Sing, Shout, Clap Your Hands!
“Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous…Praise the Lord…Sing to Him a new song…” Psalm 33:1-3 NKJV
I remember learning grammar in grade school and being fascinated by verbs. Verbs describe action—what a person, animal, or object does. Later, when I became a student of the Bible, I found myself drawn to the action words in Scripture. In the Psalm above, the psalmist is calling for action. He calls the people of God to get moving, to worship the Lord with rejoicing, praise, and song. It reminded me of when my family used to go to a small pentestocal church in Oceanside, Ca. The pastor and his wife were worship leaders, and they cut an album that was released on cassette tape of their original praise and worship songs. There was a track on the tape that had lyrics that said, “Sing, shout, clap your hands, give praises to your maker! Make joyful noise unto the Lord!” Those lyrics have stuck with me for over 30 years. Amazing what verbs do to our speech.
The Psalm is calling for action in response to who God is. That action in this context is worship. I have found that in some churches the time of worship can feel dreary and motionless. In other church settings, there can seem to be too much motion! So which is it? Should we dance, or should we sit quietly while worshiping the Lord? In Revelation, when John sees heaven’s throne room, he sees people falling on their faces before a holy God. That can make things feel even more confusing. How are we supposed to worship?
The beautiful thing is that the Bible does not prescribe only one method of worship. The focus of worship is not so much the style, but the object of our worship—God Himself and our Lord Jesus Christ. The “how” can take many different forms. People often get bent out of shape over how churches should worship. My pastor used to say, “Different strokes for different folks!” In Africa, worship is often very lively. In England, it may be much calmer. In America, it is a mixture of many different expressions.
The psalmist says to rejoice, praise, and sing. He does not rank one above the other, but simply calls us to worship. We were made to worship, and God is worthy of our praise. The Apostle Paul even says that our true worship is offering our lives as living sacrifices to God (Romans 12:1).
How we worship together may look different from church to church, but what matters most is that our lives bring glory to God. Whether through singing, serving, kneeling, lifting our hands, or quietly obeying Him day by day, true worship comes from a heart fully devoted to the Lord. Should you be in church worshiping? Yes, we are called to gather to praise Him, thats a special time. The goal should be to bring honor and attention to the Lord Jesus, and not to ourselves. Don’t over complicate it, but do Rejoice, Praise, and Sing! As a Christian worship should be an active part of our lives. So as Pastor Mark and Debbie sang, “Sing, shout, clap your hands!”
In Him,
Frank
