Raise a Sound! Raise a Hallelujah!

When was the last time your worship was heard far away? Where the loudness of the music and the collective joy of all the people in the room transcended space and time?

Have you ever been in a room where the worship was so loud that the room was not big enough to contain the sound? Where the worship was so boisterous, so mighty and so full of adoration that people from the furthest places could hear your worship?

I don’t think in our era of confined and perfectly-sound-treated rooms, it's possible for worship services to be heard outside the four walls; let alone past our hallways.

When there is new construction of a performance hall or church, architects work closely with sound engineers to design a room where the sound is contained so perfectly and balanced; where the design is so efficient you don’t hear the music outside. Why? Because the room is treated in such a way that it manages the movement of sound waves to remain contained within that space.

Let the sound out!

When sound is perfectly contained, it can only impact the space it touches. Let the sound of your praise flow out.

I’ve been in perfectly designed buildings where the sound was so well contained within the room. When you stepped outside the room, you couldn’t hear anything that was happening inside. It's a work of sound engineering genius.

Let your sound flow out!

What good is a song of rejoicing that stays within walls?

Conversely, the music in the room sounds amazing and incredible. You can’t help but take in every note, every wave of musical glory! 

Yet, those same perfectly treated rooms seem to trap the sound so much so that you can step into the hallway and not hear the thump of the bass or the crash of a symbol because the room is treated so efficiently; the sound cannot escape the room.

But what would happen if we went back to being a little less constrained and allowed the sound of singing from our churches to escape our walls into the streets? 

Let the sound of rejoicing escape!

What would happen if we allowed the sound of rejoicing and singing from our churches to escape our 4 walls into the streets?

What would happen if our songs went beyond our walls and were heard much farther than we imagined? How would that impact our community? What would they say about our songs? Would it pique their curiosity? Would they want to know why we sing the way we sing?

There’s something special when individuals join as one to sing unto the Lord! When the music and singing elevate the worship experience to such heightened levels it transcends beyond the room!

WHEN MUSIC GOES BEYOND THE 4 WALLS

This very thing happened during the time when the 3rd group of exiles returned to Jerusalem. In Nehemiah Chapter 12, we read how Nehemiah organized 2 “large” choirs to sing praises unto God.

He and his associates made it a point to gather together all the Levities who were musicians to come celebrate what God had done. Judah’s captivity ended and the exiles were returning back to live in Jerusalem. 

Nehemiah tells us that the Levites who were singers and musicians took their place in the house of God and began to offer great sacrifices and thanksgiving unto God. 

The Bible records in Nehemiah 12:43 that the singing during the time of worship was so powerful and so strong that “the sound of rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard far away.” Can you imagine how loud it had to have been for the sound to be heard far away?

Think about it, for the sound to be heard far away, there had to be such unity in the voices; there had to be such conviction and strength in what was being sung that singing literally turned into shouting! And shouting resulted from the incredible amount of rejoicing they felt.

I imagine they didn’t know that their singing was heard far away until they saw foreigners drawing near and coming close to hear what was happening! Perhaps they had never heard such loudness coming from hundreds and thousands of worshippers. 

So again, I ask, when was the last time your singing was SO loud and boisterous, it was heard far away?

Our songs of rejoicing must return! We need MORE of them in our houses of worship. How will the nations know that our God is the God of the Universe; the God who loves and restores? How would they know Him unless we rejoice in Him? They won’t know unless they hear us sing! Unless we Raise a Hallelujah!

DON’T HOLD BACK

It’s interesting, but for some reason, holy and sanctified people act very differently in a church setting than when they’re at a sporting event or their kids' sporting event.

It’s like they are two different kinds of people! At their son or daughter’s game, they will out-yell the parents sitting across from them, they will shout from the top of their lungs when the team is winning and scoring well. 

But when they’re in a church service, they hardly raise a whisper to sing unto the God who sustains them by His breath.

How is this possible? Is God not worthy of the same level of excitement and joy that one gets from a sporting event or a concert? 

LET THE SOUND OF REJOICING RETURN

The sound of rejoicing must return to our churches. And not only must it return, it must be so extravagant that others cannot help but take notice.

But please don’t misunderstand, don’t reserve your rejoicing just in a corporate worship service. Your rejoicing must be displayed in your everyday life as you go about doing your work, as you do life outside the 4 walls of the church.

Let your neighbors hear you singing to the Lord. Let the cars beside you at the red light see the glory of God surround you as you worship the Lord without restraint!

Your worship unto the Lord should be continual for He has done great things for you!  

He is working things for your good! He is making all things new in your life! He is restoring the years the locusts have stolen from you! You are walking in His blessing and because you are blessed, you must give Him extravagant praise!

SING TO HIM A NEW SONG (Psalm 96:1). 

And to my songwriters here, WRITE songs of rejoicing. It’s time that YOUR songs of rejoicing fill the house of the Lord! Sing and celebrate God’s goodness and faithfulness.  

I pray and declare that Abba will use you to sing and write the songs that have yet to be heard. That your songs will fill rooms with extravagant praise!

May your songs spread joy and may they create a river of life that flows through your streets. In Jesus’ Name!

Let’s raise a sound of worship so loud that will make Him known among the nations!

If you have any questions or anything that I can help you with, don’t hesitate to reach out.

Until then, keep being amazing!

MRJ

PS…

Here’s an awesome song that captures the very essence of this message! Sing to Him a song of rejoicing, a song of deliverance!