Of course Scripture speaks of being still and of quiet contemplation. But sometimes loud is good!
You may have grown up, as I did, where a loud sound was acceptable—as long as it was harmonious music and not just noise! I recall the thrill of being at Bible conferences with more than a thousand voices uniting in praise. However, we may not be as comfortable with non-melodic noise, as some people are. But if Psalm 47 is any indication, we can expect some loud noise in our future! Twenty-two times the Revelation speaks of LOUD voices, and that doesn’t include One whose voice sounds like a cascading waterfall. Or the five times we read about “mighty thunderings,” concluding with this: “I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, ‘Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!’” (Rev 19:6). We’d better get used to it! This crescendo sounds much like Psalm 47. “Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples! Shout to God with the voice of triumph! For the Lord Most High is awesome; He is a great King over all the earth” (vv 1-2). This is the throaty cheer of victory! “He will subdue the peoples under us” (v 3). This trampling of Israel’s enemies will literally happen when the totally unexpected Jesus arrives to rescue the remnant at Bozrah, and then crushes their foe under His feet (Isa 63:1- 7; Rev 19:15). For believers today, He says He “will crush Satan under your feet shortly” (Rom 16:20). At last He will be recognized as “the King of all the earth” (Ps 47:7). As at His return for the Church, and at His final triumph, “God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet” (v 5). There we will see Him as He “sits on His holy throne” (v 8), and delight that “He is greatly exalted” (v 9). And doubtless we’ll make some holy noise.