We Are The City Harmonic Exemplo

"Shout!" 

I remember sitting in church on one particular Sunday morning when our pastor stood up at the front and asked us to do something very simple. 

“I’m going to say a line,” he said, “and I want you to do what it says.”

“Shout to the Lord!” he exclaimed. 

Now, as a Dutch-Canadian Reformed congregation we were a little bit puzzled, because we would never shout out during any of our services.  So, we did the only thing we could think of and simply repeated the line back to him. 

“No, no, no.” He replied with a smile. “I don’t want you to repeat the line, I want you to do what it says.”

“Shout to the Lord!” he continued. 

There was a pause.  

Soon, some of the members of our congregation began to shout out Praise the Lord! or Hallelujah!  It was clear that our pastor was trying to push through a cultural norm and teach us that, once in a while, despite our sensibilities and misgivings, it is good to shout out a joyful noise unto the Lord. 

Psalm 98 inspired us to write a song titled Shout!  This ancient psalm reminds us that there are times when we, as the body of Christ, should make a joyful noise unto the Lord and, yes, even shout out unto to him.  It also calls for us to use our various musical instruments to accompany our voices as we lift our praises toward God. 

The words of psalm 98 also serve to remind us that we are not alone.  We are not the only ones praising God. We are joining in with the rest of creation! 

The psalmist says, “Let the sea roar!...Let the rivers clap their hands!...Let the hills sing for joy together!”  We shout out together with everything that God has created, for we all serve a righteous and just God.  There is great unity that comes when we shout and sing together.

May you be blessed by the words of Psalm 98, and may it cause such great joy, within and without, as you consider what an incredible Lord and Savior we serve together. 

-Josh, The City Harmonic