Matt Redman - Your Grace Finds MeSýnishorn

Sing & Shout

A.W. Tozer once wrote that, “the people of God have always been a bit noisy.” And he was right - take a tour through scripture and there’s plenty of joyful noise going on. The people of God love to party. Time after time, when they gather to celebrate the goodness and greatness of their God, we’ll find a song, a dance or a shout. And when we read through the Psalms, the songbook of the Bible, we ourselves are encouraged to do the same:

“Sing to Him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy.” (Psalm 33:3)

“Sing for joy to God our strength; shout aloud to the God of Jacob.” (Psalm 81: 1)

“Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.” (Psalm 95:1)

There’s a time for stillness and reflection. It’s vital that we embrace silent moments, and that we breathe reverence into our worship of Jesus. But there’s also a moment to be raucous and unreserved, rejoicing at His kindness and Kingship with everything that’s in us. Joy is a vital ingredient in Christian worship.

When we do begin to celebrate, it’s never a party just for the sake of it. There’s a reason behind the rejoicing. There is substance behind the shouting. We sing loud and we shout for joy because we have been delivered out of death and given an eternal inheritance in Christ. It’s a song of thankfulness and a cry of victory. We jump upon the springboard of salvation and rise up into praise.

“What could be better than a grace
That washes all our shame away –
What could be better than Your great love?
What could be better than a grace
That leads us home and makes a way –
What could be better than Your great love?”

As the people of God, sometimes we need to be ‘a little bit noisy.’ It is the Holy sound of the rescued and redeemed.