Let's turn back to Psalm 100.
Psalm 100. Let's read it again. Make a joyful noise unto the
Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness. Come before his presence with
singing. 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. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
and into His courts with praise. Be thankful unto Him, and bless
His name. For the Lord is good, His mercy
is everlasting, and His truth endureth to all generations."
How precious is that? Isn't that relaxing? That's relaxing. That's a joyful noise, isn't
it? That's what that is. A joyful noise. Ever since I
can remember, I mean being alive, ever since I can remember, I
have always been a fan of music. Always. I love noise. I love background noise, if it's
a pleasant noise. I love the sounds that things
make. I'm intrigued by them. They're just interesting. I love
sound. I love harmony. You know, you have a melody and
you have a harmony. You know, two people sing together,
two notes go together. I love it when they go together. I love chords. I love chord changes. Hannah can tell you that I can
be listening to a song not paying any attention to the words at
all and hear a chord change and think, oh man, I've got to hear
that again. It does something to me. It does
something to my heart. It really does. Well, I was reading through the
Psalms this week. I just needed to. Sometimes you
just need to. Sometimes there's nowhere else
to go but the Psalms. You know it's time for the Psalms.
And as I was reading through, I came to Psalm 100. And when
I read, make a joyful noise, I immediately thought, I wonder
what that is. I wonder what that sounds like.
Make a joyful noise. How do you do that and it actually
be a joyful noise to God? How do you do that? So I started looking up what
the scripture has to say about joyful noise. And it has many different sounds. Sometimes it's with the harp. Sometimes it's with the band. Turn over to Psalm 150. Psalm
150 verse 3 says, Praise him with the sound of the trumpet
Praise Him with the psaltery and harp. Praise Him with the
timbrel and dance. Praise Him with stringed instruments
and organs. Praise Him upon the loud cymbals. Praise Him upon the high sounding
cymbals. Let everything that hath breath
praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord. Sometimes it's quiet and it's
soothing, like when David used to sit and play for Saul, to
calm him down, give him some peace. Sometimes it's loud. I want you to look at Psalm 98
with me, across the page from Psalm 100. Psalm 98, look at
verse 4. Make a joyful noise unto the
Lord, all the earth. Make a loud noise and rejoice
and sing praise. Sing unto the Lord with the harp
and with the voice of a psalm. With trumpets and sound of cornet,
make a joyful noise before the Lord the King. Let the sea roar
and the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein. Let the floods clap their hands,
let the hills be joyful together before the Lord. Psalm 33 says this. You don't
have to turn, but Psalm 33 says this. Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous,
for praise is comely for the upright. Praise the Lord with
harp Sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings. Sing unto him a new song. Play skillfully with a loud noise. For the word of the Lord is right,
and all his works are done in truth. There's some men who I
love, and I love to hear them play the piano and sing, and
they play skillfully with a loud noise. There are some men or
women that I love to hear with an instrument of six strings,
or however many strings it has, and it's a joyful noise. It's
truly a joyful noise. But let me show you what else
this word has to say about our noise. Go over to Ezekiel 26. Ezekiel 26, look at verse 13. And I will cause the noise of
thy songs to cease, and the sound of thy harps shall be no more
heard. And I will make thee like the
top of a rock. Thou shalt be a place to spread
nets upon. Thou shalt be built no more,
for I the Lord have spoken it, saith the Lord God. Why? See if you can find Amos chapter
5. Amos chapter 5 is after Daniel
and Hosea. Amos 5 verse 21 says, I hate I despise your feast days, and
I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. Though you offer
me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept
them. Neither will I regard the peace
offerings of your fat beast. Take thou away from me the noise
of thy songs, for I will not hear the melody of thy vows.
but let judgment run down as waters and righteousness as a
mighty stream. Why? Why will God not accept the noise
of their songs? It has something to do with this
heart. That's the answer. It has something
to do with this heart. Look at verse 25. Have you offered
unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years,
O house of Israel? But you have borne the tabernacle
of your Moloch, and Cain your images. the star of your God,
which you made to yourselves. Therefore will I cause you to
go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the Lord, whose name is
the God of hosts. Woe to them that are at ease
in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief
of the nations to whom the house of Israel came." Everything concerning
the relationship that we have with our God has something to
do with this heart. Something to do with this heart. Don't turn. Proverbs 4 says,
Out of this heart are the issues of life. Seek the Lord. How? Where is He? We seek him with
this heart. With all your heart, that's what
he said. Come to Christ. How? We come with this heart. Right? Bow the knee. Repent. Believe. How? With this heart. Make a joyful noise. How? With this heart. With this heart. It has nothing to do with noise
at all. It has nothing to do with noise
at all. There may be some noise involved.
There may not. Either way, it doesn't matter.
