Sing.
Shout.
Burst.
Create.
Roar.
Clap.
Psalm 98 is full of actions – BIG ACTIONS – for us to worship the Lord. Depending on your faith background and traditions, the word worship brings different thoughts, feelings, visuals, and sounds to mind. A quick search on google brought the following images. Do any of these resonate with your on worship experiences?
My own faith journey has brought me through seasons of personal worship that was emotional, solemn, loud, and exuberant. And corporate worship that ranged from strictly acapella to full on rock band worship. And I have grown to understand, love and appreciate each season.
What’s so great about the body of Christ is that we are all unique and come with different gifts, desires, and preferences. And the Lord gives us awesome examples of this in scripture.
In the past year, our 7 year old has been dubbed “The Whistler”. He is always whistling a tune. Loudly whistling. To any song that is on his heart. High pitch, low pitch, fast or slow. His breath control is amazing. It’s mostly fun and sweet to hear the constant melody in our home (I’m talking CONSTANT), but I admit that at times it can be ear-piercing and I just desire quiet. I’ve been praying about that and my response 🙂 I was also concerned of the disruption it may create at school – but he quickly reminded me that he can’t whistle when he is wearing a mask. His teacher dodged a bullet there! All that to say – the joy in his heart really is contagious! The whistling brings a lightness and softness to our home. The Lord has changed my heart to embrace his whistling and remember it as his form of worship.
This past weekend, the cub scouts had a campout, and there were a few that got caught up in song, dance, and instruments. While a passerby may have thought these untrained budding musicians were just making a racket – my heart swelled. They were making merry! I teared up at the simplicity of their joy and the music they were creating. God created us to worship – not just for him, but for us! How good is worship for our soul!
As I studied Psalm 98 the past couple of weeks, each time I tried to read it as a challenge to my own worship that day. What am I grateful for right now, that brings me to clapping? What’s a new song I can learn and sing to the Lord? When was the last time I shouted a praise out to God?
1 Sing to the Lord a new song,
for he has done marvelous things;
his right hand and his holy arm
have worked salvation for him.
2 The Lord has made his salvation known
and revealed his righteousness to the nations.
3 He has remembered his love
and his faithfulness to Israel;
all the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
4 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth,
burst into jubilant song with music;
5 make music to the Lord with the harp,
with the harp and the sound of singing,
6 with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn—
shout for joy before the Lord, the King.
7 Let the sea roar, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it.
8 Let the rivers clap their hands,
let the mountains sing together for joy;
9 let them sing before the Lord,
for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
and the peoples with equity.
Did you catch some of the things that bring about these praise actions?
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- Salvation (verse 1)
- Loving (verse 3)
- Faithfulness (verse 3)
- Righteousness (verse 9)
- Equity & Judgement (verse 9)
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What are you praising God for today?
