“We don’t clap and shout just to do it. This is a response. A response to the greatness of God. To the bigness of a Great Big God, as the Psalmist shows us in verse 2.”

That’s the key – when our understanding of worship is that it’s all about His worth, and He’s infinitely worthy, what form of expression would be “overboard”? Obviously, in corporate gatherings we need order, and there would be times when certain individual expressions would be inapropriate. But “orderly” and “dignified” are not necessarily synonymous.

Robert uses the football game analogy, which is very true. Honestly, I was always a pretty reserved person, and still don’t get very excited about sporting events (now, don’t judge me!). However, when I met the Lord at 24 years of age, I found that I wanted to laugh, cry, shout, sit silently, jump, dance, bow, raise my hands…I had never known the kind of joy, peace, love, holiness, greatness, (infinite list) that I was experiencing in knowing Him. He caused music to awaken in me that had been lying there dormant, because I had no practical purpose for it. Suddenly, I found it was one primary way to express what was inside me towards the great and mighty God Who had saved me.

The Bible has a lot to say about this, and a look at the worship of heaven in the book of Revelation sheds some light – lots of shouting, singing (oh, plus 1/2 hour of silence), elders falling on their thrones (now THAT’s undignified!), thunderous songs of praise – endless response to the glory and majesty of God.

I could talk about this for a long time, but suffice it to say that there’s nothing too extravagant, too boisterous (look up the Hebrew word “halal”), too intense, to give our God to proclaim His infinite worth and glory!