Although the Book of Genesis is full of wonderful divine teaching there is one thing it does not speak of, and that is praise unto the Lord. The only one who speaks of singing is Laban, who said he would have liked to send Jacob on his way “with mirth, and with songs” (Gen. 31:27), which certainly seemed strange after the way he had treated Jacob. Abraham, and his pilgrim descendants, had their altars, through which they maintained communion with God, worshipping Him, and walking before Him in His fear, but there is no mention of singing, though doubtless they praised the God who wrought so much for their blessing.
When we reach the Book of Exodus, there is no singing until Israel are delivered out of Egypt by the mighty power of God, bringing them from under the bondage of Pharaoh, upon whom His judgments were poured. There was no song from the slaves in Egypt, groaning under the servitude of a tyrant, and who, as yet, knew not the greatness of Him who had come down in grace to bring them to Himself. It was necessary for Israel to be redeemed by the blood of the lamb, and delivered from the power of the oppressor before they could sing with Moses, “I will sing unto the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider has He thrown into the sea” (Ex. 15:1).
David was the “sweet Psalmist of Israel,” who knew how to praise Jehovah, and he had abundant cause; but he also established “the service of song in the house of the Lord, after that the ark had rest. And they ministered before the dwelling place of the tabernacle of the congregation with singing, until Solomon had built the house of the Lord in Jerusalem: and then they waited on their office according to their order” (1 Chr. 6:31-32). While the ark was moving from place to place, with no sure resting place for the Lord in the midst of His people, there was no service of praise. It is not until David brings up the ark to its resting place that the song begins, and then we see “David clothed with a robe of linen, and all the Levites that bare the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah? the master of the song with the singers” (1 Chr. 15:27).
Having tasted the joy of praising the Lord, when the ark was brought to its resting place, David desires to continue in the enjoyment of this blessed service. If there was joy for David and his people in rendering praise to God, what must it have been to the Lord who constantly cared for His people, to hear this answer to Him from hearts touched with the sense of His greatness and goodness.
Those whom David appointed for this happy service were the Levites, who, in earlier days, had carried the tabernacle, its vessels and its furniture, through the wilderness. Now that the ark had rest, and their carrying service was over, how good it was for them to be engaged in the service of praise unto the Lord. These things have been written for our learning, that we might apprehend the kind of service that God has given us. We are still passing through the wilderness, and have the blessed privilege of bearing the testimony of God in our lives until the end of the wilderness is reached; but we also know that the true Ark, our Lord Jesus Christ is no longer here, He is in the scene of rest, and it is our privilege to join in the service of song that brings delight to His heart and to the heart of His God and Father.
The Kohathites had the privilege of carrying on their shoulders, the ark, the table of shewbread, the golden altar, and the golden candlestick; and from among them Heman is chosen to be in the central place of praise to God. He is spoken of as “Heman a singer,” and his genealogy is traced through Korah to Levi. As a descendant of Korah, he had good cause to praise God for His rich mercy. When Dathan and Abiram perished with their children, and Korah shared their fate, it is recorded, “Notwithstanding the children of Korah died not” (Num. 26:11), they were spared in the sovereign mercy of God, so there were none more suited to sing of the goodness and mercy of God.
Heman is spoken of as “the king’s seer,” a man of divine perception, and with his sons he praised “in the words of God to exalt His power” (1 Chr. 25:5). In the singing, the very words of God were used, words that no doubt told of the mighty works of Jehovah that were witnessed by His people, and that secured salvation and blessing for them. How good it is to exalt the power of God in our praises, for those who have been quickened, and raised up together to sit in the heavenlies in Christ, have been the subjects of God’s mighty operations. Then we can sing of the exceeding greatness of God’s power, which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead.
On the right hand of Heman and his sons were Asaph and his sons, of the family of Gershom (1 Chr. 6:39). The sons of Asaph were “under the direction of Asaph, who prophesied at the direction of the king” (1 Chr. 25:2). Asaph’s ministry was prophetical, and in its present application brings “edification, exhortation, and comfort” to the saints, for “he that prophesies edifies the church” (1 Cor. 14:3-4). This did not proceed from Asaph, but was under the direction of the king. How blessed when there is prophecy in the assembly of God under the direction of our exalted Head, our Lord Jesus Christ. Where there is true prophetical ministry, that brings the mind of God to the saints, and gives them the sense that they are in the presence of the Lord, there will be a special note of praise, such as is represented by that of the sons of Asaph, who were under his direction.
