A joyful noise

     "Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!  Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into His presence with singing!  Know that the the Lord, He is God!  It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.  Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise! Give thanks to Him, bless His name!  For the Lord is good; His steadfast love endures forever, and His faithfulness to all generations."  Ps.100
      School has started--and trumpet practice has begun.  We are making all kinds of "joyful NOISE to the Lord" around our house these days.  And believe me, with a first-time trumpet player, noise is the operative word... but it is joyful!  Aren't you thankful God didn't instruct us to make a perfect, harmonious sound to the Lord?  Or a well-practiced, pleasing song to the Lord?  Or a "get-it-all-together and then come before the Lord of Lords with your ideal, flawless performance of ultimate beauty?
     Nope--He just says, essentially, "Bring it on!"  Bring on your noise of clanging symbols or off-key singing or ear-splitting strange-sounding trumpet blowing--as long as it's with a joyful heart offered to the King of Kings.  He's not interested in our perfect performance but in our praise-filled heart.  He doesn't care if we enter His gates all fancy and gussied up --only that we enter with gratitude.  It's not about how we sound or look--it's about hearts overflowing with thankfulness to the One who saved us and loves us with an everlasting love.
     And it's not about how well we behave or how much we accomplish or how well we measure up--it's about His grace and goodness towards us.  And in Him, we more than measure up--because it's all about our perfect Savior and not our perfect performance.  It's not about us doing, doing, doing and trying harder.  It's about what He has DONE and finished on our behalf on the cross.  So we can rest in Him and His redemptive work on our behalf... and be grateful.
     Because "It is finished" and because of all we have and are in the Lord Jesus, we can truly "make a joyful noise to the Lord" and "come into His presence with singing!"  How can we not enter His presence filled with thanksgiving?!   Don't worry about perfection.  Forget about getting it all together before coming before Him.
     Just come.  Come with thanksgiving.  Come messy, come disorganized, come singing off-key... but just come.  Come with a song in your heart to the One who has always always always had you on His heart and who died so that you might come to Him and be with Him forever.  For He is good and "His steadfast love endures forever and His faithfulness to all generations."   He will forever be faithful--despite our unfaithfulness and our failures.
     So make a joyful noise to our faithful, forever loving Lord today.  Come before Him with blasting trumpet, if necessary, but come with a thankful, surrendered heart.  To God be the glory.