Singing and shouting are Biblical ways of exalting God and acknowledging – not only to our own feelings or other people, but also to the whole spiritual realm of unseen powers – that God is worthy of praise. Shouts of praise are found in many places in the Bible (e.g. Judges 7:20, Ezra 3:11, Ps 98:4, Ps 100:1, Ps 47:1, Is 26:19, Jonah 2:9), and there are even more Biblical references and exhortations to sing to the Lord (e.g. Ps 96:1-2, Ex 15:1, Ps 13:6, Ps 68:4, Ps 98:10). Heb 13:5 reminds us we should ‘continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise – the fruit of lips that openly profess His name.’
Many of us find it difficult to sing and shout to God. We are held back perhaps by our feeling that this is a little bit fanatical and are afraid of what others may say about us. Like David who danced before the Lord with abandon when the ark of the covenant was return to Israel, we may attract scorn (see 2 Sam 6:14-16) and are not sure we want to ‘stand out from the crowd’. Jesus reminded the Pharisees who wanted a less tumultuous welcome from people for Jesus as He entered Jerusalem, ‘if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out!’ (Luke 19:40) When our hearts overflow with who God is and all He has done, we will not want to keep quiet!
A more insidious reason for not praising God is the belief that we can only do this when we are happy, that it is hypocritical to praise God when we are anxious, hurt and grieving. We have to learn that the sacrifice of praise is given even when we see no reason to praise God. God is most worthy of praise (2 Sam 22:4, 1 Chron 16:25, Ps 18:3, Ps 48:1, Ps 96:3, Ps 145:3) – worthy of praise on good days and bad days. ‘What is true in the light is true in the dark.’ As Kutless sing,
‘When days are gold and life is good,
When the plans we make go as they should,
Or when the sky turns dark and heartache falls,
And a lonely painful season calls.
We will worship with all of our hearts,
We will worship all that You are,
Through the best, through the worst,
Jesusm we choose: we will worship You.’ (‘We Will Worship’, Kutless)