"Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody
of your harps I will not listen."  -Amos 5:23

As a songwriter I can see why God would say,  "Take away

the noise of your songs!"  It's all about our ability to deceive ourselves.  Listen,  it's easy to write a song.  It's even easier

to sing one... 

A song that's written from my heart one day, can be

denied by my life the next.

It's all too easy to go around singing songs, praising the Lord

with our mouths, while our lives betray us.   Maybe this sounds

harsh,  but I know what I'm talking about.  I write songs all the

time.  I write from my gut.  I've captured the last 16 years of my

life in music.  It's all there.  The really great stuff that I'd like you

to know about,  and the really awful things that I don't.  Singing

can be a wonderful way of expressing my love for God when

my heart is true.  It can also be nothing more than an act; simply

to make us feel good,  when our real need is repentance and

sorrow over sin.

Why would God say, "Take away the noise of your songs"

anyway?  I mean, we're singing about Him... we're praising Him. 

What could be wrong with that?  Nothing, unless it becomes

mindless singing and careless living!  You sound good!  But

does your life match up??   Shortly after the phrase,  "Take

away  the noise of your songs",  God has this to say: 

"But let justice roll on like a river,  righteousness like a never

failing stream."  Amos 5.24

In other words,  it's your life He's interested in,  not your image. 

Not your "religious festivals",  not your "assemblies",  not your "offerings".  (see Amos 5.21-22).  No,  it's your life He's looking

at.  And God goes so far to say that He hates all these other

things,  and will not accept them,  if your life isn't matching up.

I've been confronted by God on this very issue.  I've written

songs of conviction..."Lord, I want to give you my whole heart!" 

But the question is, "Do I really?"  Do I really want to give the

Lord my whole heart?  Am I doing it then?

And what about you?  You're driving down the road singing

with your favorite Christian song.   You've always got your radio

tuned to the Christian station too.  But is your heart in tune with

God's?   You're raising you hands on Sunday morning,  you

look spiritual, but where is your heart?  No, it's not the music

God's interested in.  Who would dare to assume they know

His musical tastes!  Has God ever come down to tell us that

He likes, or dislikes, a certain style of music?  But He does

have a lot to say about our hearts: 

"...for the Lord searches every heart and understands every

motive behind the thoughts..."   1Chronicles 28.9 

God may have called me to be a songwriter for Him,  but it's

not the songs He's mainly concerned with,  it's my heart. 

"Mike, maybe you should just stop singing for a moment, 

and get real!"  And I see this kind of thing in the church;  no

passion, no focus, our mind on other things as we stare across

the room singing a song we've sung a hundred times or more.  

"I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies... take away the noise of your songs;  I will not listen...

but let justice roll on like a river,  righteousness like a never

failing stream."    Amos 5.21-24 

Can you blame God for calling our music noise?

There's nothing more beautiful than a love song,

poured out of a heart  of love.  But there's nothing

worse than a cold sterile performance.  

"These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are

far from me..."   Matthew 15.8

Who do we think we're fooling?  Husbands, think of your wives

for a minute.  How would she react if you said she was the

greatest wife on the planet,  but you had no time for her? 

How far would your praise go if you told her she was beautiful,

but you couldn't get your eyes off other women?  What if you

never listened to her?  What if you constantly went against her

wishes?  Would your words mean anything?  If you wrote a

song,  and sang it to her after all that, would she even care??? 

But God puts up with that kind of thing all the time!  

He's not unlike a neglected wife.  All the talking,  the singing,

the praise,  begins to get annoying against the backdrop of

our actions.  Don't just think that a little love song is going to

make it all better...God wants your heart!  And He's watching

to see if you back up your words with actions. 

Maybe that's why God says,  "Sing to the Lord a NEW SONG!"

Psalm 96.1 

"You know,  sing something from your heart.  Sing something

that's true for you now.  Don't pretend.  Don't live off the past. 

Forget about the mindless singing.  Get real with me,  and quit

trying to fool me and yourself!"  

You notice David keeps writing new psalms,  because there's

new things happening in his life.  There's new things testing his

strength,  there's new events that call him to cry out to God.   It

could be praise, it may be fear, sometimes it's sadness...but it's

happening NOW!  Real worship is more than just singing a song,

it's facing our reality in the presence of God, and living it all out together with Him.

Worship is not singing...worship is the way we live

our life before God! 

All a song can do is express how we feel.  But if we're expressing

one thing to God,  and living the opposite,  we're not worshipping...we're lying!  We're using music to fool ourselves.

The question shouldn't be whether the "worship time" was great,

or whether our favorite band is awesome.   The question is, "Is

it true for you?"  Are these great songs and lyrics true for YOU?

Does your life match the words?

As I've said,  God confronts me with my own music.  The reason

is simple-  He doesn't care if I can write good songs; He wants

me.    

"...offer your bodies as living sacrifices,  holy and pleasing to

God- which is your spiritual worship." Romans 12.1-2 

And if He doesn't get me,  and gets a song instead,  He's not

going to be happy! 

"Take away from me the noise of your songs!..."  Amos 5.23  

I've often sat before His church singing my songs and thought

of the following verse from Jeremiah.  I ask myself, "Are the

people just enjoying the songs?   Or will they put them into

practice..." 

"My people come to you,  as they usually do,  and sit before

you to listen to your words, but they do not put them into

practice.  With their mouths they express devotion,  but their

hearts are greedy for unjust gain.  Indeed, to them you are

nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful

voice and plays an instrument well,  for they hear your words

but do not put them into practice."   Jeremiah 33.31-32

It's not Christian music that God loves,  it's YOU!   It's not the

praise time on Sunday morning,  it's not the Christian station

that you listen to as your driving to work that interests Him...

it's YOU.  And however you may try to put on a good act for

God, yourself, or the church...He's still looking just at you. 

He sees past the outward,  and He's looking at your heart.  

"...The Lord does not look at the things man looks at.  Man

looks at the appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."

1Samuel 16.7 

So it seems to come down to this...Your songs may

actually be irritating to God!

Now that's something to ponder.   

Maybe I want to put down my microphone, and you want to

stop singing that praise song long enough to ask yourself,

"Is my LIFE music to God's ears?"

Do I really want to hear Him say, "Take away the noise of

your songs"?