The Shout of Victory!

Psalm 95:1-2-Oh come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. NKJV

There comes a time in all of our lives when things come that seem bigger than we are! That’s not always a bad place to be because that is when we can count on the One who is bigger than our circumstances. It’s not that He isn’t always there, because He is! But when things look their most challenging and there seems no way to victory, it’s a good time to shout to the Lord!

Joshua and the Israelites had wandered in the desert for forty years. I know you have heard the account of what happened, but for today’s blog, I need to review it! As they got to Jericho and saw the fortified walls, the hope of victory seemed slim indeed. But Joshua sought the Lord for a strategy. God told Joshua to gather the warriors and march around Jericho’s walls once a day for six days. But on the seventh day, they were to be given different instructions:

But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. It shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat. And the people shall go up every man straight before him.”

Joshua 6:4b-5 NKJV

God told the people to rûa on the seventh day! Rûa means to raise a shout! This strategy to cause the walls to fall seems ridiculous to the intellectual mind, but archaeologists have found proof that the walls appeared to have fallen in a way that holds to the scriptural account of what happened. Not that I need their word, because I have God’s word that this is what happened! They raised a shout, a rûa, and the thickest wall ever built came down!

In Psalm 95, David wrote that we are to shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation! David said that as we enter into His presence with thanksgiving, we are to shout joyfully to the Lord. Both of these phrases, “shout joyfully,” are translated from the Hebrew word “rûa”! This is the same word God commanded Joshua and the Israelites to do at the walls of Jericho! Raise up a shout!

Rûa is a war cry! It was the cry of alarm for battle and the shout of victory! In other words, the same shout you give as a battle cry is the same shout you give to declare your victory!

For six days, the warriors of Israel walked around the walls of Jericho! Can you imagine what was going through the people’s minds inside the walls when they saw the Israelites? They probably had their battle array on, their weapons in their hands, and their minds made up to defend their city, but instead of an attack, the Israelites walked around the walls in silence and returned to their camps.

Jericho warrior 1: What in the world just happened here?

Jericho warrior 2: I have no idea! What kind of battle plan is that? They didn’t do anything! I thought they would attack!

Jericho warrior 1: Of course you did! We all did! I don’t know what they just did, but I believe they will return, and we have to stay ready because they are trying to catch us unprepared.

Jericho warrior 2: You are probably right! I’ll go back to my spot!

But the second day arrived with the same results. Until the sixth day!

Jericho warrior 1: This is ridiculous! What are they doing? What are they waiting for?

Jericho warrior 2: I don’t know! But it’s wreaking havoc on everybody’s nerves! We were already stretched thin with worry and fear; now, we add sleeplessness and terror to the mix. This is worst than fighting!

Jercho warrior 1: Yea! I have a bad feeling about this! A really bad feeling!

Then on the seventh day, the warriors of Israel returned again. After the first circuit around the walls, they walked again, and again, and again! Seven times in total. Except for the sound of the feet of the warriors, everyone else was still. Silently waiting for what was about to happen next. Then suddenly, the leader, a man called Joshua, said, “Rûa, for the Lord has given you the city!” And the people raised their voices, giving out the most deafening shout ever heard. A sound that traveled through the thick walls into every crevice of Jericho, causing fear to ricochet throughout the land!

Then another sound was heard. The sound of fear as the walls began to move and shake as if a mighty hand was pushing against them. The people of Jericho started screaming, adding their own shouts to the rûa of the people of God. They began to run and scramble around, looking for an escape plan. But suddenly, the warriors started entering the city, and the handwriting was on the walls. The city had been given to the people of God!

The Sons of Korah wrote a psalm that begins with these words:

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.

Psalm 47:1-2 NKJV

Let’s make some noise for God!!! Clap your hands and shout to God with the voice of triumph! Rûa to the Lord Most High, for He is awesome and the great King over all the earth! In another psalm, it is written:

Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth; break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises

Psalm 98:4 NKJV

Things are not looking too wholesome around the world today. Many things happening would make a strong man run and hide. But this is still the day the Lord has made, and we are to be glad and rejoice in it! This is not the time for hiding from the enemy. It’s time for shouting because we win! Irrespective of what we see, hear, or even experience at times, God always triumphs over the enemy!

God’s declaration to us is the same as it was to the children of Israel:

 Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands! Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing. Know that the Lord, He is God

Psalm 100:1-3 NKJV

Our shout isn’t because we are trying to frighten the devil! Our shout is to the great and awesome God, our heavenly Father! But I can easily imagine that when the people of God shout triumphantly before the Lord our God, Satan begins to shake in fear because he knows the power of the rûa! It’s a shout of war and the sound of victory! Even if you don’t see the victory and can’t feel it or know how it will come, rûa to the Lord your God, for He has given you the victory! Wonderful Jesus!