NOTES for Psa 95
One might say that this psalm too falls into two parts, one of which praises the greatness of the Lord while the second, as a warning to new generations, recalls their sins. Yet the song need not be divided into components, for all its words are interconnected.
The words “we are the people of His pasture” should be recognized as the connecting knot that gives the psalm its integrity. Biblical revelation contains no abstract philosophical notion that He is by Himself and we are by ourselves. No, He does not look upon us coldly; to Him we are neither dust nor a collection of elementary particles. If the Lord prevents us from entering the place to which He Himself wants to lead us, it means that for the moment our sins make us unable to enter it. Yet it is precisely because we are not inanimate bricks that can be used for building anywhere that He is demanding toward us.
In His demands we must see one of the most important manifestations of His love for us.