On the left hand were the sons of Merari, with Ethan as the leader, or Jeduthun as he is called in 1 Chronicles 25:3, “who prophesied with a harp, to give thanks and to praise the Lord.” Thanksgiving had its own place in the service of song under David, and it mingled with the praises of Jeduthun and his sons; and the giving of thanks should have a very real place in the praises of the saints today, even as exhorted in Colossians 1:12, “Giving thanks to the Father, which has made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.” Many other Scriptures of the New Testament show the prominent place that thanksgiving has in the assembly of God.
In the New Testament, there is the singing that took place on that never to be forgotten night when the Lord’s Supper was instituted. The Lord Jesus, in the company of His disciples had partaken of the Passover feast, and in giving the cup into their hands He said, “This is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins, but I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom” (Matt. 28, 29). We have in these words what engaged the heart of the blessed Lord in the supper chamber.
The Son of God was about to enter into all the deep, deep sorrow of Gethsemane, where He would cry, “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me,” and soon He would have all the shame, dishonour and spitting before the leaders of Israel, and be condemned by them and by Pilate. From Pilate’s hall He would be led to the cross, with all the mockery, pain and reproaches; then into the awful darkness where He would meet all Satan’s power, and be made sin, exhausting the judgment of a righteous and holy God for our sins.
Against this dark background, with the pressure of it upon His spirit, the Son of God with His disciples “sung an hymn.” Was there ever such praise for the ear and heart of the Father as on that night of nights? There were no trumpets, no harps, no instruments of music of any kind, but how infinitely pleasant to the Father the voice of His own dear Son, with the voices of those He loved, singing His praises at such a time. How strange the contrast, the sounds from those who led in Israel, plotting with Judas the death of His own Son.
Rising from the dead, having triumphed over all the power of Satan, and having glorified God in relation to every question that sin had raised, it was the joy of the Lord Jesus to declare His Father’s Name to His brethren, what had been prophetically spoken of in Psalm 22:22, and historically fulfilled in John 20:17, when the Lord sent the message by Mary, then came Himself into the circle of His own. There is no word just yet of the singing, but there is of the gladness that filled the hearts of the disciples, a necessary preparation for the singing.
In Hebrews 2:12 there is the quotation of Psalm 22:22, which shows us the Lord Jesus, the true Man, having His own associated with Him beyond the reach of death, His death having delivered them from death’s fear. Here He is found in the midst of the church, and He is the Singer. How great the contrast from the night when He sang with His own in the Supper chamber! Then the sorrow was before Him, now it is all behind, and He finds His joy with those for whom He died.
Now the Lord sings for the pleasure of the Father as the leader of the many sons He is bringing to glory, every one purchased by His precious blood, all able to sing with Him and to Him as knowing His great love made known in His death on the cross. The Apostle Paul, knowing what was suitable to the presence of the Lord in the midst of the assembly, wrote, “I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also” (1 Cor. 14:15); and this was for the instruction of the saints of that day, and for the guidance of the saints right down the Spirit’s day.
For David’s day, it was God’s order to praise with instruments of music, for God was then dealing with man in the flesh, and it will no doubt be the divine order again, when God brings Israel back to their land, and an earthly system of worship is again introduced. It is quite different today, when every saint of God is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and when the Holy Spirit dwells in God’s house, and the Lord Himself leads the praises of His people. Paul does not say, I will sing with the spirit and with the understanding. The worship today is spiritual, and we worship by the Spirit of God (Phil. 3:3). The Lord indicated this is John 4, where He said to the woman of Sychar, “The hour comes, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23).
Soon there will be the singing of the redeemed in heaven, when the Lamb takes the Book of God’s counsels for the blessing of men on earth, and they “sing a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for Thou was slain, and hast redeemed to God by Thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people and nation” (Rev. 8–10). The opening of the seals will mean judgment for men on earth, but the heavenly saints can sing of the worthiness of Christ to carry out this necessary work before the blessing of God can be outpoured.
In this heavenly scene, Christ, as the Lamb, is in the midst of the throne. The One who was in the midst of the two thieves on the cross is now in the highest place in heaven. He was in the midst of the assembly, while the saints were on earth, leading their praises to the Father. Now He is in the midst of the throne, of the living creatures, and of the heavenly saints, receiving the praises of those nearest to Him.
Again in Revelation 5, the Lamb receives the praises, but now from “many angels round about the throne” adding their voices to those of “the living creatures and the elders” (verse 11). The angels, who had been sent forth to minister to those who should inherit salvation, are now around the throne joining in the praises of heaven to the Lamb. Here we have the “innumerable company of angels, the generally assembly” (Heb. 12:22-23), adding their tribute of praise. Then in Revelation 5:13, “every creature” in the universe joins in the celebrations of that great day, praising God and the Lamb.
R. 21.11.66.