You Know You Make Me Wanna SHOUT!

“Shhh. Keep your voice down. We’re in church.” How many times did you hear those words growing up? Sure there are times when we gather to worship God when we should quietly reflect and meditate on who He is and what He’s done. But more often than not, our response to God’s goodness should get loud. We should remember the words of the old hymn made popular by the psalmists known as Otis Day and the Nights. “You know You make me wanna SHOUT! Kick my heels up and SHOUT! Throw my hands up and SHOUT!” That’s certainly what we see and hear in Ezra 3:8-13. Back in Jerusalem after 70 years, the Israelites crank up the volume of their praise when the rebuilding of the temple begins. 

Ezra lets us know that this is “now in the second year after their coming to the house of God in Jerusalem” (v8). The Jewish people are two years into their return from being under the thumb of Babylon. That would make this 536 BC. My guess is that it’s no coincidence that this is right 500 years before our High Priest Jesus Christ makes the ultimate and final sacrifice for sin around AD 33. The author tips us off that the beginning of the temple project starts “in the second month” (v8). For those of us who don’t use the Jewish calendar, he’s talking about Iyar which falls during April and May. The spring sure seems like a good time to begin any big construction project.

Once again, we see the dynamic duo of Zerubbabel and Jeshua leading the way. They assemble a team of Levites who are at least 20 years old “to supervise the work of the house of the LORD” (v8). A few verses back, they raised the financing needed for the reconstruction to buy building materials as well as pay and feed the various craftsmen (Ez 3:7). It’s a great reminder that leaders must lead. They do the dirty work so that others can win. They select the right people for the right job and give them everything they need in order to be successful.

Phase one of the temple project is a huge success “when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD” (v10). It’s time to celebrate. It’s time to party. It’s time to get the band back together. “The priests in their vestments came forward with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the LORD” (v10). When you flip back over to the roll call in Ezra 2, you see that this is a BIG band! We’re talking about 4,800 players!! These horn and rhythm sections make the Tower of Power sound like they’re blowing kazoos. Get ready. This is gonna get loud. REALLY loud!

 So just why in the wide world of sports are cranking up the band? Remember, it’s been seven decades since the Israelites have been able to worship in the holy city of Jerusalem. Not only that but this is all being done “according to the directions of David the king of Israel” (v10). Just as Ezra said before, everything is done by the book (Ez 3:2, 4). King David made naming worship leaders a top priority back in the day (1Chr 6:31; 16:4; 25:1). 

From the very first note, it’s obvious that this isn’t a concert. The crowd isn’t simply sitting back listening to band rock. Once the music cranks up, “they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the LORD” (v11). The priests, Levites, and sons of Asaph aren’t there to soak up the spotlight. They are there to point people to the only One who deserves the applause. This concert is an act of worship for the Audience of One. Just like this spectacular scene on the temple mount, let’s get up out of our seats to praise God for who He is. Let’s sing a song of thanks to God for all He’s done. We don’t show up to watch and listen. We assemble to praise and sing. We’re not spectators. We’re worshipers.

The worship band and the people sing back and forth “responsively” (v11). Like any good worship leaders, the priests and the rest of the team invite everyone to join in. The vocalists sing a line. The congregation responds accordingly. Ezra gives a clue as to what was on the set list for this gig. “For He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever toward Israel” (v11). It sure looks like this is a cover of one of the great worship tunes of all time: Psalm 136. Just in case you thought Chris Tomlin’s “Forever” was fairly new, think again. The original track focuses on the never-ending, always faithful love of our heavenly Father. The Hebrew word we translate here as “steadfast love” is hesed. There’s probably no more important term used in the entire Old Testament. It gets translated a variety of ways just because it has such rich meaning. Kindness. Goodness. Grace. Mercy. Faithfulness. It means a love that never, ever stops. Hesed is tied directory to our covenant-making and covenant-keeping God. He’s promised to love. And once He starts, He never stops. It’s faithful love with no strings attached. Even now, 2,500 years later, another great worship band called Jesus Culture sings of God’s hesed. “Your love never fails, it never gives up, it never runs out on me.” When we sing of God’s never failing love, let’s sing it proud and sing it loud.

But while the crowd gets loud with joy, there are some others who’s hearts are breaking. There’s a group of “old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, though many shouted with joy” (v12). So why would these old timers be so upset about what was going on? Some folks believe that they were overwhelmed with emotion seeing a new temple being built after being held for 70 years. Possibly. But I think a better idea is that this rebuilt house of God didn’t come close to matching the spectacular structure that Solomon built (Hag 2:3). And why would it? This construction crew didn’t have the resources available to them that David and Solomon had. The ark of the covenant wasn’t there (Ezra doesn’t list it in the inventory of temple wares back in Ez 1:9-11). 

This new house of worship lacked the Shekinah glory, God’s very powerful and very special presence. His Shekinah packed up and left town as the people turned their backs on Yahweh just before the Babylonians dropped the hammer on God’s people (Ezek 10:18). These senior citizen saints were the only ones who really understood what was missing. If you had seen Solomon’s spectacular original temple, wouldn’t you be in tears at what you were witnessing? But 2,500 years later, we have no reason to cry. As His church, we are God’s new temple and He’s sent His Spirit to live in each of us (1Cor 3:16-17; 6:19). God’s glory is back in the house!

So just how loud was this crowd? Twice in this passage, Ezra tells us, “All the people shouted with a great shout” (v11, 13). The Who is believed to be the loudest rock and roll band in history. Experts say LSU’s Death Valley say the Tiger football fans are deafening. Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium can be absolutely ear-splitting when the Blue Devils are rolling. There’s no doubt that ear plugs for each is a good idea. But the volume on the temple mount was cranked to eleven. The combo of praise, worship, and tears was so stinkin’ loud that “the sound was heard far away” (v13). Remember, this is long before speakers, sound systems, amps, and mics. No PA system needed for this event. This was all in response of who God is and all that He has done. The celebration thundered throughout the land. God is so good! “You know You make me wanna SHOUT! Kick my heels up and SHOUT! Throw my hands up and SHOUT!”