart," meaning: the nations, upon whom the arm of Hashem was not revealed through signs and wonders — if they do not recognize Hashem, this is not classified as hardening of the heart (for the definition of hardening of the heart is when one sees the work of Hashem and His wonders and hardens his heart against it, as it is written, "And I will harden Pharaoh's heart"). But you, who saw with your own eyes all the great work that Hashem did — for you this would be classified as hardening of the heart — "as it was at Meribah and as on the day of Massah in the wilderness," as it is said there: "For all the men who have seen My glory and My signs... and have tested Me these ten times and have not listened to My voice — if they shall see the land..." And this is the meaning of "when your fathers tested Me," even though "they saw My work" — this was due to the hardening of their heart. And the meaning of "My work" is that it refers to something still actively being done and engaged in — so that even though "they saw My work," how I am constantly occupied with their needs, to do good for them, despite all this they tested Me and tried Me.

"tested Me" — for nothing. "even though they had seen My work" — in Egypt.

'When' — this identifies who the ones putting [Me] to the test were. 'Even though they saw My work' — the meaning is that they all died in the wilderness, as is written afterward.

"When" — how many times did they test Me! Moreover, they saw that I split the sea for them, and the manna that I brought down for them, and the rock that I split for them, and even so they tested Me. This is the meaning of "even" — that even after they saw My deeds before each miracle, nevertheless they did not believe in Me and tested Me.

"When... tried Me" — Testing whether it was in My power to give them water, as is stated there. "Proved Me, even though they saw My work" — Even after they saw My deeds in Egypt, at the sea, and in the wilderness, nevertheless they did not believe in Me, and again and again they tested Me.

"Forty years" — I quarreled with them and contended with them. [אקוט is] an expression of (Job 10: 1): “My soul quarrels (נקטה) with my life.” I strove with them for forty years to kill them in the desert, because I said, “They are of erring heart.”

'Forty years I was wearied' — [the word is] like 'you shall loathe yourselves,' '[my soul] is weary of my life,' [and] like 'it abhorred' — for we find no prophecy given to Moses during the forty years. 'And they have not known My ways' — the meaning is as Moses said: 'And Hashem has not given you a heart to know' (Deuteronomy 29:3).

"Forty" — for they angered Me with the matter of the spies, until I said that they would be delayed in the wilderness for forty years. And the interpretation of "akut" — from the same root as "I have seen traitors, and quarreled" — a matter of quarreling. And the interpretation of "with a generation" — he said this concerning the generation of the wilderness. "It is a people that err in their heart" — he says that they err in their heart, and their heart is inclined to evil, and they do not believe in Me. "And they have not known My ways" — they did not recognize all the miracles that I performed for them, and they were afraid to enter the land, and they did not trust in Me; therefore I swore that they would not come there, and they died in the wilderness, from the age of twenty years and upward.

"I was wearied with that generation" — I had a quarrel with the men of that generation, and I said: this is a people whose heart strays from following Me. "And they" — After all the quarreling, they still did not know My ways.

"I was grieved" — from the language of strife and quarrel. "That err" — a term for turning from the straight path, as in 'I have gone astray like a lost sheep' (below, Psalms 119).

(10-11) "Forty" — Even though "I quarreled with and was vexed by this generation forty years," the structure of the verse is: "Forty years I was vexed by the generation concerning whom I swore in My wrath that they would not enter My rest, and I said, they are a people who err in their heart" — meaning that this generation, concerning whom He decreed that they would not enter the land, and whom He led forty years in the wilderness, He quarreled with them the whole span of the forty years and told them that they are a people who err in their heart, as it is written: "And I led you forty years in the wilderness, your garments did not wear out, etc., in order that you might know... and Hashem did not give you a heart to know, and eyes to see... until this day."

"My resting place" — [In]to the land of Israel and Jerusalem, which I called “resting place,” as it says (below 132:14): “This is my resting place forever.”

'That they should not enter into My rest' — meaning that they would have rest and an inheritance, in the manner of: 'And I will make them joyful in My house of prayer' (Isaiah 56:7).

"Wherefore" — on account of this I was angry with them, and I swore that they would not enter My rest — that is, the land of Israel, of which it is said: "to the rest and to the inheritance," for there Israel rested. And he says "My rest" — meaning, the rest that I gave them. And the interpretation of "if" — [it is used] in the manner of an oath, just as a person says: "such-and-such will be, if this happens."

"That I swore" — Because of this I was angry with them, and I swore in the heat of My wrath that they would not enter into My rest — this is the Land of Israel. "If they shall enter" — This is in the manner of an oath and a threat in which the consequence is left unstated; it is like a person who says, "Such-and-such will happen if I do this thing," and likewise "if I lie to David" (above, Psalm 89).