Devotion
A joyful noise
David Jacobs
Do you enjoy going to church? Ask yourself this question. At every church that I have been to, it seems a large amount of the people there have no interest in being there. They are either forced by their spouse or parents and are just there because it is a part of their culture. When the scriptures are read or the sermon begins, it may turn into naptime for some people. How have we allowed a weekly worship to turn into this? Is this what it was originally meant to be?
We can think about prayer and worship in many ways, and there are certainly many congregations that are finding new ways to approach it and bring in new devotees of Christ. It may rustle the feathers of some of the older generations, but as long as the overall meaning is similar, there is no harm in trying to be innovative and continue to pay respect to God.
Prayer
However, as these verses suggest, church is not the only place that we are meant to sing God's praises. Anywhere and everywhere we go we should sing God's praises. I also like to use the idea of a song as a metaphor for my life: everything that I do, every positive and negative action, every up and down, is a different note on my worship song to God. I share my song with all that encounter me, and hopefully, they share theirs with me. Whatever your gift may be, it is our duty, as these verses suggest, to share what we can in a joyful noise unto all the earth. Make a loud noise, rejoice! God is great! Amen.
Night Prayer
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
Inspiration
We despise the thought of a pile of dirty dishes in the sink. The outside is easy to clean; it's the caked-up residue on the inside that's so difficult to remove. Jesus compares the scribes and Pharisees with dishes that have been wiped clean on the outside while dirty inside. The Pharisees took exceptional care of their outward appearance and neglected their inward spirits. We are guilty of allowing our hearts to be left filthy as well. We look and act as we should while our souls are full of darkness. We must continue to converse with the Holy Spirit daily and trust His guidance to cleanse our sinful nature.
Prayer
Dear God, Please forgive our sinful nature. We yearn for cleansing from within, so we are genuine witnesses to Your name. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
