"Make a joyful noise unto the Lord." I think that most of us have heard this Bible verse before. What does the word "joyful" connote? It suggests an overflowing, irrepressible expression. But what kind of noise is appropriate for utterance in the presence of God? And how can we best convey joy in our worship? Psalm 33 says, "Rejoice in the Lord, oh you righteous! For praise from the upright is beautiful." This seems to imply that God "hears" the righteousness of our heart, not the execution and demonstration of our verbal, musical acuity. Not the decibel level. "Praise the Lord with the harp. Make melody with an instrument of ten strings. Sing to Him a new song." Mouth harp, stringed harp, six string guitar, ten string cuatro or charango; whatever instruments might exist within your culture. Does it matter? Probably much more important is this; that you "Sing to Him a NEW song." "Play skilfully with a shout of joy."

"Skilfully": do your best with all your heart, soul and might. "With a shout of joy." Again the joy which can't be whispered - it bubbles up and overflows and explodes into a shout.

"For the Word of the Lord is right, and all His work is done in truth. He loves righteousness and justice;

God seeks to find righteousness and justice in His people. God "hears" our hearts."

FROM YOUR LIPS TO GOD'S EAR:

For a Christian who is attempting to worship and praise God, what exactly is God hearing us express when we are in the act of communicating our gratefulness to Him?

If I may offer a suggestion, the Bible doesn't say "Make a contrived noise unto the Lord." And it doesn't say "Make a socially acceptable noise unto the Lord." And it doesn't say "Make a very commercially pleasing noise unto the Lord."

So if you are trying to "praise" and "worship" God with one of the more prominent selections from the Time-Life Series Of PRAISE AND WORSHIP SONGS (As Advertised On TV) then I'm not really sure if God is that much interested. In fact, I'm quite sure He's already heard those particular songs thousands of time.

But I think, deductively, that God would be pleased if you "Sing to Him a NEW song."

I believe that the song which overflows from your heart is the song God wants to hear. And it has never been expressed in that exact way until the moment you "confess" and declare it and offer it to Him. It is a new song. It wasn't contrived by a professional "praise and worship" writer who cranks out songs for the publishing division of the record company which specializes in the distribution of music which conforms to this very popular genre. The Bible doesn't say, "Make a contemporary noise unto the Lord." Remember, the NEW song can only come from YOU.

"Well, I don't really know how to write a song. It can't be very good," you might think.

But the very fact that you can't formulate a structured composition is possibly what God would appreciate about it the very most. The humble song of the righteous man is more pleasing than the competent song of the professional writer who gives God "lip service" ... for a price.

God is seeking a relationship WITH us, not a performance FROM us. He wants us to open up the parts of us which can't be opened, except by letting go. He wants to enter into the uncharted, undesignated, unchoreographed parts of our faith.