It has everything to do with this heart. Everything. If all
we do is focus on the noise, we've missed it. You know that? Well, let's make the noise bigger
and better. It says cymbals, so let's bring in the drums and
more drums and guitars and bass. I think we missed it. I think
we might have missed it. Let's make the heart bigger and
better. Let's sing from the heart, not
from the head, not from the pride of showmanship, from the heart. One of these days, I would love
for those of you who sing to sing. Do it from the heart. Do it from the heart. You've
heard people say, I can't really sing, but I can make a joyful
noise. That's right, because it's from
the heart. It's from the heart. Like that old minister in the
bulletin, if you read the article, He Knows the Shepherd. That old
minister, his voice wasn't great. His intonation wasn't great. His delivery wasn't great. but he had something in the heart.
There was something in the heart. It was a joyful noise in there. You who love the Lord, you know
what this is talking about. There have been times that we've
heard the gospel preached and not one sound is coming out of
our mouths. We sit here and rejoice and it's
just quiet. Not one sound is coming out of
our mouths. But the Lord has opened the window
of heaven, and he's flooded the gospel into there, and there's
a symphony raging inside here. You know that? Praise God from whom all blessings
flow. It's a joyful noise. A joyful
noise. There's a story that I love so
much. This is one of my favorite stories.
It's about a man and his wife, and they're Mr. and Ms. Burke. Burke is their name. And it was a long time ago. I
don't know when it was, but they were horse and buggy. They went
everywhere in horse and buggy. And she was a believer and attended
the church there in town, and he was not. He had no interest
in going. She tried to get him to go for
years, but he just didn't want to. He didn't want to go. Well,
they were going to have a meeting, a special meeting. Friday night,
Saturday night, Sunday morning. And she asked him, why don't
you go to the service with me? Friday night. Why don't you go
and hear the preaching with me? And he said, well, all right. I don't have anything else to
do. I'll go. I'll go." So they went. He hooked up the buggy
and the horse. And they went to the service. And after the
service, he bolted to the buggy. And he sat there. And finally,
she came out. And all the way home, he was
so mad at her. He said, what did you tell that
man about me? How does he know so much about
me? He said, I will never go back
again. Never. I will not hear that man
again. Never. Never step foot again. So Saturday rolls around, and
she gets ready to go to the service. And she's planning on going by
herself. And he said, what time does that service start? She
said, 7 o'clock. He said, all right, I'm going
to go one more time. One more time. That's it. So they go to
the service. All the way home, he is mad as
a hornet. That's it. I'm telling you, that's
it. That night, she got really sick. Very sick. Sunday morning came
and she was too sick to go. Couldn't go. And she looks over
at him and he gets up and he's getting dressed and she said,
where you going? He said, I'm going back one more
time. But that's it. One more time.
So he went by himself. And he sat down in the service.
And he heard the gospel. and God opened his soul and the spirit poured the glorious
good news in and broke him and then picked him up and he said
all the way home Things were just different. Something was
different. He said, I just saw everything
differently, riding home by myself. He said, it sounded like the
trees were clapping their hands, saying, I'm glad you're safe,
Brother Burke. He said, I heard the birds sing,
and it sounded like they were saying, we're glad you're safe,
Brother Burke. He said, I went over that little
bridge in town and the stream came under it with the waterfall
and it sounded like it was saying, we are so glad you're safe, Brother
Burke. So he got to his house and he put the horse in the stall
and he put the buggy in the garage or whatever it was. And he was
walking up the back steps, back path to his house, and his wife
was standing at the top of the steps at the back door with her
hands on her hip. And she said, God saved you,
didn't he? And he said, yeah. How did you
know? She said, I could hear you come
and clean up the driveway singing, amazing grace, how sweet the
sound that saved a wretch like me. You know what you call that? A joyful noise. That's a joyful noise. Make a
joyful noise. Back over to Psalm 100. Verse 1 says, Make a joyful noise unto the
Lord all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness. What does that mean? Is there anything that we can
do for God? Really? Does He need us for anything? No. Nothing. Then how do we serve
the Lord with gladness? Verse 2 says, Come before His
presence with singing. We come before His presence with
singing. All the work is finished. You
know that? All the battles are over. All
of our spiritual battles are over. All of our physical battles
are over. All we have to do is stand still. The victory is won. So we just
come before His presence with singing. That's it. I want to
show you one of my favorite stories. Go over to 2nd Chronicles chapter
20. I've always loved this. 2nd Chronicles 20 verse 1 says, It came to pass after this also
that the children of Moab and the children of Ammon and with
them other beside the Ammonites came against Jehoshaphat to battle. Three countries are going against
Israel. Verse 2 says, Then there came
some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude
against thee from beyond the sea on this side Syria. And behold,
they be in Hazazon, Tamar, which is Engedi. And Jehoshaphat feared,
he was afraid, and set himself to seek the Lord and proclaim
a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah gathered themselves
together to ask help of the Lord, even out of all the cities of
Judah, they came to seek the Lord. And Jehoshaphat prayed,
he begged God for help. Verse 13 says, And all Judah
stood before the Lord with their little ones, their wives and
their children. Then upon Jehaziel, the son of
Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of
Madaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of
the Lord in the midst of the congregation. The Spirit of the
Lord came to this man. Verse 15, And he said, Hearken
ye all Judah and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat,
Thus saith the Lord unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by
reason of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours,
but God's." What do you think happened in his heart whenever
he heard that? A joyful noise started raging.
