Should we clap “in church”?

~ Psalm 47:1-2
Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy!
For the LORD, the Most High, is to be feared, a great king over all the earth.

Should we laugh together? Should we ever cry? Should we be quiet when someone else is talking?

Should we sing “Up from the Grave” a little louder on the chorus? Should we “Be Still and Know"? Should we “Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus”?

Should we be authentically human, reverently humbled, gratefully enthusiastic before the God of our salvation?

Should we even have to ask these questions?

All week long we see so much trouble in the world. Drunk drivers killing our friends. Thieves breaking into our cars. Kids growing up too fast. Affairs scheduled after work. The bad guys can appear to be winning the game.

So when we gather with other believers, the ones who still don’t have it all together but who at least want to, we need to lock arms and pray and sing and worship and celebrate our connection with each other and with the Father.

And when we share our stories about one of the good guys scoring a touchdown, is that a time to shush each other? Are we commanded to maintain silence in the end zone? Ever done that at a football game? Of course not!

Let’s trumpet our victories! Let’s cheer on the team! Who better to celebrate with than the family, and what better time than when we’re together?

We were not created to be closet worshipers or silent celebrators. Give up some joyful noise. If anybody deserves applause, isn’t it the Lord?

If the seas are commanded to roar yet have no voices, and the rivers are commanded to clap yet have no hands, and the hills are commanded to sing yet have no songs, surely, surely we can do the same with the gifts we have been given—we who have been given voices and hands and songs that we might declare his praise.

Should we clap with the church? Yes. Wouldn’t it be disrespectful not to?

~ Psalm 98
4 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises!
5 Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody!
6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the LORD!
7 Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; the world and those who dwell in it!
8 Let the rivers clap their hands; let the hills sing for joy together
9 before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.