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Music & Worship
Scripture and Song Part II: God Sings
God sings! Think of it, the great Jehovah, or Yahwey, singing! Can we really believe it? Is it possible to conceive of Deity breaking into song: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, together, singing over the redeemed? God is so happy in the love which He gives to His people that He breaks His eternal silence, and sun and moon and stars with astonishment hear God chanting a hymn of joy. Zephaniah 3:17 declares these glorious words:
He (God) will rejoice over you with singing..."
Then in Matthew 26:30 we read these dramatic words:
And when they had sung a hymn,
they went out to the Mount of Olives.
It is quite remarkable that Jesus would choose to sing at such a time as this. From a human perspective, tears or silence would have been much more appropriate. But Christ, our perfect example, led His disciples in a hymn. Our glorious Jesus, in His most desperate hour, sings.
But not only does God sing, He surrounds Himself with song. In Isaiah 6:1-3 we read that song is always present (even right now!) in heaven:
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said [sang]:
'Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts:
The whole earth is full of His glory!'
In the New Testament, Revelation 4:8 reads:
The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. and they do not rest day or night, saying [singing]:
'Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,
Who was and is and is to come!"
The song of these heavenly singers mirrors that of God Himself. Dwelling continually in the presence of God, they become burning and shining lights who wait upon the holy God who is the light of life.
Isaiah 6:4 tells us that the angels' song shook the Temple to its foundations. One day, all of God's chosen ones, a chorus that will number "ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands and thousands," will sing a song that will continually reverberate around the universe:
Worthy is the Lamb that was slain...
What, then, is our song to be like today? Powerful hymns that mirror the majesty of God's song and contain the "weight of glory?" Or music that abandons reverential awe for empty emotion and a desire for cultural relevance.
Let me encourage you to let the strains of a great hymn of faith propel you to a life filled with the power of God Himself.
To God be the glory!