Shout with Joy
How comfortable are you with praising God?
Verse of the Day
“Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth! Worship the Lord with gladness. Come before him, singing with joy.”
Today’s Devotional
What do you think of when you hear the word “shout”? To me it has a negative connotation. Parents shout at their kids. People shout at other drivers in traffic. People get in shouting matches over differing opinions. But here, we are called to shout with joy to the Lord. Webster defines shout as “to utter in a loud voice.” So I am supposed to loudly declare with my voice the joy I have to the Lord.
I don’t think I do that. So what am I missing? I shout very loudly at the TV when the Aggies get a bad call from the referees. There are certain songs that I sing very loudly, but usually only when I am alone. Why am I not shouting with joy to God?
I think, even when I am alone, I worry too much about the opinions of other people. Maybe shouting to God will make people think I am a fanatic. Or weird. Maybe it will push people away. But as I think about that, I want to be so full of the joy of the Lord that it alters my behavior. I want to be so focused on Jesus and how I can praise Him that I care a lot less about how I think people feel about me. Because if I am that focused on Jesus, He will teach me how to love those people better. Which will make them want to know what I’ve got. Which will point them to Him.
Ultimately, Jesus wants my whole heart. He wants a heart that is not ashamed to proclaim His greatness. He wants me to sing my praises to Him at church, at home, in the car and wherever else I feel so moved. And He doesn’t want me to sing only the songs that I like. If those songs are about Him, I should be singing. I heard a story about a church member that told the pastor after church that he didn’t like any of the songs that morning in church. The pastor replied, “That’s ok, we weren’t worshipping you.” I want to be so full of joy and praise and gratitude that my particular opinions about a song don’t matter. (I’m not there yet, by the way.)
This verse is teaching me that God wants me to abandon myself to Him. He wants me to be so wrapped up in declaring his goodness that everything else falls away. And if I can’t do that, then I must not really understand who God is, how much He loves me, and how astounding His efforts are to capture my heart. If I really understood that, I would never stop singing and shouting.
Journal Prompts
Answer only the questions that seem relevant to you today.
How comfortable are you with declaring your joy about God’s love for you?
How could you abandon yourself more to Jesus today?
How can you shout, worship and sing to him today?
Does God deserve your praise? If so, why?