Day 105: Make Some Noise

Psalms 98:4

Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth; Break forth and sing for joy and sing praises.

Psalms 33:3

Sing to Him a new song; Play skillfully with a shout of joy.

Psalms 47: 1

O clap your hands, all peoples; Shout to God with the voice of joy.

Psalms 5:11

But let all who take refuge in You be glad, Let them ever sing for joy; And may You shelter them, That those who love Your name may exult in You.

Psalms 66:1-2

Shout joyfully to God, all the earth; Sing the glory of His name; Make His praise glorious.

By definition a psalm is a song of praise or a hymn. Throughout the book of Psalms we are told to praise God. Shout for joy, exult Him, worship Him, for He is worthy to be praised. There are so many things to praise God for, the list is neverending. Sometimes we just have to stop and vocalize it, we have to shout out to God in joy. We just cannot hold it in, we have to praise God. God has done so must for us that we should constantly praise Him, we can never praise Him enough or thank Him enough for all the things He has done.  The best thing is that, there doesn’t have to be a great event that takes place in our lives for us to praise God. Everyday we wake up, every breath we take, every moment is an opportunity to praise God. It’s the little things that count more than we think. Thanking and praising God for even the smallest thing because He is responsible even for that. There is always a reason, there will never not be a reason to praise God. (double negative, I know)

Another word that stands out in these scriptures is ‘joy’. Shout to God with a voice of joy. God is just so good that sometimes you just walk around smiling for the sole reason that God is just amazing. The joy of God is so deep within us that even our darkest moment can be turned into an opportunity to praise God. THere is so much joy in the Lord, sometime we have to just stop and say thank you. I do it all the time when I’m walking down the street, sometimes I just have to stop and take in everything God is doing, or has done. I take in the beauty of His creation and I just have to say thank you. I can’t hold it in or wait, I just have to say thank you.

I think we sometimes save our praise for the moments when something happens that is ‘worthy to be praised’. But we serve a God that is worthy to be praised every second of everyday. We don’t have to wait until He’s done something, we can praise Him in advance. We don’t have to wait until we are out of the valley, we can praise Him while we’re down there. We can cry out, in our moment of despair and God will hear us.

One of my favorite stories in the Bible is of Paul and Silas singing and praying in prison.

Acts 16: 25-26

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bonds were unfastened.

There’s a miracle in the praise. Paul and Silas had been thrown in prison for spreading the message of Christ. They get in prison, and start to pray and sing to God in the midnight hour. They continue to lift their voices to Him in praise, despite their situation. The people who threw them in prison were hoping it would shut them up, but it did more than that. It led them to prayer, and songs of praise.  Prayer is a way in which we praise God as well. God heard their cries, he heard their prayers, he heard them in the midst of that prison. They did not care who was around, they lifted their voices and praised God anyway. And He lifted those prison gates and freed not only them but gave the rest of the prisoners an opportunity to be free. Not only did that happen but the guard gave His life to Christ that night.

GOd is so good and we don’t have to wait to praise, we can priase HIm wherever we are, physically, mentally, or emotionally, He hears our voices and He responds.

Reflection/ Prayer Time

Take the time to praise and thank God for any and everything. No matter what you are going through lift your voice to God, even if it’s hard right now. Shout out to God in praise. This may look different to everyone, but whatever that means to you, it is between you and God. Just lift Him up today. He is worthy.

I love you, I hope you have an amazing day or evening. Make  sure you share this with someone and come back tomorrow for day 106!