A cooing baby. The purr of an engine. Rain on the roof. Children at play. Harmonious tunes. Thunder. Glad words. Delightful sounds.

A loser’s agonizing moan. The crunch of colliding metal. Discordant rhythms. A child separated from her mother. Uncomfortable noise.

The Psalmist said, “Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound…” (89:15).

The “joyful sound”? What sound would that have been?

The shofar blast throughout the land marking the beginning or end of the Sabbath? The declaration of sins forgiven by the High Priest who had just appeared from behind the veil of the Most Holy Place? The pilgrim’s festive cadence as he walks to Jerusalem for the religious holy days?

Whatever Ethan, the author of this Psalm, understood that “joyful sound” to be, he knew that the people who know this “joyful sound” would incur God’s favor. “…They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance.”

Ethan’s point of reference was a long time ago. What about us? Can we live in God’s presence? Can we be liked by God? Can we know this “joyful sound”?

Our world is filled with so much noise it nearly mutes many of the pleasant, delightful sounds we enjoy. But neither of these has silenced the Psalmist’s “joyful sound.” We, who live after Christ’s completed work on the cross, can know it. Yes, we have heard the “joyful sound,” Jesus saves.

No related posts.