Psalm 33

1 Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous;
it is fitting for the upright to praise him.

2 Praise the LORD with the harp;
make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.

3 Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully, and shout for joy.

4 For the word of the LORD is right and true;
he is faithful in all he does.

5 The LORD loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of his unfailing love.

6 By the word of the LORD were the heavens made,
their starry host by the breath of his mouth.

7 He gathers the waters of the sea into jars;
he puts the deep into storehouses.

8 Let all the earth fear the LORD;
let all the people of the world revere him.

9 For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.

10 The LORD foils the plans of the nations;
he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.

11 But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever,
the purposes of his heart through all generations.

12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people he chose for his inheritance.

13 From heaven the LORD looks down
and sees all mankind;

14 from his dwelling place he watches
all who live on earth-

15 he who forms the hearts of all,
who considers everything they do.

16 No king is saved by the size of his army;
no warrior escapes by his great strength.

17 A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
despite all its great strength it cannot save.

18 But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him,
on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,

19 to deliver them from death
and keep them alive in famine.

20 We wait in hope for the LORD;
he is our help and our shield.

21 In him our hearts rejoice,
for we trust in his holy name.

22 May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD,
even as we put our hope in you.

Some of us think that as long as we worship the Lord quietly in our hearts at the start of church service (during worship), He will be pleased with us. We believe that others are looking at us, and it's okay just to clap a bit here and there. No need to jump. That will be sufficient.

Is this train of thought aligned with what was written in the Bible? Let us examine.


Take for instance King David. In 2 Samuel 6:5, David and the whole house of Israel were celebrating with all their might before the Lord, with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, sistrums and cymbals.

In the same chapter, verse 16 recorded that Michal, daughter of Saul despised David in her heart because she saw Him leaping and dancing before the Lord. God punished her for it.

Check out Psalm 33:1 - 3. The verses mentioned that we, as His people, really need to sing joyfully, make music to Him using musical instruments and shout for joy.

If the people of God have such an expressive way of worshipping Him so many years ago, shouldn't we be even more expressive now? When we worship God, let's lay aside all our pride, all our self-awareness and just focus on Him and give it all.

Worship God wholeheartedly. Sing! Dance! Shout!


Personally, I know that I sometimes can feel quite physically tired when it comes to church worship. But I always tell myself that I want to give God my best. And the thing that I pray for the most is that during worship, I will focus my heart on Him and not think about other issues.


Things to ponder
1. Do you think that you have given your best during worship - to sing, dance and shout before the Lord? Rate yourself from 1 to 10.
2. What is two things that stop you from singing, dancing and shouting before the Lord?
3. Pray and make a commitment before the Lord that you will give God the best during worship!

Click here for Pastor YC's reflection on Psalm 33