Wednesday, December 13
Loud worship
Scripture: Revelation 10
Amos 5:23–24
23 Take away from me your noisy songs;
I don’t want to hear the music of your stringed instruments.
24 Justice must flow like torrents of water,
righteous actions like a stream that never dries up.
Observation
Honestly, I struggled to find a takeaway in Revelation 10, so I’m dipping into my other reading for the morning and pulling from Amos 5.
Through the prophet, the Lord tells Israel that He is not impressed with their religious ceremonies and liturgies. Their songs may be loud and beautiful, but they ring hollow in God’s ears because they are not backed up by justice and righteous actions. It was so bad that God said, “I absolutely despise your festivals! I get no pleasure from your religious assemblies!” (Amos 5:21)
Said another way, the Israelites were good in church and worshipped loudly, but in every day life, they were evil and unjust. So God, “I hate your songs. Change the way you live, then I’ll enjoy your worship.”
Application
I come from a Christian tradition that values worship—music and song that is heartfelt and often loud. So this got my attention. I love to worship. I want to make sure that my worship is more than just singing loudly; it’s also living justly. It’s treating people well. It’s doing the right things. It’s honesty and fairness. The worship that God desires is more than a song; it’s life of justice and righteousness. And that centers on how we treat people.
So today, I will worship God loudly by loving people well, by doing what is good, right and just in all my relationships and actions.
Prayer: Lord, I love You. Help me to express my love not just in song in church, but in action in every day life. Help me to treat people with justice and righteousness.
More: Amos 5-6, Psalm 144, John 3