Singing - A Strange Thing
Call to worship – 4/26/09
Charles Spurgeon in a sermon entitled "A Precious Drop Of Honey," delivered May 31, 1863 said.
“In the making of worlds, he stands at a distance and speaks his will; but when he creates saints, and redeems his people, he comes out of his chambers — he rends the heavens and comes down, he reveals himself as a God nigh at hand; he standeth over his work as the potter over the clay upon the wheel. It is written, that when he made the heavens and the earth, that “the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy;” but I never hear that God sang; there is nothing in the merely material universe to stir the Infinite heart; the work is not dear enough to him, nor so full of satisfaction as the grand work of redeeming love; but when he saved his people — when he created Israel for himself, I hear it said — “He shall rest in his love; he shall rejoice over thee with singing.”
Spurgeon is quoting Zephaniah 3:17, which reads
The Lord your God in your midst,
The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.”
Isn’t singing a strange thing? Not quite speaking; not quite shouting. We bend our faces in odd ways, and make the pitch of our voices go up and down in some uniform fashion. It’s a strange thing.
But yet singing is what joy sounds like. Singing is what adoration sounds like. It’s an invention of God’s for the purpose of bringing Him pleasure. All through scripture we see God’s people gathering together and expressing their deep love for God by singing together in praise and worship.
There’s a great scene in Revelation 15, where those who have been victorious over the antichrist have gathered on a sea of glass, holding what is called ‘harps of God.’
And it says this… please stand and let’s read it together:
3 And they sang the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,
“Great and marvelous are Your works,
O Lord God, the Almighty;
Righteous and true are Your ways,
King of the nations!
4 “Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name?
For You alone are holy;
For all the nations will come and worship before You,
For Your righteous acts have been revealed.”