Day #209 - Shout!
The Presence - A Devotional for living in Thanksgiving, Worship and Wonder
“Shout for joy to God, all the earth! Sing the glory of his name; make his praise glorious. Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies cringe before you. All the earth bows down to you; they sing praise to you, they sing the praises of your name.””
Psalms 66:1-4 NIV
Have you ever lost your voice from shouting?
I’m a talker and I get loud so I’ve lost my voice a lot in church, in sporting events and in concerts. I love to shout in worship and I’m not good at pacing myself when I have to preach. I used to lose my voice every Sunday from preaching with passion, but also because I loved to sing loud during the worship. I love getting to sing at the top of my lungs with one of my favorite bands or music artists. There is something about putting your whole heart and your whole body into a shout!
In Psalm 66, we are instructed to “Shout for joy to God!” We are to sing in a way that makes our praise glorious. We are to declare how awesome God is and lift up His name. Making our praise loud is a key to entering God’s presence. There are times when we are to be still and peaceful to access God’s presence. But there is something about shouting our praise loudly that also causes us to enter “the Presence.”
Later in this Psalm we learn that if we don’t deal with sin in our heart, God will not hear us. So its important that to dwell in God’s presence we don’t just have outward forms like shouting our worship if our heart is not right before God. But when our heart is right before Him, a good shout for joy has the power to effect our enemies, our environment and our access to God’s manifest presence.
If you haven’t shouted in a time of worship, get ready to turn it up in time alone with Him or when you worship with your church. Put your whole heart and your whole voice into some holy and happy shouts. Bring God your whole heart and lift up a sound. Don’t care what others think about you being bold in worship. Of course, don’t draw attention towards yourself in a gathering of worship, but also don’t hold back. Bringing God a shout of praise is glorious, liberating and changes the atmosphere.
Lord, I shout for joy to You my God! I sing and shout and bring You praise! Your power causes my enemies to cringe! Show me how to make Your praise glorious! You are worthy! I will not regard sin in my heart, so that you will receive my prayer. I enter boldly and loudly into Your presence My King! In Jesus name, amen!