Sound

 November 10, 2021

A meditation on 1 Chronicles 9:33.

“The singers…were free from other duties; for they were employed in that work day and night.”

The temple must have been an amazing contradiction of the noise and smell of animals being slaughtered and the silence and incense aroma of the innermost chambers. And over it all, the continual song of the Levites, day and night. I can imagine the smooth, soothing chords of the evening and the joyous morning praise—an unbroken paean of worship.

God must love music. Sound is one of the building blocks of Creation, a form of energy that ripples through the universe as atoms, quarks, and particles vibrate in a never-ending chorus of sound heard only through specialized radio/audio equipment. The most sensitive of human ears miss most of the music. Dogs and bats hear what we cannot, just as birds and bees see colors invisible to us. How glorious it will be when we can hear and see clearly, without the obstruction that sin has wreaked upon our senses!

I like my times of silence; I can drive for hours on end without the distraction of radio or voice, but I wonder how much of God’s glory is encapsulated in the song itself—the rhythms, harmonies, and melodies. Does my preference for silence keep me from hearing God’s voice in the music? We are told in Scripture to “be silent, and know that he is God,” but also to lift the voice in loud and raucous praise. The Revelation says there is silence in Heaven only for about a half hour (8:1). The rest of the time, it’s continuous shouts of joy and praise. I think I had better get warmed up.