The Noise of Victorious Joy Text: Psalm 66:1-4
Introduction: Worship as Global Conquest
The book of Psalms is the church's songbook, given by God to shape our affections, our prayers, and our view of reality. It is not a book for the timid, the quiet, or the spiritually demure. It is a book of robust, muscular, and often loud faith. And Psalm 66 begins with a trumpet blast that is meant to resound in every corner of the globe. This is not a polite suggestion for a quiet hymn sing in a respectable church building. This is a command for a global flash mob of unrestrained worship. It is a summons for every nation, tribe, and tongue to make a thunderous noise to the God who made them.
We live in an age of curated whispers. Our worship is often tamed, domesticated, and concerned more with offending no one than with pleasing the only One who matters. We have traded the glorious praise of the Almighty for something more palatable to the therapeutic sensibilities of modern man. But the psalmist will have none of it. He is calling for a universal, glorious, and fearsome acknowledgment of God's works. This is not just about singing; it is about surrender. It is about the public recognition of God's total authority over every square inch of His creation.
This psalm is profoundly optimistic. It is not a wishful prayer that perhaps, someday, a few more people might come to know God. It is a confident declaration of what is going to happen. "All the earth will worship You." This is not a question; it is a prophecy. This is the future of the world. The kingdom of God is not a failing enterprise, retreating into private enclaves. It is a conquering kingdom, and its primary weapon is the glorious praise of God's name. This psalm, therefore, is a battle cry. It is a declaration that the victory of Jesus Christ will be made manifest not just in heaven, but here, on earth, as all His enemies are subdued under His feet.
So as we come to these verses, let us set aside our small, timid notions of worship. Let us understand that we are being summoned to join a global, victorious, and noisy celebration of the King of kings. This is the sound of the future breaking into the present.
The Text
Make a loud shout to God, all the earth;
Sing praise for the glory of His name; Establish His praise as glorious.
Say to God, "How fearsome are Your works! Because of the abundance of Your strength Your enemies will cower before You.
All the earth will worship You, And will sing praises to You; They will sing praises to Your name." Selah.
(Psalm 66:1-4 LSB)
A Universal, Noisy Summons (v. 1-2)
The psalm opens with a command that is as broad as the world itself.
"Make a loud shout to God, all the earth; Sing praise for the glory of His name; Establish His praise as glorious." (Psalm 66:1-2)
The first thing to notice is the scope of the command: "all the earth." This is not directed solely to Israel. This is not a private memo for the covenant community. This is an open summons to every human being alive. From the Amazon rainforest to the Siberian tundra, from the skyscrapers of Tokyo to the villages of Africa, the command goes forth. This is a postmillennial psalm. It anticipates the fulfillment of the Great Commission, when the knowledge of the glory of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea (Hab. 2:14).
And what is the command? "Make a loud shout." The Hebrew word here is for a joyful, triumphant, and earsplitting noise. This is the sound of a victorious army returning from battle. It is the roar of a crowd at the coronation of their king. This is not the quiet hum of polite reverence; it is the exuberant explosion of uncontainable joy. Christian worship has a place for quiet contemplation, but it must also have a place for loud celebration. A silent Christian is a contradiction in terms. We have been saved from hell and promised eternal glory; a golf clap is not the appropriate response.
Verse 2 tells us the content of this shout. We are to "sing praise for the glory of His name." The name of God represents His character, His reputation, His revealed nature. We are to sing about who He is and what He has done. And we are to "establish His praise as glorious." This means we are to make His praise weighty, significant, and honorable. We do this by offering Him the best we have, our most excellent music, our most thoughtful lyrics, our most heartfelt adoration. We are not to offer God the leftovers of our energy or creativity. We are to treat His praise as the most important and glorious activity in the universe, because it is.
The Reason for the Ruckus (v. 3)
Why should all the earth make this glorious noise? Verse 3 provides the content for our declaration.
