Come, let’s sing out loud to the Lord!
Let’s raise a joyful shout to the rock of our salvation!
2 Let’s come before him with thanks!
Let’s shout songs of joy to him!
3 The Lord is a great God,
the great king over all other gods.
4 The earth’s depths are in his hands;
the mountain heights belong to him;
5 the sea, which he made, is his
along with the dry ground,
which his own hands formed.
6 Come, let’s worship and bow down!
Let’s kneel before the Lord, our maker!
7 He is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture,
the sheep in his hands.
If only you would listen to his voice right now!
Reflection
While studying Christianity abroad, I have a fond memory of a classmate beginning to teach us a fun, simple, upbeat song that people sing in their country often. It’s a breakdown of the word, “Hallelujah” and is a song that can easily put anyone in a good mood. Well the student barely got us through a verse when another student from a different continent than the first exclaimed, “We sing that song too! And we have a dance!” Well lo and behold, there we all are, standing in a circle, raising our arms and spinning to this delightful song of praise to God. It became a sort of staple for our group:
Taking a long bus ride? Sing the “Hallelujah” song.
Dead space in a conversation? Sing the “Hallelujah” song.
It’s a Tuesday? Sing the “Hallelujah” song.
Even writing this devotional, I can’t help but bop along to the song in my head. The choreography is infectious. It didn’t matter where we were or whether we had just had a tense lecture or what have you. All someone had to do was sing, “Halle, Halle, Halle…” and there we all were, belting, “-luuuuuuujah!”. Instant worship. Instant praise. Instant community. The word even means to praise and worship God!
Today’s Psalm reminds me so much of that song, of those moments where we couldn’t help but smile at our colleagues as we broke out into a moment of worship to God. The singing, the joy!
If only you would listen to God’s voice right now! Hallelujah!
By Rachel Callender
For Pondering & Prayer
Have you ever experienced a moment that felt like spontaneous worship? As if out of nowhere, praise to the Lord was happening? What made that so? How can you invite that into your life today?
Prayer: Lord of all, hallelujah! Joyful praise be to you God, who is the source of all of the goodness in our lives. May your loving spirit be found in the simplest moments of our days. Amen.
Comments are closed.