(א) לְכוּ נְרַנְּנָה לה’ נָרִיעָה לְצוּר יִשְׁעֵנוּ
Come, let us sing praises to Hashem; let us call out to the Rock of our salvation.
The Malbim explains that the chapters of Tehillim that make up Kabalas Shabbos are talking about one main theme, namely the two different modes of hashgacha (providence) that Hashem employs to run the world.
The first type is hashgacha through nature and the second type is miracles that are above the laws of nature. This first chapter (Tehillim 95) is more of an introduction to the coming chapters elaborating the difference between the Jewish people and the nations of the world. Chapters 96 and 97 talk about Hashem running the world through nature (and concealed miracles). Chapters 98 and 99 refer to this second, more miraculous mode of hashgacha.
The first two lines of Lechu Neranena serve as an introduction to this topic.
‘Come, let us sing praises to Hashem’, because He is the Creator of the entire universe and all that is in it. Especially ‘Let us call out’ because He is ‘The Rock of our salvation’ through hashgacha pratis, Divine providence. The word nariya comes from the same root as teruah which is sounded when the king is present amongst his people (as per various verses in Shmuel 1) which in the context of this chapter is Hashem’s involvement with each of us individually.
Discover more from Rabbi Roodyn
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
