Two Voices

Psalm 98:4 (NRSV)“Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises.”My mother couldn’t sing a lick.That never stopped her. She sang in church every Sunday — loud, joyful, enthusiastically off-key. And she sang the same way around the house whenever the spirit moved her. She couldn’t have carried a tune in a bucket, as she would have been the first to tell you. She just didn’t think that was any reason not to sing.My wife Carla has a demure, slightly southern speaking voice — soft, measured, the kind that makes you lean in a little. What I didn’t know when I married her was what happened to that voice when she opened her mouth to sing. She has the voice of an angel. Maybe three angels.The first time I went to church with her, she was gracious enough to forego the choir and sit in the pew with me. When we stood for the first hymn, I found the page in my bulletin — and then this voice came out of the woman standing next to me. I nearly dropped my hymnal.Two people I love. Two entirely different sets of gifts. Both making a joyful noise to the Lord.Something happens to a voice on the way to God. It arrives in tune.The psalm doesn’t say make a beautiful noise. It doesn’t say make a skilled noise, or a trained noise, or a noise that stays within the lines of the musical staff. It says make a joyful noise. The qualifier is about what’s in your heart, not what’s coming out of your throat.My mother understood this in her bones. She wasn’t performing. She wasn’t auditioning. She was just responding to a God she loved, in the only voice she had. That was entirely sufficient.Carla understands it too. Her voice is a genuine gift, and she uses it beautifully. But what moves God isn’t the three angels. It’s the same thing that moved him when my mother sang — the joyful, unself-conscious offering of whatever you have.“All the earth,” the psalmist says. Not all the trained singers of the earth. Not the naturally gifted. All the earth. Which means the only real question is whether there’s any joy behind the noise.If there is, you’re already doing it right.PrayerFather, you don’t need our voices to be beautiful — just willing. Help us sing today as if what matters is the joy, not the pitch. Amen.This devotional was written and read by Cliff McCartney.Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: [email protected] United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.