Ps 66:1-2
Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands: Sing forth the honour of his name: make his praise glorious.
These verses not only show that we ought to sing to the Lord and praise Him, but that we need to do it whole-heartedly.
This is a far cry from the worship I have witnessed in our churches lately. It has been a long time since I have heard a congregation collectively worship the Lord like the Scripture says we ought.
Many years ago, while duck hunting, a friend of mine accidently discharged his 12 gage shotgun just a few inches from my ear. To compound that violent noise, we were inside a panel van that had been stripped of all interior upholstery. There was nothing but metal. You can imagine the reverberation of that gunshot. Some damage was done to my left ear. As time went by, the only difficulty I had was when I was a song leader at a large church in Illinois. I had a 70 voice choir behind me who had no problem "giving it all they had."
There were times when the congregation, filled with the spirit of worship, "raised the roof" with their singing. In those all out moments, my left ear began shutting down. It was as if a switch were being turned off and on in my ear. Whenever that happened, I knew we were making His praise glorious with a joyful noise.
Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands: Sing forth the honour of his name: make his praise glorious.
These verses not only show that we ought to sing to the Lord and praise Him, but that we need to do it whole-heartedly.
This is a far cry from the worship I have witnessed in our churches lately. It has been a long time since I have heard a congregation collectively worship the Lord like the Scripture says we ought.
Many years ago, while duck hunting, a friend of mine accidently discharged his 12 gage shotgun just a few inches from my ear. To compound that violent noise, we were inside a panel van that had been stripped of all interior upholstery. There was nothing but metal. You can imagine the reverberation of that gunshot. Some damage was done to my left ear. As time went by, the only difficulty I had was when I was a song leader at a large church in Illinois. I had a 70 voice choir behind me who had no problem "giving it all they had."
There were times when the congregation, filled with the spirit of worship, "raised the roof" with their singing. In those all out moments, my left ear began shutting down. It was as if a switch were being turned off and on in my ear. Whenever that happened, I knew we were making His praise glorious with a joyful noise.
As I think about it, there was another time not too long ago when I joined in the worship at the Brooklyn Tabernacle in NYC. If I hadn't been in the last row of the main floor, I wonder if that ear thing might have happened again. (I was in the back row because that was the only seat I could find!)
Perhaps my ear is healed now, I don't know for sure, I just know it has been years since that happened. How I wish, just once more, God's people would give it everything they had in singing forth the honor of His name, enough for that ear thing to happen again.
If you are reading this, next time you get together with your spiritual family for corporate worship, put absolutely everything you have into it and lift up your voice to the Lord, for He is worthy!
Perhaps my ear is healed now, I don't know for sure, I just know it has been years since that happened. How I wish, just once more, God's people would give it everything they had in singing forth the honor of His name, enough for that ear thing to happen again.
If you are reading this, next time you get together with your spiritual family for corporate worship, put absolutely everything you have into it and lift up your voice to the Lord, for He is worthy!
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