Verse 16, Tomorrow go ye down against them. Behold, they come
up by the cliff of Ziz, and ye shall find them at the end of
the brook before the wilderness of Jeruel. Ye shall not need
to fight in this battle. Set yourselves, stand ye still,
and see the salvation of the Lord with you. O Judah and Jerusalem,
fear not, nor be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them,
for the Lord will be with you. And Jehoshaphat bowed his head
with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants
of Jerusalem fell before the Lord, worshiping the Lord. And
the Levites of the children of the Kohathites and of the children
of the Korites stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with a
loud voice on high. And they rose early in the morning
and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa. And as they went forth,
Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah and ye inhabitants
of Jerusalem. Believe in the Lord your God,
so shall you be established. Believe his prophets, so shall
you prosper. And when he had consulted with
the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord, and that should
praise the beauty of holiness as they went out before the army."
God told him, you're not even going to have to fight in the
battle. So you know what he did? He said, bring all the singers
and put them in front of the swords and the bows and arrows. Make the singers the front line.
Verse 21, when he had consulted with the people, he appointed
singers unto the Lord, and that should praise the beauty of holiness,
as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the Lord,
for His mercy endureth forever. And when they began to sing and
to praise, The Lord set ambushments against the children of Ammon,
Moab, and Mount Seir, which were come against Judah, and they
were smitten. For the children of Ammon and
Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, utterly to slay
and destroy them. And when they had made an end
of the inhabitants of Seir, everyone helped to destroy another. And
when Judah came toward the watchtower in the wilderness, they looked
unto the multitude, and behold, they were dead bodies fallen
to the earth, and none escaped." Not one person. And when Jehoshaphat and his
people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among
them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies and precious
jewels, which they stripped off for themselves more than they
could carry away. And they were three days in gathering
of the spoil. It was so much." He got word,
three countries are going to war with you. You know why? God purposed rich favor upon
you. Stand still. We just sang a minute
ago, let those refuse to sing who never knew our God. When
you see our God, you know what it makes me want to do? Sing. Come before His presence with
singing. Back over to Psalm 100, verse
1 says, Make a joyful noise unto the
Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness.
Come before his presence with singing. 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. Spurgeon said, our worship ought
to be intelligent. We ought to know whom we worship,
And why? Verse 3 says, 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. He made us. He made us. A lot of men like to say, I am
a self-made man. Not me. Nobody is. No man is. We are not our own. We are bought with a price. The
precious blood of Christ. And here's the glorious news
of this verse right here. It says, the end of it says,
we are His people. And the sheep of His pasture.
We belong to Him. We belong to Him. You know what
that means? Verse 4 says, we get to enter into his gates with
thanksgiving and into his courts with praise. Be thankful unto
him and bless his name. Bless his name. Oh my soul, bless
his name. Everything that has happened
to us in this life, every single thing, has been for the purpose
of allowing us to enter into His gates and into His courts. Every single thing. How could
we give Him anything other than thanksgiving and praise? Thanksgiving and praise for all
of His purposes toward us. Verse 4 says, Be thankful unto
Him and bless His name. In all things, bless His name. Bless His character, bless His
person. Bless the Lord. Bless the Lord. Whatever He does, whatever He
gives, whatever He takes away, in all circumstances, bless His
name. Bless His name. He's doing right. He's holy, and that means He's
doing right. It's right. Job, you know, all
that stuff happened to Job. He lost his family. He lost his
possessions, his houses. He lost his friends. He lost it all. And it says,
In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. You know
why? Verse 5 says, For the Lord is
good. He kept Job. That's the only
reason. He kept his mouth. He kept his
heart. He wouldn't let him charge God
foolishly. He wouldn't let him. Job was
what he was by the grace of God. The Lord is good. And it says
in verse 5, His mercy is everlasting. Did you know that our God is
just? He's just. That means He must punish the
wicked. He must punish sin. But He is not only just. He's not just, just. He said,
I am a just God and I'm a Savior. I'm a Savior. In His heart and
in what the scriptures calls His bowels, there is an endless
supply of tender mercy there. Endless supply. It was the love
and the compassion and the tender mercy of God that sent Christ
to save a wretch like me. That's what it was. Mercy. Everlasting mercy. Tender mercy died for me. Mercy took my place. Judgment was met. The law was
satisfied. mercy was born. Verse 5 says,
For the Lord is good, his mercy is everlasting, and his truth
endureth to all generations. Just like he was merciful to
our fathers. Just like he has been merciful
to us. He will be merciful to our children,
to whomever He will. But if we have children who are
alive, here's the promise of God Himself. His truth will endure
to all generations. Aren't you so glad? He gave us
the truth. He's going to give it to them,
to whomever He will, to whomever He chooses. The Lord is good. The Lord is good. His truth endures
to all generations. What a joyful noise that is.
Everything about this glorious gospel is a joyful noise. Everything. All right, let's
stand together.