The Joyful Sound

The Joyful Sound

By Pastor Jim May

Sound plays a large part in life of every man. There are some who, through either accidental causes, or because of birth defects, are unable to hear. I can’t imagine what it must be like to be able to hear anything – to live in a world of silence. You never hear a chirping bird. The sound of a loved one saying, “I love you” is something that a deaf person never hears. Warning sounds, like train whistles, car horns or ringing bells are useless to them. It must be very hard, even with all the new advances in technology, to live in a world of silence.

There’s a young man in our church who is unable to hear. It is my prayer that God would send us someone who is called to the ministry of signing. Week after week he comes, and I believe he gets something out of the service. He can’t hear the sermon. He can’t hear the announcements. But perhaps he can feel the vibrations of the music. In any case, I know that he loves Jesus because he is always signing to me that he is good with God and going to Heaven.

There’s another lady that I know that lives alone in another state. She has a small puppy that acts as her ears. She can’t hear the ringing of the phone or the doorbell, so when there is a call, strobe lights flash to get her attention and the little puppy runs to her and warns her. He does the same if the doorbell rings or if anything happens that she can’t hear.

One of the greatest technological advances for deaf people has been the use of TTY equipment and computer email. They have the ability to communicate over distances through the use of these items. I was privileged to get her internet connection repaired on our last trip through, and she was so grateful. Her email is her lifeline to everyone she knows.

The telephone is connected through a TTY operator so if a call comes in she answers by typing in her responses, sending them to a operator who can hear, who then relays the message to the other caller. Then the answer is relayed back though the operator typing it in again. It’s slow but it gives her another means of communicating with the outside world.

Anything is better than sitting alone in silence with no means of communication. It was a hard thing, more than most of us could understand, for the mother of the young man to cope with a deaf child and send him off to school for such a long time. But the price was worth the reward for now sign language is their means of communication.

It’s a beautiful thing to watch the signing in action as we worship the Lord, but it’s more than beautiful to those who can’t hear. It’s their connection to real life.

We who are blessed with hearing take so much for granted, especially the use of our 5 senses. Tasting ice cream, feeling the warm of the sun, watching our kids play on a bright sunny day, smelling the aroma of fresh baked bread and hearing the laughter of family and friends; these are all things that we take for granted, until we no longer can enjoy them.

Sounds are an important part of life. In the days of Old Testament Israel, sounds were as much a part of life as they are now. So many times in the Bible we read about the sounds of trumpets.

Israel blew a trumpet as a call to prayer. There was a certain sound of a trumpet to call an assembly. There were special sounds and types of trumpets for many occasions whether it was the coronation of the king, the beginning of a great feast, or as a sound of alarm for an approaching enemy. As an Israelite you had to memorize and recognize those sounds so that you could quickly distinguish whether to grab your sword and shield, or pick up an extra plate and fork. It was all done by the sounds of trumpets blown throughout the camps.

There was one sound of a trumpet though, that every Isrealite was always waiting for. They didn’t get to hear it very often, only once in a lifetime, or if they were of the right age, maybe twice.

Tonight I want to take quick look a this special sounding of a great trumpet. It carried a lot of meaning for the Israelites, and it still rings loudly for those who hear it today.

Let’s begin by reading the law that God gave to Moses on Mt. Sinai that established the meaning of this wonderful trumpet sound.