Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. (Ps. 95:1)
Expanded Passage: Psalm 95:1-2
Ethelyn sat quietly in her wheelchair nestled beside our old wooden pew. Age and health confined her to that chair during the worship service, but nothing about her worship was constrained. At the first note of the piano, she joyously joined the chorus of voices around her to sing praise to the Lord, raising her frail hands to the sky. Though weak and slightly off-key, her joy and devotion led us all deeper into worship.
In this opening stanza of Psalm 95, the poet encouraged the community of God to come together to sing and shout their praise to God. The phrase “let us” is repeated three times in the opening two verses to reinforce the importance of communal worship. Music and song capture powerful human emotions and allow people from diverse backgrounds to join together in one voice of praise. The poet here invited the community to use their individual voices to come together before God with thanksgiving and worship.
Personal devotion and individual times of worship are important, but we must never neglect coming together as one body to worship the Rock of our salvation. The Christian life can feel lonely at times, but communal worship reminds us that we are not alone. When we join others in song, we are reminded that we belong to a great chorus of believers.
Let us sing for joy to the Lord with one voice!
Mark Moore is an associate professor of theology at Jessup University (CA) and an associate pastor at Faith Legacy Church in Sacramento, California.
© 2025 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
