Make a Joyful Noise (Jun 22)

Psalm 98

1 A Psalm. O sing unto the LORD a new song; for he hath done marvelous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory.

2 The LORD hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the heathen.

3 He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

4 Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.

5 Sing unto the LORD with the harp; with the harp, and the voice of a psalm.

6 With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the LORD, the King.

7 Let the sea roar, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

8 Let the floods clap their hands: let the hills be joyful together

9 Before the LORD; for he cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity.

Psalm 100

1 A Psalm of praise. Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.

2 Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.

3 Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

5 For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

All of this past week, there has been a carnival in town. Late into the night, there are bands that perform to the crowds. They play their music very loudly and on some nights, much of the music is just screaming and making awful noise. Many of the lyrics are also not godly at all. In past years, they didn't have as much live music, but you could still hear all of the people at the carnival yelling and screaming with glee as they rode the rides and did other carnival activities. There are many places in the Bible that call us to make noise, shout, proclaim, etc., and I got to thinking about the contrast between this joyful noise and the world's noise. The noises coming from the world are actually quite disgusting and vile-sounding. Often times it sounds like noises of fun and happiness, but even then it is empty and lost.

Matthew 12:33-37

33 Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.

34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.

35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.

36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.

37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

What are the noises that come from your mouth? Do you make a joyful noise unto the Lord? Do you praise Him? Do you sing to the Lord and proclaim to all the people around you the greatness of God? Or are the noises that come from your mouth bitter words, complaining words, or whining? Do you praise God in church and grumble all week at school or at your job? Do you say nice things to people's faces and nasty things behind their backs? Do you sometimes rejoice and other times complain? I'm not bringing this lesson to you to try to convince you to always be optimistic or to always have a smile on your face and be singing praises. I'm not coming to you today to try to convince you to never growl or be grumpy—to never allow a non-joyful noise to escape your lips. Jesus said that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. What's in there is what's going to come out. So, instead of making a point to beg you to change what is coming out of your mouth, I will instead just encourage you to come today and discover the greatness of my God.

The Lord has made His salvation known. He has not kept Himself hidden. He has openly shown His mercy and truth in your sight. If you embrace His Love today, your new heart will not be able to help but sing praises before Him.