"Say to God, 'How fearsome are Your works! Because of the abundance of Your strength Your enemies will cower before You.'" (Psalm 66:3)
We are to speak directly to God, and we are to speak about His works. And the first adjective that comes to the psalmist's mind is "fearsome." The works of God are terrible, awesome, and dreadful. This is not the sentimental portrait of a divine grandfather. This is the God who parted the Red Sea and drowned the Egyptian army. This is the God who sent fire from heaven and consumed His enemies. This is the God who struck down Ananias and Sapphira for lying to the Holy Spirit. His works are fearsome to those who oppose Him. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and a right understanding of His terrible power is the beginning of true worship.
The reason His works are fearsome is because of "the abundance of Your strength." God's power is not limited. He does not get tired. He does not run out of resources. He speaks, and galaxies leap into existence. He breathes, and armies are scattered. The sheer, raw, infinite power of God is the foundation of reality.
And this power has a direct effect on His enemies. "Your enemies will cower before You." The Hebrew word here means to lie or to feign submission. It paints a picture of utter subjugation. God's enemies will be so completely overwhelmed by His power that they will be forced to bow the knee. They may not like it. Their hearts may still be rebellious. But their outward resistance will be crushed. This is what Paul talks about in Philippians 2, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth. This is not a voluntary, universal revival. It is a statement of cosmic subjugation. Some will bow in joyful adoration, and the rest will bow in terrified, cringing submission. But make no mistake, every knee will bow. The triumph of Christ is not dependent on the good will of His enemies.
The Inevitable Future (v. 4)
The psalm then moves from a command to a confident prediction. This is where the story is headed.
"All the earth will worship You, And will sing praises to You; They will sing praises to Your name." Selah. (Psalm 66:4)
This is the end game. The cringing submission of God's enemies will ultimately give way to the willing worship of the nations. The psalmist repeats the phrase "sing praises" for emphasis. The future of this planet is not secularism, nor is it Islam, nor is it a pagan morass. The future of this world is worship. The earth will be filled with the sound of joyful singing to the name of the Triune God.
This is the engine of Christian mission. We go to the nations with the gospel not because we hope we might be able to carve out a small piece of the pie. We go because Christ has been given all authority in heaven and on earth. We go because He has commanded us to make disciples of all nations. And we go with the confident assurance that this task will be accomplished. History is not a random series of events; it is the unfolding of God's decree that "all the earth will worship" Him.
The word "Selah" invites us to pause and consider this. Stop. Think about what has just been said. Let the weight of this glorious, inevitable future sink into your bones. The world you see on the news, with all its chaos, rebellion, and blasphemy, is not the final word. The final word is a global choir, singing praises to the name of Jesus Christ. This is the reality. This is the future. And our job is to live in light of it, and to be the advance singers of that great, final chorus.
Conclusion: Start the Shouting Now
This psalm is a command with a promise. The command is to shout, to sing, and to make God's praise glorious. The promise is that one day, the entire world will join you in doing so. We are not called to a failing cause. We are on the front lines of an assured victory.
Therefore, our worship in this place, on this day, is a dress rehearsal for the future. It is a foretaste of the new creation. When we sing with gusto, when we lift our voices without shame, we are defying the current rebellion of the world and aligning ourselves with the coming reality. We are practicing for the day when every voice will join ours.
The works of God are still fearsome. He has performed the most fearsome work of all at the cross, where He poured out His wrath on His own Son, in order to save His people. In the resurrection, He displayed the abundance of His strength, defeating sin, death, and the devil. Because of this, His enemies are being subdued. The gospel is going forth and conquering the nations.
So do not be quiet. Do not be timid. Do not be ashamed. Your God is the King of all the earth. His works are awesome, His power is infinite, and His victory is certain. So let us obey the command. Let us make a loud shout to God. Let us sing the glory of His name. And let us do it with the confident joy of those who know that one day, every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth will join us in singing praises to His name.