To enter or not to enter : a literary and theological study of psalm 95

Abstract

Psalm 95 is certainly one of the widely used psalms in the Christian tradition. Since the tiine of St. Benedict it is used as an invitatory psalm in the daily liturgy of the Latin rite. Traditional Christian exegesis, following the interpretation of the psalm in Heb 3,7-4,11, has interpreted it eschatologically. Because of their disobedience and obstinacy, the Jewish people were kept from entering the promised rest. Therefore, this same rest is now offered to the new people of God, the Church. Without denying the legitimacy of such an approach, here we would like to bring out the meaning of the psalm in itself and in its own context. The message of the psalm as envisaged by its author, as we shall see, is not bound to the Old Testament but applies also to us who celebrate it today in our liturgies.