A short time later I was reading in the Psalms and came across these verses:

Psa 47:1 <To the chief Musician, A Psalm for the sons of Korah.> O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph.

Psa 66:1-2 <To the chief Musician, A Song or Psalm.> Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands: ²Sing forth the honour of his name: make his praise glorious.

Psa 81:1-2 <To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm of Asaph.> Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob. ²Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery.

As I read these passages, I took real notice, for the first time, of the phrase in brackets that precedes each: To the chief Musician. David, the writer of these songs of praise and worship, is giving specific instructions to the chief musician responsible for leading the people in praise and worship. As this realization hit me, I was struck by the contrast between David’s instructions to his chief musician and the instructions of that local pastor to my friend, his chief musician. While King David instructed his chief musician to encourage the people to clap their hands, the local pastor forbids it. While King David instructed his musician to encourage the people to shout with a joyful noise, the local pastor insists upon dignity and solemnity in church. While King David instructed his musician to use timbrels (tamourines), I seriously doubt such instruments would be viewed favorably in the local church.

What else does the Bible say about praise and worship?

1Sa 4:5-6 ⁵ And when the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again.

1Ch 15:28-29  ²⁸ Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD with shouting, and with sound of the cornet, and with trumpets, and with cymbals, making a noise with psalteries and harps. ²⁹ And it came to pass, as the ark of the covenant of the LORD came to the city of David, that Michal the daughter of Saul looking out at a window saw king David dancing and playing: and she despised him in her heart.

David danced in worship. Imagine that! How would that be received in many churches today?

2Ch 20:19 ¹⁹And the Levites…stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with a loud voice on high.

2Ch 30:21 ²¹ …and the Levites and the priests praised the LORD day by day, singing with loud instruments unto the LORD.

2Sa 6:14-15 ¹⁴ And David danced before the LORD with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod. ¹⁵So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.

Ezr 3:13 ¹³…for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off.

Neh 9:4-5 ⁴ Then stood up upon the stairs, of the Levites…and cried with a loud voice unto the LORD their God. ⁵ Then the Levites…said, Stand up and bless the LORD your God for ever and ever: and blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.

Neh 12:40-43 ⁴⁰ So stood the two companies of them that gave thanks in the house of God…with trumpets; ⁴²…And the singers sang loud…and rejoiced: for God had made them rejoice with great joy: the wives also and the children rejoiced: so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard even afar off.

Notice the recurring emphasis on “loud” and “noise.” Why is it that it is acceptable to shout and get loud at concerts, football games, political rallies, etc. but not in praise to God?

Psa 5:11 ¹¹But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.

While some modern churches forbid shouting for joy, David said let them shout for joy.

Psa 32:11 ¹¹ Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.

Psa 33:1-3 Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright. ² Praise the LORD with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings. ³Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise.

Psa 35:27 ²⁷Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified…

Psa 95:1-2 O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. ²Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.

Psa 98:4-8 ⁴ Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise. ⁵ Sing unto the LORD with the harp; with the harp, and the voice of a psalm. ⁶ With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the LORD, the King. ⁷ Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. ⁸ Let the floods clap their hands: let the hills be joyful together.

Psa 100:1-4 Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. ² Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing…⁴ Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

Psa 132:9 ⁹Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness; and let thy saints shout for joy.

Psa 132:16 ¹⁶I will also clothe her priests with salvation: and her saints shall shout aloud for joy.

Psa 150:1-6 Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. ² Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. ³ Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. ⁴ Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. ⁵ Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. ⁶Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.

Isa 12:6 ⁶ Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.

Zep 3:14 ¹⁴Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.

Zec 9:9 ⁹ Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.

Luk 17:15-19 ¹⁵ And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, ¹⁶ And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. ¹⁷ And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? ¹⁸ There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. ¹⁹And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

Not only did Jesus not rebuke the Samaritan for getting loud, He praised Him and wondered where the others were.

Luk 19:37-40 ³⁷ And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen; ³⁸ Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest. ³⁹ And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples. ⁴⁰And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.

The discomfort of religious leaders at loud praise is nothing new; the Pharisees of Jesus’ day were disturbed by it as well, and even asked Jesus to forbid it. Of course, Jesus refused, saying that if we don’t praise him out loud, the stones will do it for us!

Rev 7:9-10 ⁹ After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; ¹⁰ And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.

It’s a fact: heaven will be loud with praise. So, let other churches and pastors forbid praise and worship. As for us at NewStart, we’ll continue to obey the Biblical commands to be loud, to shout for joy, to clap our hands, to praise Him with loud cymbals, to praise Him in the dance, to leap for joy, and to sing a new song!

Synopsis: Many different Hebrew and Greek words are translated as “praise” or “worship” in the Bible, but they do not all mean the same thing. There is a level of proskuneo worship which goes beyond simple vocal affirmation; it means drawing near to God. This is the word used to describe the worship of the Canaanite woman in our text, and the type of worship we should seek to attain to.

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