What Does Psalm 95:1 Mean?
Come, let us ring out to the LORD, and let us shout to the rock of our deliverance.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.THE KEY
The invitation holds two different sounds, a ringing song and a raised shout, both aimed at the Rock of deliverance.
THE MEANING
You are included in a shared invitation to sing to the LORD, the Rock of your deliverance. The Hebrew sets a ringing song beside a raised shout, so the praise has both melody and force. Deliverance has a source and footing: the LORD is named as its Rock.
THE ROOT
יִשְׁעֵנוּ
yish'enu
GROWS FROM
י־ש־ע
To deliver, bringing someone out of constriction into room and safety.
The Hebrew names deliverance as a movement, not merely an abstract status. Here that movement is grounded in the image of the Rock: the LORD is the source of the deliverance being sung.
ALSO GROWS
yasha: To deliver or rescue.
יָשַׁע
The verb shows the active movement contained in the verse’s word for deliverance.
yeshuah: Deliverance or rescue.
יְשׁוּעָה
This noun carries the same root into a word for the deliverance itself.
hoshia: He delivered or rescued.
הוֹשִׁיעַ
This form makes the root’s movement concrete: someone is brought out of danger.
נָרִיעָה
nariah
GROWS FROM
ר־ו־ע
To raise a shout, cry aloud, or sound a signal.
The Hebrew word can name a shout of acclaim as well as a signal or alarm. “Joyful noise” therefore carries the force of a raised, public cry, not only a pleasant sound.
ALSO GROWS
teru'ah: A shout, alarm, or trumpet signal.
תְּרוּעָה
This noun shows the root’s range from celebration to a signal that demands attention.
hari'u: Shout aloud or raise a cry.
הָרִיעוּ
This form echoes the verse’s call to make a full-voiced sound.
נְרַנְּנָה
nerannenah
GROWS FROM
ר־נ־ן
To cry out, ring out, or sing for joy.
“ring out” in this verse is nerannenah. The root holds singing and shouting together in a voice that rings out. Beside the separate root for “joyful noise,” it gives the invitation two distinct but joined forms of praise.
ALSO GROWS
rinnah: A ringing cry or song of joy.
רִנָּה
This noun keeps the sense of a voice breaking out in gladness.
harninu: Sing aloud or shout for joy.
הַרְנִינוּ
This form shows the same root as an emphatic call to let the voice ring out.
THE PATTERN
Deliverance from the LORD becomes a shared, full-voiced song.
Look, God is my deliverance. I will lean my full weight and not tremble, for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song, and he has become my deliverance.He sets a new song in my mouth, praise to our God. Many see and stand in awe, and lean their weight upon the LORD.And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are your works, Lord God Almighty; aligned and true are your ways, King of the nations.THE THREAD
Look, God is my deliverance. I will lean my full weight and not tremble, for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song, and he has become my deliverance.Psalm 95 names the LORD as the Rock of our deliverance; Isaiah uses the same ישע root in “salvation” and joins it with strength and song. The shared root lets the song sound like the voice of deliverance received from its source.
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