Fist-Pumping Praise!

👊🤘 A guest post reflecting on Psalm 33-

Why are people raising their arms in church?

Have you ever been to church Sunday morning during worship and felt like you wanted to dance in the aisle or raise your arms like you were at a rock concert or on top of a mountain, clapping your hands and shouting loudly? But then you look around at everyone else and you think, “Oh man, if I start doing that then they’re just going to say I’m totally nuts.” Well, Psalm 33 suggests that this type of behavior, when moved by God, actually isn’t crazy, it’s “befitting” (Psalm 33:1). A shout for joy in the Lord is a kind of worship that moves us at the core of our being—expressing pure joy in simply knowing God—which becomes an unbridled expression of gratitude for his unending goodness and steadfast love (his hesed). This type of praise “befits the upright” (Psalm 33:1).

“Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous! Praise befits the upright.”

Psalm 33:1 ESV

What’s cooking? A recipe for joy!

This psalm models a beautiful formula for joy. It starts with shouts of joy to God; loud, unbridled praise to God befits the upright. He wants us to jam out, sing a song, play skillfully on the strings with loud shouts and instruments (Psalm 33:3). He wants us to be glad and hopeful and happy and optimistic because he is a good God, and his love is in the world. Psalm 33:5 says the Earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord. We know and can trust that he is working in the world and that his word is upright (Psalm 33:4) and his promises are secure that we can look to him for our salvation (Psalm 33:19). Psalm 33:8 mentions “fear” and “awe,” and verse 18 mentions “hope” (Psalm 33:18). The psalm ends with hearts that are “glad” and full of joy (Psalm 33:21). There’s a connection between these words, between these internal processes of the human psyche: fear, awe, hope, and gladness. Our joy comes from submitting to the Lord and being awed by our good Creator, awed by who he is, awed by his goodness and love (Psalm 33:8).

“For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name.

Psalm 33:21″ ESV

Let loose and celebrate!

When we trust in Jesus and submit our lives to him, we have hope in his mercy and his steadfast love that he will deliver us from the brokenness of this world; he will give us new life and we will become new creations (and this is all part of God’s plan to restore his creation and reconcile us to him). He is our help and our shield (Psalm 33:20). Our soul longs for him and “waits” for him, for that beautiful day that we see Christ face to face. This is the deepest desire and yearning of every Christian. Our hope is our JOY. Our hearts are glad because we trust in his holy name and his goodness and mercy and unending steadfast love for us (Psalm 33:21-22). So we can sing loud and proud! And make a joyful noise! For “praise befits the upright” (Psalm 33:1)! We are not ashamed of our beautiful Savior. The hope we have on one day seeing his glorious face is our pride and joy!

“We are not ashamed of our beautiful Savior.”

But it all starts by fearing God and being awed by him (Psalm 33:8). This is not the kind of fear that brings tears of sadness but tears of joy. This is not the kind of fear that is rooted in evil—rather, it is rooted in goodness. This is also not the kind of fear that brings one to darkness—but instead exposes the light. This is a fear rooted in submission to God our Creator, to all of his goodness and providence. It is a fear grounded on trust. When we fear him, we are submitting to him. We are letting go of controlling our own lives and truly asking God to be in control. And in this place of submission and “awe” is where we find true hope and joy—joy in everything that is upright, perfect and beautiful in the world; everything that is a reflection of God and his glorious creation—from the mountaintops, stars, and sunrises (Psalm 33:6) to the oceans (Psalm 33:7) to all of his good works in people’s hearts (Psalm 33:8). The earth is full of God’s love (Psalm 33:5), and we can be glad for it. He is working! He is working in mighty ways! We see it in the little things, in the everyday miracles, in the selfless acts of love from one neighbor to another. We see his goodness and his pervasive love in a broken world, and we are not embarrassed. We are joyful!

How will you express your JOY next Sunday?

“Our hope is our JOY”