Joyful Noise

"Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands..."
     Psalm 100 was commonly memorized when I was a kid, and it's commonly used today among believers, especially those of us who can get aslant of the music sometimes, and among those of us who like to pump the decibels up.
     Yes, do make a joyful noise unto the Lord.
     But please consider this:  when the Hebrews were busy making that noise, where were they? [pause while you think about that].  
     They were not inside the Temple.  They were not inside a tent.  They were not inside a steel-framed auditorium, or even one with acoustical tile.
     They were outside.  Outside.  They may have been in the Temple court, or they may have been in a campsite, on a mountainside, or on the walls of the city.  But they were outside. 
     The sound went up, to God (at least metaphorically, if not literally).  It did not reverberate on their eardrums a thousand times.  It did not kill cilia in their ear canals.  It did not make them cover their ears, turn off their hearing aids, or run for the lobby.
     I love to sing loud.  I love to praise the Lord with all my being.  But I also want to be a good steward of the many amazing senses He has granted us.  Hearing is a huge gift from God. When worship comes close to damaging our hearing ability, is it "reasonable service"?  
Does the "sacrifice of praise" mean the sacrifice of my hearing ability?
     Worship leaders: consult the science.  If www.dangerousdecibels.org is to be trusted, then most worship time is probably causing hearing damage.  
     What are we going to do about it?