The Beautiful Sound of Silent Singing
As I write these words, I am engaged in a Gospel Meeting, and during the week, I have been reminded of something that has been on my mind quite a lot in recent months.
It started back in February. One day during chapel at the annual Freed-Hardeman University Bible lectures, the speaker was a deaf minister. He signed his lesson, and a man sitting on the front row spoke it out loud for those (many) of us who do not know much, or any, American Sign Language.
Then, when I moved to Paducah and began preaching at Central, we had a family who signed. They were in the process of moving, so they were only with us for a little more than a month, but I loved seeing that go on while all aspects of worship were being engaged in.
This week, the congregation where I am speaking has a deaf ministry. On Sunday morning, I would guess there were at least a dozen members who signed the songs and one of the good brethren interpreted my sermon so these men and women could understand the Word of God being preached.
But it is the singing that moves me the most. I know a few (very few) words of American Sign Langauge, but I have picked up a few things over the years in settings where I have been. In worship, there is just something beautiful to see these faithful Christians sign their praises to God. Seeing them sing in that silent way speaks volumes to me.
In a rebuking way, it makes me mindful of times when I have been tempted to not use my voice to praise God in song. Maybe I just did not like a particular song, or maybe I just was being lazy. But here I am, blessed to be able to use my voice to honor and praise my Creator, and I am tempted to avoid doing so? Shame on me!
But in a far more encouraging way, these silent songs shed new light in my mind on thoughts of my eternal home in heaven. God promises us that there will be people of all “tribes, tongues, people, and nations” (Revelation 7:9). Whatever language family you can think of, there will be people in heaven there, due to the grace of God and their obedient faith in Him.
Often, when I think of heaven, I think we will all speak English. I suppose that Christians who speak Spanish may think that we will all speak that language. Russians may think the same thing about their Slavic language. And so on.
Honestly, I have no idea what language we will use in heaven. But when I see these brothers and sisters in Christ use their hands to sing praises to the Lord, it just makes me wonder. Will our speech in heaven be only vocal, or will we praise Him, truly, with our all?
Whatever heaven’s language is, whether it is vocal, a sign-based language, or both; I can’t wait to be next to faithful people throughout the ages, and there be no need of an interpreter. We will all sing together forever and ever, because He is worthy of eternal praise.
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AUTHOR: Adam Faughn
Photo by David Fanuel on Unsplash
