“Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into His presence with singing! Know that the LORD, He is God! It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise! Give thanks to Him; bless His name! For the LORD is good; His steadfast love endures forever, and His faithfulness to all generations.” – Psalm 100
Hey Christian! There is a noisy side to Sabbath! In our Sabbath meditations on this journey, we have been emphasizing the quieting of our hearts. We have talked about focusing our minds on the Lord and worshiping Him…getting into “the closet” for alone time with the Father. Getting the “rest” God designed us for. To be sure, the prayerful contemplation of our “peaceful” Shepherd is one of the elements of Sabbath, but there is more…
Another ingredient of worship is NOISE…a “joyful noise” to be specific! Worship calls us to celebrate who God is and what He has done for us. When David thought about the Lord he found it hard not to sing…and dance (sorry traditional Baptists). Even in the more somber Psalms, David would finish in a spirit of joy. Why? He loved God and being in His presence! When you are thinking about the Lord and what He has done for you, do you find your spirit lifted? Does a song well up in your soul? Do you feel that you have to jump up and shout? Today’s Psalm gives us seven reasons to dance and sing and I will pass them on to you today.
- He is God! There is no other and you are in His presence!
- He made you! That’s right…He is your Creator!
- You are His! Oh, how wonderful to belong!
- You are His sheep…in His pasture! In other words, He will take care of you!
- He is good! Not sometimes…ALL the time!
- He loves you! And He will never stop!
- He will never…never…never let you down!
O Christian, our Lenten meditation should be filled with joy and praise as well as prayerful mourning. It is a vital part of worship. I know it may feel a little strange to think of making noise during this time of contemplating the cross, but Lent is the very reason that we can rejoice! Today…today we can make a joyful noise! We can serve the LORD with gladness! We can come into His presence with singing! On this Sabbath, I challenge you to make a joyful NOISE to the Lord…and maybe even dance a little!