“Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise” (Psalm 98:4).
“Make a joyful noise!” We often tease one another about the quality of our singing, and we use this expression as somewhat of an excuse for any less-than-desirable sounds that we might make. But notice the phrase, make a loud noise. It is simply inescapable; we are commanded to be loud.
When you sing in the choir, can anyone hear you? I recognize the importance of blend, but if everyone is competing to sing the softest, soon the congregation will not hear anyone singing.
Why sing out?
1. So we can hear you, of course. Presumably, you have a message to get across. If you don’t sing out, no one will hear it. Go ahead and open your mouth. Shout it out!
2. So your listeners will be persuaded. Have you ever been in an argument with someone and suddenly realized that you were speaking much more loudly than you had intended to speak? Why did that happen? You were trying your best to get your point across. You were doing what you could to be persuasive. If you hear someone speaking loudly, you assume that person really means what he is saying. The same is true for singing. A choir that sings loudly is a convincing choir.
3. So the choir will sound better. Again, I recognize the importance of blend in the choir, but that is another subject entirely. The tone quality of an under-supported voice is usually not very impressive. Most folks would actually sound better if they would just sing out.
Go ahead, choir member, sing out! And now you can claim the Scriptures as you do.
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