Touré Roberts - An Unusual Sound

There is an unusual sound that God wants His people to give Him in this season. Just stay with me right here; I’m going to show you something in Scripture. In Ezra, God just revealed it to me in Ezra chapter 3. If you want to sit, you can; if you need to stand because you don’t want to shift, stay standing. I’m with you, however you want to do it. There’s no control here, and just keep everything right here. I want to be careful; I don’t want to lose focus. In Ezra chapter 3, verse one, He just gave it to me. There’s an unusual sound that God wants to come out of your spirit in this season. I believe that if you can release this sound—if your spirit can give Him this sound—I want to try to explain it. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, listen to the Spirit. So, if you can give Him this sound of worship from within you, this sound that is unique to you, it’s for Him. It’s a praise, it’s worship, but it’s a distinct sound, and I’m going to describe it.

It’s interesting; now, the Jewish New Year literally begins on the first day of the seventh month, which is the month of Tishrei. I didn’t know this was here; I was just led to go to Ezra to look at what it says. It says that when the seventh month had come, just tell your neighbor, «Alignment.» And when the seventh month had come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem.

So, the historical backdrop: Ezra is a scribe, and he’s writing about how God had ordained the Temple of worship to be rebuilt under the leadership of a gentleman named Zerubbabel. God was with Zerubbabel; he is the one of whom it was spoken in Zechariah. You remember where it says, «Not by might nor by power but by My Spirit?» There’s so much I wish I had time to really lay out. But Zerubbabel was essentially charged, anointed, and ordained by the Spirit of God to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem, which had been torn down, broken down, and destroyed because the children of Israel had gotten out of alignment with God.

Okay, so here in this passage, the rebuilding of the Temple is getting ready to happen again, and I think that the rebuilding of the Temple aligns with the season that we’re in. When we talk about this new year and we discuss this introspection, basically what is happening is that God is going to rebuild you. We learn in the New Testament that we are the temple of God; hello, somebody! So, the rebuilding of the Temple, this whole process that we are undergoing now—with ten days of fasting, ten days of introspection, ten days of pressing into God, and ten days of seeking God—is because God wants to give us a new outside so that we can contain His glory inside. Are you understanding me? You have to read this spiritually.

Now, let’s skip down to verse 10. They’re getting ready to rebuild the Temple; study this on your own when you get a chance. It says, «And when the builders laid the foundation of the Temple of the Lord, the priests stood in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals to praise the Lord according to the ordinance of David, king of Israel.» As the foundation is being laid, praise begins to rise up. They’re preparing for the sound that they are about to give God. It says they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord, for He is good. I love this; it’s an amazing worship song. It doesn’t have 15 verses—come on, somebody! It is simple: «Give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endures forever toward Israel, toward His people.» Then it says, «And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.»

But then it gets interesting; it says, «But many of the priests and Levites, and heads of the father’s houses, old men who had seen the first Temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this Temple was laid before their eyes.» Yet many shouted aloud for joy, so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people, for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the sound was heard afar off.

So, there is an unusual sound, this sound of praise and worship that the people of God are giving to God. It is a mixed sound, a blended sound; it is a sound from some people who were younger and were shouting about what God was doing, who didn’t have much of a history with God. See, right here in this room—and we’re going to shout in a minute—there are some of you, and when I talk about, «Where were you when God found you?» the reality is some of you have just been found, and so you don’t quite have… and there’s nothing…