Ps. 95.7 (reconfiguring possession)

For he / is our God
and we / are the people of his pastur
the flock / under his care. 

This verse is central to the psalm because it is pivotal. It transitions the psalm from the first section of praise to the second section of admonition. The psalmist does this in an expert fashion, through a shift of imagery and a shift of emphasis. As we have seen, the first section has focused almost exclusively on Yhwh’s role as Creator, from the depths, to the heights, to man. All of this is Yhwh’s, because he has fashioned it. The ‘ownership’, importantly, is Yhwh’s. Here, that emphasis of ‘possession’ shifts, though, from creation to covenant, and in that shift, now man role as ‘possessor’ emerges: “For he is our God..”. This is key. This verse clearly refers to the language of covenant creation between Yhwh and Israel, “For you will be my people, and I will be your God.” . In other words, we are now moving into the creation of Israel by way of covenant election. Within this realm of ‘creation’ we move into the realm of faithfulness, that realm wherein obedience and trust emerge and, hence, ‘commandments’. This type of ‘ownership’ is ownership-as-faithfulness. This is why this verse gathers up the images of ‘creation’ and now moves it into the realm of ‘faithfulness’ (by way of covenant). 

This provides the basis for the shift in imagery to that of Shepherd and flock. And this is really very important for what follows. Yhwh is not often referred to as a Shepherd but a time that he is, is in the context of the Exodus when he, like a Shepherd, led Israel from Egypt to “his pasture”, the Land. This ‘exodus’ was also, importantly, when the covenant was forged. Here, what we see is that Israel remains a flock “led by Yhwh” but they are ‘grazing in his pasture’; they are in the Land, unlike their fathers who never obtained it but were frustrated for forty years and sworn into a permanent exile from it. So, what we see here, is that the psalmist has 1) reconfigured the idea of ‘possession’ around covenant and 2) is now affirming to the people that they, unlike their fathers, are dwelling in Yhwh’s pasture. What this sets up is the following section where: 1) covenant disobedience will lead to 2) exile