WELCOMING THE SABBATH
The following Kabbalath Shabbath Service is omitted on festivals which coincide with the Sabbath. The Ma‘ariv service for festivals begins on page 258.
Psalm 95
Come, let us sing to the Lord; let us acclaim our saving Strong- hold.
Let us approach him with thanksgiving; let us acclaim him with songs of praise.
For the Lord is a great God, a King supreme above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth; the mountain-peaks are his.
His is the sea, for he made it; his hands formed the dry land.
Come, let us worship and bow down; let us bend the knee before the Lord who made us.
For he is our God, and we are the people he sustains, the flock under his charge; if this day you would only obey his voice!
Harden not your heart as at Meribah, as in the day of Massah in the wilderness, when your fathers tried me.
They tested me, although they had seen my work.
For forty years I loathed that generation, and said: “They are a senseless people, who know not my ways.”
So I vowed in my anger that they should never enter my land.
Psalm 96
Sing a new song to the Lord; sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Sing to the Lord, bless his name; announce his salvation from day to day.
Recount his glory among the nations, his wonders—among the peoples.
For great is the Lord and highly to be praised; he is to be revered above all gods.
For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens.
his people. It contains a warning against disobedience, and alludes to the fate of the rebellious Israelites in the wilderness (Exodus 17:7; Numbers 20:13).
Psalm 96 contrasts God’s power and glory with the worthlessness of the heathen idols, and appeals to the nations to acknowledge God and to rejoice in the prospect of his righteous rule on earth.
