SHOUT!

It’s the bottom of the ninth inning and the home team is down by one run. There’s a runner on second base with two outs. The count is no balls and two strikes. The batter is down to his final strike. The pitcher winds up and throws. The batter sets and swings. With a loud crack, the bat connects with the ball, sending it clear over the head of the left fielder–a home run! The home team wins! The crowd claps in polite admiration.

If you’ve ever been to a ball game, you know that last line is far from the truth. When the home team wins like that, the crowd erupts in shouts of joy. Now, if we can react like that to something as insignificant as a baseball game, how should we react to the greatness and the wonders of our God? With a smile and a polite round of applause? With a whispered word of praise? Or, should we open our mouths and not just sing but shout our praise?

The Bible is not a quiet book. Throughout God’s word, we see many references to the word shout, as well as words like shouts, shouted, and shouting. Many of these references speak of God’s people shouting His praise. In many of the psalms, we are told to shout our praises. In Joshua 6, God told the Israelites to shout at the walled city of Jericho and what happened? The walls fell down and they took the city.

A large number of the references to shouting in the Bible are shouts for joy. When God moves in our lives, when He comes through for us in a time of need, we should be so filled with joy that we just want to shout it out and let the whole world know how great our God is. A shout of praise lets God and everyone around us know how joyful we feel. A shout of praise can also be a powerful weapon. Just as the shout of the Israelites was able to tear down the walls of Jericho, so our shouts of praise can tear down strongholds in our lives.

Are you joyful? Do you need God to fight for you or tear down a stronghold? Then get ready, open your mouth and–SHOUT!