Everybody sing!

 

Sing, make a joyful sound! 

Sing, life in Christ is found. 

Wages of sin and death, He paid them all! 

Sing, make a joyful sound! 

Sing, life in Christ is found. 

Now in my heart he reigns. 

Sing! Sing! SING!

 My father and I used to have this running debate.  I would sing a favorite hymn, usually during the Christmas season, and it would reference the angels singing over the manger, or to the shepherds.  He would point out that the scripture in Luke 2:14 does NOT say that the angels sang "Glory be to God in the highest, and on Earth, peace, goodwill toward men."  He would point to the text in verse 13, that says "A heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and SAYING..."  His conclusion was that angels, unlike men, cannot sing.

In my study of Revelation, I have found that my late father was wrong.

And when he (the Lamb) had taken it (the scroll), the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb.  Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.  And they sang a new song: "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.  You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God and they will reign on the earth."  Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand.  They encircled the throne and the living creatures and elders.  In a loud voice they sang: "Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!"  Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the see, and all that is in them, singing: "To him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!"  The four living creatures said, "Amen," and the elders fell down and worshiped. --Revelation 5:8-14

I purposely lumped all of these verses together in this study, because they follow an overarching theme.   First we see the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures singing a song about Jesus, the Lamb of God, being worthy to open the scroll.  In earlier blog postings I went over who the elders represent: probably the believers of the Old Testament (represented by Twelve Tribes of Israel) and the believers of the New Testament (represented by the Twelve Apostles) together.  I also explained what I think about the four creatures (the Lion, the Man, the Ox and the Eagle--see post entitled "What's Your Sign?")  You will remember in the first part of Revelation chapter five, no one was found worthy to open the scroll or break its seals.  John was so upset at this news that he wept.  But now that the Lamb has stepped up, and has been found worthy, the whole church is so happy that they sang a new song about it.  This song is an outpouring of contemporaneous praise.  They were so excited that they just had to sing.

Have you ever been so excited that you extemporaneously broke into song?  Maybe you got some great news, and suddenly you broke into your own version of "I'm So Excited" by The Pointer Sisters.  Or maybe you just started chanting the good news, and the chant turned into a sing-song rhythm, and you added the melody from "Ring Around the Rosies".  Go on, admit it.  You sang "I got the promotion" or "I got into college" with that simple four-tone melody.  That's how I imagine this scene unfolded before John's eyes and ears.  The elders and creatures representing mankind started declaring the worthiness of the Lamb, and before long it became something spoken in unison, then a chant, then a song.  They sang about the redemption of mankind through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.  They sang about how that great work of redemption changed them from sinful creatures worthy of death into a kingdom of priests who serve God and will reign on earth.  What a transformation!  No wonder they were so happy.

Second, John says he saw multitudes of angels, and they sang their own song.  Remember, the angels know nothing of redemption.  They were created to serve God, and those who fell away were cast out of Heaven with Lucifer.  There is no way for a demon to change into an angel--they follow their nature.  Even so, they wanted to join in the celebration of praise to the Lamb.  So they sang their own song.  Sorry, Dad.  They sang of what they knew: that the Son of God is worthy of power, wealth, wisdom, strength, honor, glory, and praise--everything that they have to give is due to Him.  Let's repeat that: everything that they have to give is due to Him.  Are angels powerful? Yes, more powerful than humans.  Are angels wealthy? Well, they do walk on streets of gold, past walls made of every precious jewel.  Are angels wise? They know that Jesus is the Lamb that was slain.  You get the picture, I don't need to go on.  The point is that they worship God with their entire being.

Third, John hears a song sung by every living creature ever made--those in heaven, those on earth, and those everywhere else that God may have created beings.  I'll confess I don't know whether "under the earth" means creatures of the sea, or souls in hell who ultimately acknowledge the Son of God, or even aliens from other galaxies yet undiscovered by men (hey, it could happen--we might not be alone in the universe, but if there are others, God made them, too.)  What I do know is that John heard everything that God has made sing his praises.

