We live in a noisy world. Soundscapes are always changing. Technology has revolutionised how sound is reproduced and heard, with new sounds being created. Industrial cities two centuries ago were far noisier than today. 

This psalm gathers together a cacophony of noise, all directed towards God! Some of it erupts from the human voice box, some from musical instruments, some is found within the created world. All this leads to the climax (v 9), which is a repetition of Psalm 96:13b. God the judge rules in the present and in the future and, as such, is loudly welcomed. Judgement is fearsome but is triumphantly just. God knows those who are righteous, so they need not fear his judgement but can rejoice. 

What sounds do you use in private worship? Does silence have a place? What sounds will be used today when you meet with others to worship God? Sounds you listen to – from music, nature, the human voice – or sounds you or others create? Not many are professional singers, but all of us can make worshipful sounds, however tuneless or whatever the volume! Voices express emotion, conveying to God our heart's desire for him. 

‘Lift up your heart, / lift up your voice! / Rejoice, again / I say, rejoice!’¹

All of creation worshipping the Creator is the only way it can possibly be. This psalm of three sections first remembers the mighty deliverance of God by his righteous right hand, making known his salvation to Egyptian and Israelite alike; remembering his covenant of mercy to Israel and all peoples witnessing his salvation (vs 1–3). Second, the psalmist employs human faculties of shouting, singing and rejoicing, with the use of instruments in the worship of the living God (vs 4–6). Third, the psalmist includes activities and elements of nature by way of roaring seas, clapping rivers and singing hills being joyful in the worship of the living God (vs 7,8). God’s creation is indeed to be appreciated² – but not to be worshipped. God is not in the trees, the wind, the mountains, the seas or the universe. He is the Creator of them all.³

There is an indication of the limitlessness of how you can express yourself in heartfelt worship to the God of your salvation. The worship of God is to be endless, boundless, without care or concern and with freedom. Out of the abundance of the heart speaks the mouth.⁴

Worship is not merely a state of mind or the singing of songs; neither should worship be a reflexive response towards God for what he has done for you. Worship should be an act of the will that is intentional, intelligently directed to the living God simply for who he is. This includes the humble prostrating of your body. This is what it means to worship the Lord your God with all your heart (spirit) with all your strength (body) and with all your soul (mind).⁵ Awestruck, the psalmist asserts that everything that has breath should, and must, praise the Lord.⁶

‘Rejoice the Lord is King! / Your Lord and King adore! / Rejoice, give thanks and sing / and triumph evermore. / Lift up your heart, / lift up your voice! / Rejoice, again / I say, rejoice!’⁷

¹ Charles Wesley, 1707–88, ‘Rejoice, the Lord is King’  ² See Ps 19:1  ³ Col 1:16  ⁴ Matt 12:34  ⁵ Deut 13:3  ⁶ Ps 150:6  ⁷ Charles Wesley