Lenten Reader | Day 13

March 19th, 2025

Shout Aloud

Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord;
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before him with thanksgiving
and extol him with music and song.
For the Lord is the great God,
the great King above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth,
and the mountain peaks belong to him.
The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.
Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;
for he is our God
and we are the people of his pasture,
the flock under his care.

Psalm 95:1-7

Why do we sing? For most people, singing is an uncomfortable exercise of getting outside our personal comfort zones. Singing is something we do behind closed doors, by ourselves in the car on the drive home from work, or even something we might refuse to do because we are honestly not very good at it.

I grew up in a house where music was a daily part of our lives. Singing along with a song on the radio was the norm. But to sing a song in front of anyone? My family lacked confidence in our singing abilities in social situations. Singing in public is a very vulnerable feeling for most people. Being vulnerable exposes quite a few fears, but it can allow us to discover so much more about the presence of God.

Why do we sing? As we read through Psalm 95:1-7, it is a call to worship, to sing. The Psalmist is inviting us to come sing with joy and thanksgiving. Shouting out loud to our Lord. We serve a God that is deserving of our praise, our songs, our joy, and our vulnerability. Singing stands alongside teaching to allow the word of God to dwell richly in us.

All of God’s creation was created to worship Him–creation is the great hymn of the earth. We shout aloud, in honor of His command for us to sing, obey Him in our hearts, and be vulnerable in the presence of the Lord our Maker. We sing because He is the King!

Marty Ford