Shout for Joy

The Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

July 6, 2025

Psalm 66:1-7

 “Summer in the Psalms: Shout for Joy”

On this Fourth of July holiday weekend, amidst picnics and parades, backyard barbeques and beach trips, family gatherings and fireworks, we begin our summer preaching series, “Summer in the Psalms.” Truth be told, the psalms often get overlooked when it comes to preaching. Pastors (myself included) usually focus on the Gospel lesson, or maybe the Old Testament or Epistle lessons, but the Psalms – not so much. And yet each Sunday we have a responsive reading from one of the Psalms. The Psalms hold a special place in the heart of God’s people. They are called the “prayerbook of the Bible,” or the “hymnbook of the Bible.” That gives us insight into the psalms. Hymns are meant to be sung, and so were the psalms. Sure, they can also be read, which is what we usually do, but they are actually meant for singing. The inscription for Psalm 66, which we read in worship today, says this: “To the Choirmaster. A Song. A Psalm.” There you have it. Today, we look at verses one through seven of Psalm 66 with the theme, “Shout for Joy,” coming from the opening words: “Shout for joy to God, all the earth; sing the glory of his name.” May the Lord’s rich and abundant blessing rest upon the preaching, the hearing, and the living of his Word for Jesus’ sake.

When is the last time you shouted for joy? When your favorite sports team scored the winning play? When you received some wonderful and welcome news? When it comes to shouting for joy to God, is that even a thing we can or should do in church? Most of the time, our joy in church tends to be more buttoned-up and tempered, but is there a place for joyful shouts to God for all that he has done? The psalmist says so. Look at the reasons why we can and should shout for joy to our God: “How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you” (Psalm 66:3). That’s a powerful image! The psalmist describes those awesome deeds of old, remembering God’s deliverance of his people from slavery in Egypt when “He turned the sea into dry land” (Psalm 66:6a) so that his chosen people could cross the Red Sea on foot (Exodus 14:1ff.). And after their wilderness wanderings over forty years, God’s awesome deeds were seen once more in a similar way when God caused the Jordan River to stop flowing so his people could cross over on dry ground into the Promised Land (Joshua 3:1ff.). As the psalm tells us: “They passed through the river on foot. There did we rejoice in him” (Psalm 66:6b).

We know this faith story because it’s part of our own faith story as we remember and rejoice in God’s awesome deeds of old. But what about us today? Do we see God’s awesome deeds in our own lives? Sometimes we long to see such powerful and visible signs of God’s deeds today. We may think: “If only I could see God parting the sea, then I would sing for joy. If only I could see Jesus stilling the storm, or healing the sick, or raising the dead, then I really would shout for joy.” If we don’t see such things, does this mean that God is not at work in our lives for good and for blessing? Does this mean that we have no reason to shout for joy to God? As human beings, we are always looking for the big, dramatic things in life. We overlook the ordinary, everyday things in life. We often fail to see how God is at work in the small, commonplace things of our daily lives. Make no mistake, God is there. The psalmist invites us to “Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man” (Psalm 66:5). God’s awesome deeds are revealed each and every day of our lives in the big, dramatic events that point us to God, but also in the quiet, conventional things that we take for granted. Because of this, “All the earth worships you and sings praise to you; they sing praises to your name” (Psalm 66:4).

The most awesome deed of God is not majestic mountains, vast oceans or the wonders of his creation, amazing as all of these things are. God’s most awesome deed is in the life, death and resurrection of his own Son, Jesus, who gave him into death that we might not die eternally. Jesus willingly entered into our sin-shattered world and our broken lives, freely offering his life on the cross to redeem us from the old life of sin and death, making us his own beloved children. In Jesus, we are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), called to love and serve others as God in Christ has loved and served us. This is why we can and should shout for joy to God and sing the glory of his Name.

On this Independence Day holiday weekend, let us bear in mind the closing words of the psalmist: “[He] rules by his might forever, whose eyes keep watch on the nations – let not the rebellious exalt themselves” (Psalm 66:7). The eyes of the Lord are indeed keeping watch on this and every nation. In fact, this is illustrated on the back on the one dollar bill with God’s all-seeing eye at the top of the pyramid. The Latin phrase above, Annuit Coeptis, means “God has favored our undertakings.” And the Latin phrase below, Novo Ordo Seclorum, means “New Order of the Ages.” Whatever our undertakings may be – the decisions that we make as a nation, the challenges that we face, the manner in which we treat others, especially those who are most vulnerable among us – in all of these things we answer to a higher Power and Authority than just the law of the land. We answer to Him “whose eyes keep watch on the nations.” We do indeed live under a new order. As Christian citizens of this nation, that new order comes from our Lord Jesus Christ, who calls us as his redeemed people to love one another as he has loved us (John 13:34). And so let us also do as the psalmist invites us to do: “Shout for joy to God, all the earth; sing the glory of his name” Psalm 66:1). Amen.