232. Shout!: Shout for joy to the Lord, it is He who made us, we are his people.

18 December 2021

“Shout!”

Joshua 6

2 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men.” 

16 The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the army, “Shout! For the Lord has given you the city!”

20 When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city.

Psalm 100

1 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.

3 Know that the Lord is God.

    It is he who made us, and we are his;

    we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

“Yes! Shout!”

"One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts. Psalm 145:4 (KJV)

In this verse, the word praise is the Hebrew word shabach, which means to address in a loud tone, to triumph, to shout, to still, to command, to glory.

This is a shouting praise- you don’t sing it, you shout it. A shout commands our victory. It stills the enemy. This kind of praise is a battle cry; a cry of victory.

This is the word used when the Israelites shouted and the walls of Jericho came down. A praise shout is a weapon of spiritual warfare. When we face walls in our lives, we need to give a shout of victory in order to see the victory. 

In Joshua 6, they shouted before the walls fell. If they had not shouted, the walls would have remained. We shout the victory we already have in Christ, no matter how the circumstances appear, in order to see it manifest in our lives.  

As we shout a praise to God, walls will fall- walls of sickness, walls of poverty, walls of oppression. When we hit a wall that looks to keep us from possessing what God has promised us, it is time to shout. Bondages, strongholds, hindrances- we need to shout them out in the name of Jesus. Shout doubt and fear out!" From jimandjanean website /home/2019/6/12/the-power-of-the-shout

Going through midlife crisis and becoming a Christian at age 44, among the first praise songs that spoke to my heart.

Shout To The Lord 

My Jesus, my Saviour 

Lord there is none like You 

All of my days I want to praise

The wonders of Your mighty love

My comfort, my shelter 

Tower of refuge and strength 

Let every breath, all that I am 

Never cease to worship You

The story of this song written by Darlene Zschech.

"Darlene was born in 1965 in Brisbane, Australia, and she grew up singing. When she was about fifteen, her father, who had recently given his life to Christ, enrolled her in a Christian scouting program; and through that program she received Jesus Christ as her Savior.

Years later, one day in 1993, Darlene faced a daunting and discouraging personal problem. In her heaviness, she entered the study of her home and sat at the old and out-of-tune piano her parents had given her when she was five. Opening her Bible, she started reading Psalm 96.

As Darlene meditated on that psalm, her fingers pressed the keys of the piano, and the music and words began to flow. In about twenty minutes the song was done. For several days she sang it to herself as the truths of the song ministered to her own heart.

She had not previously called herself a songwriter, so Darlene was reluctant to share it with anyone. But mustering her courage, she finally asked the music pastor at her church to listen to it. She was so nervous she kept stopping and apologizing. She even asked him to stand over by the wall and turn away from her while she sang it. He assured her the song was wonderful, and shortly afterward they sang “Shout to the Lord” during the offering at church. The congregation took to it quickly, standing and joining in the song, though the words hadn’t been prepared for bulletin or screen. 

Darlene’s pastor, Brian Houston, predicted it would be sung around the world.

And so it has." From faithgateway website /shout-to-the-lord/#.Ybx6RjkRWj5

Yes! We can shout for joy to the Lord, it is He who made us.

The words of Apostle Paul attest to this.

Acts 17

28 “‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

29 Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill.”

My lips will shout for joy when I sing praises to You;

And my soul, which You have redeemed. Psalm 71:23 NASB 

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

""Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth,

    burst into jubilant song with music;

make music to the Lord with the harp,

    with the harp and the sound of singing,

with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn—

    shout for joy before the Lord, the King.

Sing to the Lord a new song,

    for he has done marvelous things;

his right hand and his holy arm

    have worked salvation for him.

Worship the Lord with gladness;

    come before him with joyful songs.

For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;

    his faithfulness continues through all generations." (Psalm 98:4-6, 1; 100:2, 5). Shout! God is good, all the time, God is good; this I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

2 March 2018"

May you be blessed with God's Word.

Maraming salamat.