What, then, would be the occasion for composition? It can be agreed by most all scholars that this psalm existed during or for use in a festival. Whether it was for a singular, specific festival or for a regularly occurring festival is hard to establish. It could have been composed as a dedication of the second temple. More likely, however, is the idea that this psalm originated from a regularly occurring festival. This festival could be an enthronement festival, and autumnal festival, the Festival of Booths or Tabernacles and could been used during the Sabbath or New Year.
Enthronement festivals often include a prophetic warning. Psalm 50:5 says” I heard a voice I had not known”. This leads to a prophetic section of the psalm. Similarly, …show more content…
This is an alternation from Exhortation(A: vv 1-2) to Reason(B: vv 3-5) back to Exhortation(A’: vv 6) and again to Reason(B’: vv 7a-c). The A sections (vv 1-2; 6) each contain three different calls to worship. The first call to worship in Psalm 95 is immediate. Verses 1 and 2 comprise this exhortation and are parallel. The speaker is jussive through this section. The very first word of the psalm is the command, “come”. More accurately, this could be described as a command or an invitation. “Come” does not mean to literally come and/or go, but to respond with brisk and cheerful readiness. This phrase is not used to begin any other psalm (although there is a parallel word used in Psalm 100 which means “come in”). In this exhortation, the Israelites are commanded to “sing to the Lord, make a joyful noise to the Rock of our salvation”. The Hebrew word for “sing” could be more accurately interpreted as “a ringing cry”. This word was often used in reference to God’s acts. The word “Rock” could be more literally translated as “mountain”. This could relate to the prophetic section (vv 7d-11) and its reference to Massah and Meribah. In fact, this word is the same word used in Exod. 17:16 as the water-giving rock from the Massah
Enthronement festivals often include a prophetic warning. Psalm 50:5 says” I heard a voice I had not known”. This leads to a prophetic section of the psalm. Similarly, …show more content…
This is an alternation from Exhortation(A: vv 1-2) to Reason(B: vv 3-5) back to Exhortation(A’: vv 6) and again to Reason(B’: vv 7a-c). The A sections (vv 1-2; 6) each contain three different calls to worship. The first call to worship in Psalm 95 is immediate. Verses 1 and 2 comprise this exhortation and are parallel. The speaker is jussive through this section. The very first word of the psalm is the command, “come”. More accurately, this could be described as a command or an invitation. “Come” does not mean to literally come and/or go, but to respond with brisk and cheerful readiness. This phrase is not used to begin any other psalm (although there is a parallel word used in Psalm 100 which means “come in”). In this exhortation, the Israelites are commanded to “sing to the Lord, make a joyful noise to the Rock of our salvation”. The Hebrew word for “sing” could be more accurately interpreted as “a ringing cry”. This word was often used in reference to God’s acts. The word “Rock” could be more literally translated as “mountain”. This could relate to the prophetic section (vv 7d-11) and its reference to Massah and Meribah. In fact, this word is the same word used in Exod. 17:16 as the water-giving rock from the Massah