Psalm 15:2 states, “Let us come before his
presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. For the LORD is a great God, and a great King
above all gods.”
Yesterday
we considered verses one to three of this Psalm Fifteen. Today I want to mention the words “joyful noise” which were derived from the
Hebrew word ruwa (7321). This word is used in verse one and in verse two of the
fifteenth Psalm. It means to shout or
make great acclamation. Ruwa is never
used in the Bible to mean any kind of noise—joyful or otherwise. The meaning of the word ruwa is often
misunderstood for the meaning of hemyah (1998) as used in Isaiah 14:11, “Thy pomp is brought down to
the grave, and the noise (hemyah) of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee,
and the worms cover thee.” Hemyah is a
hapax legamenon that definitely means noise not a shout of joy. Other writers have confused ruwa with the use
of hamown (1995) in Amos 5:23, “Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs;
for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.)
So, word translated noise from hamown definitely
means noise not a joyful acclamation of praise. It
may seem that this discussion is a bit technical, but it is necessary since
modern, postmodern, and now post-postmodern church musicians have used the
seven verses that were translated “joyful noise” in the AV as proof texts for the use of noise-based
music in worship. Furthermore, some Christian
musicians use these verses to support a noise-based music aesthetic. So, musicing unto God is not about making
noise but rather it is about making great acclamation to Him.
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