Read Psalm 66-67
I had a friend that was pretty quiet. He was a great athlete so he let his playing do the talking. He was fiercely competitive but off the playing field he was laid back. We decided to get an apartment together after college. One night I awoke to shouting and a loud thud. I was shocked to hear my mild mannered friend raising his voice. Something really bad must of happened. I ran out to the living room and there was my friend. He was on the ground trying to put back together a remote control. The thud I heard was my friend throwing the remote against the wall. And the shouting was the result of the umpires on TV making a bad call against the New York Yankees. Apparently my friend really liked the Yankees.
I've never thrown a remote but I must admit I've yelled a few times at the officials on TV making a bad call against my team. As if they could hear me, right? We use to live by neighbors who always yelled at their kids, the kids always yelled at each other, the parents yelled at each other, and the kids would even yell at their parents. Their home was a big "shout fest". It was sad really.
When we think of shouting, we normally think of something negative. We typically shout when anger gets the best of us. But the psalmist uses an interesting phrase three times in Psalm 66-67... "Shout for joy". In the first two verses of chapter 67, the psalmist writes: "Shout for joy to God, all the earth; sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise!"
When we are encouraged to shout for joy in the Bible, it means that we are to offer up exuberant, passionate praise to God for how good and glorious He is! The reality is, for most of us, when we shout, it's not from joy it's from anger. And so it got me wondering, perhaps if we were more intentional to shout for joy to the Lord we would less often shout out of anger. Taking time to passionately praise God has the potential to change our hearts and our attitudes. Take some time to shout for joy today!
Do you struggle with yelling in anger? Do you struggle to regularly give thanks to God for His goodness?
What are some reasons to shout for joy to God? Go ahead and take some time and shout today!
Prayer for the day: "I shout for joy to you God! You are great, and greatly to be praised! You are glorious and you are good! Thank you for all the joy you've brought into my life. In Jesus' name, amen."