A Joyful Noise

Human beings are such creatures of habit. I didn't assign seats to my college students, and yet they usually sat in the same seats each week. Similarly, many seem to sit in the same pews each week at church. A couple of months ago I sat in a different area of the sanctuary, and as we began singing, I inwardly cringed because the man standing in front of me was loudly singing off-key. Although I don't have perfect pitch like my youngest sister does, it's physically painful for me to hear an instrument played out of tune. The Holy Spirit immediately reminded me that when we are singing in church, what matters is our heart attitude. A soloist could do a magnificent job, but if her motivations and attitudes are not Christ honoring, it's rather meaningless. It's so easy to just go through the motions and sing the words without thinking about what we are saying. One indication that this is happening is when our facial expressions contradict the words we are singing. Whatever we do we are to do to the best of our ability. I am not saying we shouldn't try do do our best, but lack of musical ability shouldn't stop us from praising the Lord. If we don't make a joyful noise, He will cause the rocks to cry out!