I’m sitting outside today, despite the sweltering heat and my melted ice water. There’s something about the peaceful sounds of the birds and the breeze moving through the leaves of the trees that is soothing. I wonder what the birds are saying as their chirps echo from tree to tree. There’s a plane flying overhead, but it’s distant and not disturbing. I’m reminded of a passage of Scripture that recently grabbed my attention concerning “sound.”
I’ve recently finished reading Chronicles and its account of the kings of Israel and Judah. At the end of 2 Chronicles, the people of Judah are preparing a sacrifice for the Passover offerings. They had endured 55 years under King Manasseh’s wicked rule, and now, King Josiah has come to the scene. He tears down all of the images, idols, and altars to Baal and purges the land of all of the high places. Josiah instructs the people to slaughter 30,000 sheep and goats and 3,000 cattle for the sacrifice. This minor detail stopped me in my tracks. All I could think about was the sound that must have rung through the air. I can hear the cries and screams of the animals being slaughtered. That day, the sound of sacrifice impacted everyone who could hear.
A couple of pages later, in the book of Ezra, after the people of God are taken into exile by King Nebuchadnezzar, we are introduced to another significant sound. King Cyrus came to rule, and his heart was moved to send the people back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. The foundation of the temple is laid, and Ezra 4:11-13 states that the older priests and Levites, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud, while the others shouted for joy. No one could distinguish the SOUND of the shouts of joy from the SOUND of weeping because the people made so much noise. The SOUND was heard far away.
The scientific definition of “sound” according to Wikipedia is “a vibration that propagates (propels and multiplies) waves that bring about a reception and perception by the brain.” Throughout Scripture, sound is used to indicate the voice of God, the movement of God, hearing from Heaven, creation, worship, war cries, the power of life and death, the arrival of the Holy Spirit, truth, and even the second coming of Christ. SOUND is a significant motion that commands a response. Some theologians believe that the SOUND of God’s creative voice when He said, “Let there be light,” continues to propagate creative waves through the universe today. WHAT?! The waves of the sound of God continue to move throughout the world, giving us day and night??? “LET THERE BE LIGHT!” And the sun continues to respond to that one command?!!
SOUND – so intense, so magnificent! Yet, we live our lives overlooking what is powerfully available to us at any moment, at any given time. Humans are estimated to make an average of 16,000 sounds a day, JUST using words. Those words, if we believe the Bible to be true, cause incredible impact. Scripture says the power of life and death is in our tongue. I cannot help but wonder what vibrations we are sending out that are propagating a perception and a response in our lives and the world around us?
Kevin Turpin II challenged us last week to cause our worship to be LOUDER than our cries for help. I don’t doubt that many of us are in dire situations. BUT I challenge Bridgeway Community Church to lift a SOUND of worship over every lost and broken thing. Over sickness and stress. Over every celebration, restoration, purification, and healing. Over every circumstance that concerns us!
A SOUND that causes life to happen in places where death abides. A SOUND that causes prison doors to break open and captives to be set free. A SOUND that lifts a sacrifice of praise and confuses the enemy. A SOUND that will cause the heavens and the earth to respond to the authority and dominion that we have been given as children of the Most High God!
SOUND IS OUR STRATEGY! Let’s raise a SOUND that declares God is doing a NEW thing! A sound that calls those things that be not as though they are! Let’s raise a SOUND that sends a vibration that turns the enemy on his heel and declares, “MY GOD IS ABLE! WE HAVE THE VICTORY!”
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