Worship & Wisdom 2/17/2026

WORSHIP

“Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.” Psalm 81:1

I love this verse. According to verse 4 this was a statute in Israel, a law of the God of Jacob. Now, let us be honest not everyone has a pleasant sounding voice. That cannot be helped in some cases. I believe that is why the back half of the verse was given. A joyful noise is fully acceptable to God. As we ponder that phrase, a joyful noise, several things occur to me. There are non-musical sounds that make me smile. Children laughing when they are playing sweetly. The sound of waves upon the shore. A mountain stream gurgling over the rocks always brings a smile to my face and peace to my heart. Some other sounds are music to my ears. If a team that I support scores or wins a contest a crowd joins in a joyful noise. Perhaps one of the sweetest sounds is when one of my children says, I love you Daddy. You see, Singing to God and making a joyful noise is not always about a congregation or a crowd. I submit that music to His ears are when we are all by ourselves, just us and Him, and we let loose singing a song to the tops of our lungs when no one else is listening. Or maybe most of all when we find a place of solitude, silence, and stillness and say, Father, I love you. Worship Him aloud, joyfully.

WIDSOM

“Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than an house full of sacrifices with strife.” Proverbs 17:1

How un-American is this? I would say a full house is a goal for most people. What about the sacrifices reference? Keep in mind, animals were a food source so to set aside an animal or animals for ceremonial sacrifices that the Lord required was a difficult thing to dedicate and not use as a food source. That is why it was called a ‘sacrifice.’ This phrase leads us to believe that only the wealthy would have plenty of sacrifice animals to choose from, so it was not really a sacrifice. It was abundance, opulence, riches. Wisdom says it is literally better to have peace in poverty than conflict in comforts of riches. The question then is, what have we traded for peaceful homes that honor the Lord. Slammed schedules? Maxed out investments and maxed out stress? Constant frustration and conflict in the home in pursuit of ‘the dream’? Wise or Foolish?