The Meaning of Psalms 95:9 Explained

Psalms 95:9

KJV: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.

YLT: Where your fathers have tried Me, Have proved Me, yea, have seen My work.

Darby: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.

ASV: When your fathers tempted me, Proved me, and saw my work.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

When your fathers  tempted  me, proved  me, and saw  my work. 

What does Psalms 95:9 Mean?

Study Notes

tempted
Temptation. Psalms 106:14 ; Genesis 3:1 ; James 1:2 .

Context Summary

Psalm 95:1-11 - Praise The Lord And Tempt Him Not
This psalm is deeply inwoven into the life of the Church, because of the worshipful strain which pervades it, and also because of the illuminating manner in which it is introduced into the argument of Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-16. The works of God in creation are specially enumerated as incentives to praise. The sea, the hills, the deep places of the earth have often inspired the minstrel, but how much more the devout soul!
Let us remember, also, when we are tossed on the seas of life, or are called to descend into valleys of shadow, that faith will still dare to sing. But in the second stanza of the psalm, from Psalms 95:6 onward, we are confronted with the sad story of Exodus 17:1-16. There are Meribahs and Massahs in all lives, where we murmur against God's dealings and lose our inward rest. There is a sabbatism of the heart when the will is yielded to God's will, and the bean is cleansed from its wayward whims; when the very peace that fills the divine nature settles down on the heart. That experience is an entrance into God's rest. It remains unexhausted for all the people of God. Let us not miss it through default of faith! [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalm 95

1  An exhortation to praise God
3  For his greatness
6  And for his goodness
8  And not to tempt him

What do the individual words in Psalms 95:9 mean?

when tested Me your fathers they tried Me though they saw My work
אֲשֶׁ֣ר נִ֭סּוּנִי אֲבוֹתֵיכֶ֑ם בְּ֝חָנ֗וּנִי גַּם־ רָא֥וּ פָעֳלִֽי

נִ֭סּוּנִי  tested  Me 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Perfect, third person common plural, first person common singular
Root: נָסָה  
Sense: to test, try, prove, tempt, assay, put to the proof or test.
אֲבוֹתֵיכֶ֑ם  your  fathers 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, second person masculine plural
Root: אָב  
Sense: father of an individual.
בְּ֝חָנ֗וּנִי  they  tried  Me 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural, first person common singular
Root: בָּחַן  
Sense: to examine, try, prove.
גַּם־  though 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: גַּם  
Sense: also, even, indeed, moreover, yea.
רָא֥וּ  they  saw 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: רָאָה 
Sense: to see, look at, inspect, perceive, consider.
פָעֳלִֽי  My  work 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, first person common singular
Root: פֹּעַל  
Sense: work, deed, doing.