Shout to the Lord Darlene Zschech, 1993

Darlene Zschech, an Australian worship leader, wrote Shout to the Lord in 1993. Songfacts says she was dealing with money worries and the demands of raising a young family. She went to the toy room where the family kept their piano and turned Bible truths, especially from the Psalms, into a song. She told Today's Christian Woman that she could either scream and pull her hair out or praise God.

She was embarrassed to play it for the worship pastor at her church, so she had him stand across the room. He liked it. The congregation was on its feet singing at the first performance. Zschech says she cannot take credit for its reach. Hillsong released it on People Just Like Us in 1994, and it became the title track of an album released in America in 1996. Songfacts estimates 25 to 30 million churchgoers sing it each week.

In April 2008 the American Idol finalists sang it on Idol Gives Back. Wikipedia reports that they changed the words without approval from Zschech or Hillsong Church, and that at the publishers' request the show performed it again the next night with the original words. Hymnary.org lists Philippians 2:9 to 11 and Psalms 95 to 100 among the passages tied to the song.