Read Psalm 66

“Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth! Sing out the honor of His name; Make His praise glorious.” (Psalm 66:1–2)

The unknown psalmist invites us in to worship the God of Heaven as he declares the greatness of the LORD. And in this beautiful Psalm we rediscover what it means to be happy in our praises to God.

First, we must notice the loudness. Words like shout and sing out show the psalmist’s emphasis to audibly amplify our praises to God. Further on the author continues his commands in similar fashion, saying —

“Oh, bless our God, you peoples! And make the voice of His praise to be heard... I cried to Him with my mouth, And He was extolled with my tongue.” (Psalm 66:8, 17)

When was the last time you praised God with all the volume your lungs could produce? When was your last shout of praise? Sometimes the most appropriate forms of worship are undignified and rowdy. We see this many times across the Psalms, and even have specific examples of this in David’s own life (see 2 Samuel 6:15-22).

“Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands! Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing.” (Psalm 100:1–2)

Secondly, we must notice the joy. What a joy to worship the Almighty God! Us modern day folk could take a few notes from the ancients. The atmosphere of worship in our culture tends to gravitate toward solemnity rather than jubilance, and somberness rather than thankfulness.

How have we forgotten joy? It is such a critical ingredient to our times of worship. Joy is the purest expression of praise and exaltation. It enraptures the heart to recognize the goodness of God and produces thankfulness. I must ask you — are your praises unto God full of joy?

“This is the day the LORD has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24)

Last of all, we must notice the explicit focus on God Himself. The call to worship by the psalmist was not to bring God down to our level and worship Him from our viewpoint. Rather, we are called to worship God for who He is and exalt Him on high! There is power in declaring the greatness of God. We must learn to transcend our circumstances, whether good or bad, and simply honor God for who He is, for He is deserving and greatly to be praised!

Will you make a joyful shout to God today?

“Oh come, let us sing to the LORD! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the LORD is the great God, And the great King above all gods.” (Psalm 95:1–3)