Whoops of joy!

Albert Bogle June 17, 2026 1 0

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Psalm 100 (NIV-UK)

1 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
2     Worship the Lord with gladness;
    come before him with joyful songs.
3 Know that the Lord is God.
    It is he who made us, and we are his;[a]
    we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
    and his courts with praise;
    give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the Lord is good and his love endures for ever;
    his faithfulness continues through all generations.

What makes you cheer, whoop, and cry out? What are you glad for? What shining lights are you celebrating? There is only one answer to that question: God is our shining light! He is the light of our lives. He is the salt that gives us flavour.

'The Message' version of Psalm 100 says, “On your feet now—applaud God! Bring a gift. of laughter; sing yourself into his presence.”

I now know what it means to be invited into someone’s presence with laughter.

Last week, I visited some of my longest-standing friends. If you were a fly on the wall, you would have heard laughter all afternoon. In fact, I think we laughed together for hours. Story after story about serious and benign topics all merged together to create a commentary that resulted in a cacophony of laughter and tears, expressing our joy as we remembered our friendships and our experiences over the years. When we left, we applauded each other by sending texts to say how much we enjoyed each other’s company.

Now, that is just a pale shadow of what it means to whoop for joy in the presence of God. To bask in his friendship. You see, a certain kind of laughter is a language that says we are enjoying the company we are in. It is always an encounter with grace. I think that is why “Amazing Grace” is the most popular hymn in all the world. It speaks of the real joy we experience when we find we have been welcomed home. And we see God for who he really is - our loving father. It is a joy that transcends earthly experiences — a joy that comes from applauding God for all His grace and compassion towards us. It is holy laughter on the round!

Prayer:

Lord,

I’m standing

Clapping

Whooping

Yelling

Laughing

It’s a strange feeling

To be laughing with God

It’s your presence

The realisation that the expectation has come

God is in the house

God is here

It’s absolutely True

God is

God has always been

And will always be

Laughing with us

Bringing to life the past

The present

The future

Healing our hurts

Turning them into garments of praise

I can’t stop laughing!