Let's go a bit deeper into the passage.  We know that God likes music, and that music is an integral part of worship.  Verse 8 says that the elders and the creatures all had harps.  Revelation 15:2 says that God had given them the harps: "They held harps given to them by God."  Apparently God likes harp music.  But we also see in verse 8 that God likes prayers.  He likens prayers to incense.  Psalm 141:2 says, "May my prayers be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice."  Many religions use incense in their worship.  Your church may not, but when God first taught the children of Israel how to worship Him, he instructed them to use incense.  And revelation says that our prayers are like an offering of incense, pleasing to God--the sweet savor of adoration; the smokey scent of confession; the pleasant perfume of thanksgiving; and the fervent fragrance of supplication.  A secondary translation of Revelation 8:3-4 says, "Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, consisting of the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne.  The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel's hand."  So God wants us to pray to him.  Prayer is an integral part of worship.

God also likes creativity and originality.  The elders sang to him a new song.  This phrase is seen elsewhere in Scripture:

• Psalm 33:3 "Sing to him a new song; play skillfully and shout for joy."
• Psalm 40:3 "He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.  Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord."
• Psalm 96:1  "Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth."
• Psalm 98:1  "Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him."
• Psalm 144:9  "I will sing a new song to you, O God; on the ten-stringed lyre I will make music to you." (Note: this is probably what John meant in Revelation when it says God gave all of them a harp--a small, hand-held instrument, not a big concert harp.)
• Psalm 149:1  "Praise the Lord.  Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of the saints."
• Isaiah 42:10  "Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise from the ends of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, you islands, and all who live in them."
• Revelation 14:3-4  "And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders.  No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.  These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they kept themselves pure.  They follow the Lamb wherever he goes.  They were purchased from among men and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb."

There are songs in my heart that you will never hear, but God hears them.  There are songs on the hearts of men more holy than I, who live lives more closely attuned to His will; I will never know those songs.  But I can still sing, and I can make a new song in my heart to God.

Let's look at the new song that was sung by the elders in God's presence.  In verse 9 they sing that the Lamb is worthy "because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God."  Hebrews 9:12 says, "He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption."  He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, not repeatedly year after year as did the Levitical high priests.  Christ's sacrifice was perfect, because it was completely effective and did not need to be repeated.  After he had obtained eternal redemption, Christ ascended into the true heavenly sanctuary.  Years ago singer/songwriter Andre Crouch wrote these words:

The blood that Jesus shed for me, 

Way back on Calvary, 

The blood that gives me strength from day to day, 

It will never lose its power.   

It reaches to the highest mountain.   

It flows to the lowest valley.   

The blood that gives me strength from day to day, 

It will never lose its power."

That blood was used to purchase us for God.  1 Corinthians 6:20 says "You are not your own; you were bought at a price.  Therefore glorify God with your body."  Christians in all stages of life should realize that their ultimate allegiance is to Christ, who bought them with his blood.  1 Peter 1:18-19 says, "For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver and gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a Lamb without blemish or defect."  In the Bible, to redeem means to free someone from something bad by paying a penalty, or a ransom.  Likewise, in the Greek world, slaves could be redeemed by the payment of a price, paid either by someone else or by the slave himself.  Similarly, Jesus redeems believers from the "curse of the law" and "all wickedness".  The ransom price is not silver or gold, but Christ's blood.  The result is the "forgiveness of sins" and "justification."

And to think, that blood that redeems us from sin was offered willingly by our Savior, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  Makes you want to sing, doesn't it?

Sing praise to God who reigns above, 

The God of all creation. 

The God of power, the God of love, 

The God of our salvation. 

With healing balm my soul he fills,  

And every faithless murmur stills: 

To God all praise and glory! 

What God’s almighty power has made 

His gracious mercy keepeth. 

By morning glow or evening shade 

His watchful eye ne'er sleepeth. 

Within the kingdom of His might, 

Lo! All is just and all is right: 

To God all praise and glory! 

The Lord is never far away, 

But, through all grief distressing, 

An ever-present help and stay, 

Our peace and joy and blessing. 

As with a mother’s tender hand 

He leads His own, His chosen band: 

To God all praise and glory! 

Thus all my toilsome way along 

I sing aloud his praises, 

That men may hear the grateful song 

My voice unwearied raises. 

Be joyful in the Lord, my heart! 

Both soul and body bear your part: 

TO GOD ALL PRAISE AND GLORY!