Praise the Lord! Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in the heavens of His power! Praise Him for His mighty acts; praise Him according to the abundance of His greatness! Praise Him with trumpet sound; praise Him with lute and harp! Praise Him with tambourine and [single or group] dance; praise Him with stringed and wind instruments or flutes! Praise Him with resounding cymbals; praise Him with loud clashing cymbals! Let everything that has breath and every breath of life praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
(Ps. 150 AMP)

Does God like it loud? Apparently, He does! There is something about resounding, blasting, clashing loud praise and worship that God likes! When we lift up our voice to praise the Lord, when we shout to the Lord and cry aloud, it seems to involve every part of us – spirit, soul and body. The Lord likes it when we seek Him with our whole heart and worship Him with all of our might, and that often includes being loud!
 
It’s pretty remarkable to see the Bible so full of phrases like, “shout joyfully,” “shout for joy,” “shout aloud,” “shout in triumph,” “shout unto God,” and the like. The Bible even tells us that God talks loudly! How about these phrases? “I heard a loud voice from heaven,” “...a loud voice as of a trumpet,” “...a loud voice came out of the temple,” among others. God likes loud and God talks loud!
 
Check out what happened when God’s Presence arrived into the camp of the Israelites, “And when the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel shouted so loudly that the earth shook.” (1 Sam.l 4:5 NKJV)
 
When the wall of Jerusalem was dedicated they weren’t quiet, “The singers sang loudly with Jezrahiah the director.” (Neh. 12:42 NKJV)
 
If that’s not enough, Jesus actually rebuked the Pharisees for their opposition to loud praise! “Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying: ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the LORD!’ Peace in heaven and glory in the highest! And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, ‘Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.’ But He answered and said to them, ‘I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.’” (Luke 19:37-40 NKJV)
 
Jesus made it clear. He didn’t want it silent! He said that if His people don’t praise Him with a loud voice, the rocks and stones would do it! I don't know about you, but I don't want any rock taking my place in worship! There is something freeing about big, expressive, faith-filled, loud, victorious, shouts of praise and worship. God likes it and it has a way of setting us free!
 
That doesn’t mean there isn’t a place for quiet and reflective moments in our lives. The Bible mentions the idea of drawing near to the Lord, to “be still and know that He is God.” While there are a few verses along these lines, it seems that the overwhelming preference for praise and worship is to celebrate His goodness, faithfulness and power with shouts of joy, a loud voice and loud clashing cymbals!
 
“Shout to God with the voice of triumph!” (Ps. 47:1 NKJV)
 
Prayer: Father, I am going to enter a new season of ‘shouting out’ all the oppression, depression, gloom and doom in my life. I am going to lift my voice to praise and worship You. I am going to shout to You with the voice of triumph. I will shout for joy. I will shout so loud the earth will shake! I don’t want any rocks or stones taking my place, so today – I sing Hosanna to my King with a loud voice! In Jesus' Name. Amen.