Before Church

Voices Restored ~ Sunday, August 4, 2019

Jeremiah 33:10,11

“Thus says the LORD: In this place of which you say, ‘It is a waste without man or beast,’ in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man or inhabitant or beast, there shall be heard again the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voices of those who sing, as they bring thank offerings to the house of the LORD:

‘Give thanks to the LORD of hosts,

for the LORD is good,

for His steadfast love endures forever.’ 

For I will restore the fortunes of the land as at first, says the LORD.”

After thyroid surgery the doctors told my mother that she would get her voice back, in a year.  Sure enough, a year later, her beautiful soprano voice became strong and melodic once more.  More often than not, when we go through a trauma or an illness, it steals our voice; we lose the ability to speak and to sing, and what used to be an instrument of praise fades into silence.  It’s hard to sing when you’re down and out.

Jeremiah’s prophecy is for Judah, who have already been invaded and seen the first wave of exiles go off to Babylon, and who – still stuck in their stubborn idolatry and all its concomitant sins – will see a second invasion that will devastate their country completely, destroy Jerusalem, destroy the Temple of the LORD and raze it to the ground.  But Jeremiah is looking beyond that.  He is looking beyond destruction, beyond 70 years of exile, to a time of return, God’s promise to bring the exiles back to their homeland to rebuild it.  And that is exactly what happens, 70 years later. 

When do we sing?  When do we raise our voices in gladness? We sing in times of mirth, when our hearts overflow with joy, we sing at weddings, we sing when we worship, we sing when we bring offerings, and we sing to give thanks to God. Jeremiah promises that all of these will be restored.

After a heartache, or an illness, or a transition, I sometimes realize, all of a sudden, that I haven’t been singing.  In the film Amazing Grace, when his fight against the slave trade becomes overwhelming, William Wilberforce loses his song.  But singing helps us recover.  Singing a song, especially a song of praise that is special helps us to breathe, helps lift our spirits, helps us connect with God, and helps us heal.

So sing this morning.  Go to church and sing.  It doesn’t matter if it’s good, God calls us to make a joyful noise.  And when you lose your voice, listen to others who still can sing.  Soon you will be singing the songs of Zion, the songs of mirth, of gladness, of marriage, of thanksgiving, and of praise.