Psalm 95, the Venite, “Come let us praise the Lord with joy,” is the psalm with which the Church begins each day of prayer. It calls us to worship the Lord, “a great King above all gods,” and warns, “Today if you shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” In the Douay-Rheims it is numbered Psalm 94. Below is the full Catholic text, what the psalm means, how the Church uses it, and a prayer.
Psalm 95 in the Douay-Rheims Bible
Come let us praise the Lord with joy: let us joyfully sing to God our saviour.
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving; and make a joyful noise to him with psalms.
For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
For in his hand are all the ends of the earth: and the heights of the mountains are his.
For the sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land.
Come let us adore and fall down: and weep before the Lord that made us.
For he is the Lord our God: and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.
Today if you shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts:
As in the provocation, according to the day of temptation in the wilderness: where your fathers tempted me, they proved me, and saw my works.
Forty years long was I offended with that generation, and I said: These always err in heart.
And these men have not known my ways: so I swore in my wrath that they shall not enter into my rest.
Psalm 95 or Psalm 94?
The Douay-Rheims Bible follows the numbering of the Latin Vulgate and the Greek Septuagint, while most modern Bibles follow the Hebrew. So the Douay’s Psalm 94 is Psalm 95 in the New American Bible and other modern translations. In Latin the psalm begins Venite, exsultemus Domino. See how many psalms are there?
“Today, if you hear his voice”
The Letter to the Hebrews builds a whole sermon on the end of this psalm:
Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith: Today if you shall hear his voice,
Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation; in the day of temptation in the desert,
“Today” is every day God speaks to us. The “provocation” and “temptation” are the places in the desert, Meribah and Massah, where Israel tested God by demanding water (Exodus 17:1–7), and the “rest” that the unfaithful generation did not enter points to the eternal rest of heaven (Hebrews 4).
What the psalm means
- A call to joyful praise: “let us joyfully sing to God our saviour… and make a joyful noise to him with psalms.”
- The great King of creation: the depths of the earth, the mountains and the sea all belong to him.
- Worship with the body: “Come let us adore and fall down… before the Lord that made us.” Catholics kneel and bow for the same reason.
- We are his flock: “we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.”
- Listening today: praise must lead to obedience, with hearts open to God’s word.
How the Church uses Psalm 95
- As the Invitatory, the opening psalm of the first prayer of each day in the Liturgy of the Hours. Psalms 100, 67 or 24 may replace it. See the Liturgy of the Hours.
- At Mass, on the Third Sunday of Lent (Year A), with the Samaritan woman, and on the Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A): “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”
- In Lent, as a call to conversion.
A prayer with Psalm 95
Written for this page:
Come, let us sing to the Lord and bow down before the God who made us.
Lord, you are my God and I am the sheep of your hand.
Today, when I hear your voice, keep my heart from hardening.
Lead me into your rest, now and for ever. Amen.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Invitatory psalm?
The psalm that begins the first Hour of the Liturgy of the Hours each day, usually Psalm 95, sung with an antiphon.
What does Venite mean?
“Come,” the first word of the psalm in Latin: Venite, exsultemus Domino.
Where is “Today if you hear his voice, harden not your hearts”?
Psalm 95:7–8 (94:8 in the Douay-Rheims), quoted in Hebrews 3:7–8.
More psalms and prayers
Texts and sources
- Scripture: Psalm 94 (95); Hebrews 3:7–8, Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner), public domain.
- The prayer was written for this page.