SHOUT! SING!

Oh come, let’s sing to Yahweh.

Let’s shout aloud to the rock of our salvation!

Let’s come before his presence with thanksgiving.

Let’s extol him with songs!

For Yahweh is a great God, a great King above all gods. In his hand are the deep places of the earth. The heights of the mountains are also his. The sea is his, and he made it. His hands formed the dry land.

Oh come, let’s worship and bow down.

Let’s kneel before Yahweh, our Maker, for he is our God.

We are the people of his pasture, and the sheep in his care. Psalm 95:1-7 (WEB)

“Let us sing and shout!” If this seems a bit excessive when you think about worshiping God, remember the Super Bowl? A concert? Do you sit quietly during the whole event? I think God deserves more emotion from me than a football team or even a baseball team! It’s not about the amount of external noise that I make. It’s about the genuine enthusiasm that comes from my spirit, my heart!

Can you see how the psalmist, the songwriter, was so overwhelmed with gratitude to God for what He had done that his lyrics just burst from inside of him. This psalm reads like the words from Handel’s “Messiah” or Don Moen’s “Give Thanks”. The words are so full of the relationship of the writer and his Lord. I can feel how the writer has had several experiences with God and felt God’s presence in his life. He has seen the power of God and the gentle love of God. He is kneeling with gratitude for what God has done in his life.

[Jesus said,] “I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and I’m known by my own; even as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep, which are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will hear my voice. They will become one flock with one shepherd.” John 10:14-16 (WEB)

Jesus laid down His life … for me. He laid it down, not because of an order, although He was obedient to His Father, but He chose to lay down His life for me. And He would do it again. That, to me, is the unspoken part of the sentence. Praise God, it is not necessary!!!

I am taking some time every day to finish this sentence: “I am thankful today for ______.” Try it. Be specific as possible and realize that each day that God is doing in our lives more and more on top of the indescribable gift of salvation!

Shout for joy to Yahweh, all you lands!

Serve Yahweh with gladness.

Come before his presence with singing.

Know that Yahweh, he is God. It is he who has made us, and we are his.

We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, into his courts with praise.

Give thanks to him, and bless his name. For Yahweh is good.

His loving kindness endures forever, his faithfulness to all generations. Psalm 100 (WEB)