John Calvin Commentary Psalms 95:7

"For he is our God, And we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To-day, oh that ye would hear his voice!" — Psalms 95:7 (ASV)

Because he is our God. While it is true that all people were created to praise God, there are reasons why the Church is especially said to have been formed for that purpose (Isaiah 61:3). The Psalmist was entitled to require this service more particularly from his chosen people.

This is the reason why he impresses upon the children of Abraham the invaluable privilege God had conferred on them by taking them under his protection. Indeed, it may be said that God has, in a sense, done so much for all humankind. But when he is spoken of as the Shepherd of the Church, more is meant than that he favors her with the common nourishment, support, and governance that he extends to the whole human family without distinction; he is called this because he separates her from the rest of the world and cherishes her with a special and fatherly regard.

His people are accordingly spoken of here as the people of his pastures, whom he watches over with special care and loads with blessings of every kind. The passage might have been clearer if the Psalmist had called them the flock of his pastures, and the people of his hand; or, if he had merely added—and his flock—the imagery might have been expressed more consistently and plainly.

But his object was less elegance of expression than impressing upon the people a sense of the inestimable favor conferred on them in their adoption, by which they were called to live under the faithful guardianship of God and to the enjoyment of every kind of blessing. They are called the flock of his hand, not so much because they were formed by his hand as because they are governed by it—or, to use a French expression, le Troupeau de sa conduite. The interpretation that some have given to this expression, as if it intimated how intent God was on feeding his people (doing it himself and not employing hired shepherds), may perhaps scarcely be supported by the words in their genuine meaning; but it cannot be doubted that the Psalmist meant to express the very gracious and personal kind of guidance that this one nation enjoyed at that time.

This is not to say that God dispensed with human agency, entrusting the care of the people as he did to priests, prophets, and judges, and later to kings. No more is meant than that in fulfilling the office of shepherd to this people, he exercised a supervision over them different from the common providence that extends to the rest of the world.

To-day, if you will hear his voice. According to the Hebrew expositors, this is a conditional clause connected with the preceding sentence; by this interpretation, the Psalmist must be considered as warning the people that they would retain possession of their privilege and distinction only as long as they continued to obey God.

The Greek version joins it with the verse that follows—to-day, if ye will hear his voice harden not your hearts, and it reads well in this connection. If we adopt the arrangement of the Hebrew expositors, the Psalmist seems to say that the descendants of Abraham were the flock of God’s hand, since he had placed his Law among them, which was, so to speak, his shepherd's staff, and had thus shown himself to be their shepherd.

The Hebrew particle אם (im), which has been translated as if, would in that case be expository rather than conditional and might be translated as when; the words would then denote that the great distinction between the Jews and the surrounding nations was that God had directed his voice to the former, as it is frequently noted he had not done to the latter (Psalms 147:20; Deuteronomy 4:6, 7).

Moses had declared this to be the basis of their superiority to other peoples, saying, What nation is there under heaven which hath its gods so nigh unto it? The inspired writers frequently borrow from Moses, as is well known, and the Psalmist, by the expression to-day, intimates how emphatically the Jews, by hearing God’s voice, were his people, for the proof was not far off; it consisted in something that was present and before their eyes.

He bids them recognize God as their shepherd because they heard his voice; and it was an instance of his unique grace that he had addressed them in such a gracious and personal manner. Some take the adverb to be one of exhortation and read, I would that they would hear my voice, but this does violence to the words.

The passage reads well when understood in the other meaning we have assigned to it. Since they had a constant opportunity of hearing the voice of God—since he gave them not only one proof of his care for them as shepherd, or a yearly proof of it, but a continual demonstration of it—there could be no doubt that the Jews were chosen to be his flock.