”O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph.” (Psalms 47:1)
Think of how we express our emotions at a ball game or performance. We clap our hands and shout, “Yes, alright, good job!” Don’t you think it would be appropriate to do the same when praising our God? Shouting can have an impact as opposed to being quiet. Of course, there are times when being quiet is good but let’s look at some examples.
When God’s people were faced with the city of Jericho that God had given them, they were given some specific instructions: “When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in.” (Joshua 6:5). God’s people did what God had commanded, even though it sounded strange, and Jericho’s walls fell down! “Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.” (Psalms 95:1).
Judging from this, it would be a good idea, when the devil comes at us with another temptation, for us to shout loudly, “JESUS!” The devil knows there’s bad news for him when we call out to Jesus. I remember going to a Promise Keepers gathering in Washington DC years ago and there were thousands of us men standing on the Mall. The speaker asked us, on the count of three, to shout the name of our church. We did and could not distinguish anything powerful. Then he asked us to shout the name of our Savoir, 1,2,3…JESUS! Wow, what a powerful demonstration!
This made me think, does Jesus shout at us? As parents, coaches or others in our lives sometimes need to shout to get our attention or change our direction; I don’t think Jesus does that, although, at times, we need it. But He speaks to us in a “still small voice” (1 Kings 19:12). We have to listen, quieten the noises around us and listen. But as for us, these lyrics stand: “Shout to the Lord All the earth let us sing. Power and majesty Praise to the King. Mountains bow down and the sea will roar at the sound of Your Name.” Let’s give God a shout!