Sound. Do you hear it? Not the useless loud noise, but sound that is voice-made-praise. Do you hear the rustle of the wind that gives the song to the trees? Do you hear the crickets summer chorus or the sparrow’s humble chatter? Do you hear the collision of the rain with the ground, or the slow rippling water as the evening sun melts into it? Do you hear the conversation of geese overhead, the distant bark of a dog at dusk, or the buzzing of a bee it dances beside a flower one windy day?
I wonder if God hears these things. He must. And I wonder if it is our lack of praise that causes them to reach His ears, filling in where we have grossly neglected voicing praise to our creator.
We believe our life is better filled with noise, with the wail of phones in the exhausting hurry of our exhaust. We are the creators of busyness and medicated necessities, the havoc that allows time to define our day instead of our day defining time. It is the belief that reduces our voice to mere noise and empowers birds and trees and insects and dogs to raise their extra volume of praise to our Father.
King David was a man who heard the sound. One of the busiest men alive during his day-with the joint responsibility of leading a nation, caring for a family and conquering other peoples – he still found time to stop and listen and sing back to God. David penned more than 70 psalms (the word psalm itself means celebrate the praises of God and song). David saw God‘s chariot in the clouds and a garment for the earth in the sea. He perceived poetry in God’s hand feeding all the creatures on earth. He paused long enough to hear the earth chanting God’s qualities – His enduring faithfulness, provision, forgiveness, protection, guidance and most of all, His unfailing love.
I’m not sure all the Psalms David wrote flowed fluently and effortlessly from his pen. He had to experience times when he was tempted to allow the demands of a Kingdom to drown out the reverberating sound of God‘s goodness. Yet David continued to slice out moments in his day to listen and make joyful noise right back. He wasn’t about to let the trees and birds outdo him. Will you?
Dig Deeper:
Meditate on Psalms 104, then read about Jesus’ triumphal entry in Luke 19:28–40. Go some place quiet. Sit there for 30 minutes.
Prayer:
Your world is full of chatter that brings life to my ears. As I hear the morning birds, tune my ears to hear your words through the love of a neighbor, through scripture, through song, through creation.
