Heaven’s hymn book
The Bible is filled with singing and songs. The creation of the universe was accompanied by a heavenly oratorio (Job 38:7). The earth was still relatively young when Lamech penned the earliest recorded pop song: a distasteful ditty in the gangster rap vein that celebrated human bloodshed and prideful vengeance (Gen. 4:23). Millennia later, Moses, his sister Miriam, and their redeemed countrymen celebrated in song their deliverance out of Egypt at the Red Sea (Ex. 15). His valedictory words to the Israelites were also conveyed in song (Deut. 31:22). The ark was brought back to Jerusalem with Chenaniah conducting the singers and King David leading the procession with festive dancing (1 Chron. 15:16-28). On at least one occasion, Israel’s armies marched into battle with the choir leading the way (2 Chron. 20:21-24). Given the seven annual Levitical festivals (Lev. 23), the daily life-rhythms of ancient Israel were set to the soundtrack of the Psalms, and an entire Old Testament book is one long romantic song (the Song of Songs; also known as the Song of Solomon or Canticles).
Worthy of homage and of praise
The Bible repeatedly calls on people to sing to the Lord in worship and praise (e.g. 1 Chron. 16:23; Ps. 9:11; 30:4). This is appropriate because the Almighty possesses unparalleled attributes and an unequaled track record of gracious, holy, and merciful conduct. Whether one thinks on God’s goodness, love, omnipotence, or justice, there is no end to the material that these qualities provide for musical adoration. When He calls on mankind to laud Him in song and recount His all-wise activities, He is telling them to do the most reasonable thing in keeping with His identity and His purposes. No other sensible course presents itself to the unbiased mind— especially if that mind belongs to one who has tasted divine mercy, grace, and love firsthand. In light of His person and His work, it is understandable that human beings should sing to their altogether-lovely Creator. But one may well wonder, “What makes God sing?”
The Son of Man’s hymnbook
Galatians 4:4 affirms, “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law.” As a devout Jewish man, the Lord Jesus dutifully attended the feasts in Jerusalem (Lk. 2:41-42; Jn. 7:10; Jn. 10:22; Mt. 26). Such behavior leads to the natural inference that Christ regularly sang through the Psalter with other Jewish worshippers. Collections of Psalms like the Egyptian Hallel (Ps. 113-118) were customarily sung at the Passover and other feasts.1
One historian describes ordinary practice at the Passover meal:
Jewish families sang Psalms 113–114 before the Seder meal and 115–118 afterward. In the Synoptic Gospels…Jesus and His disciples ate a Seder (Passover) meal and sang a hymn before departing for the Mount of Olives (Mt. 26:30). Thus, in all likelihood, they sang all or parts of Psalms 115–118 (or, less probably, Psalms 135–36).”2
Therefore, on the way to the cross, the Lord Jesus sang a hymn (Mt. 26:30)—probably the 118th Psalm, which includes lines that are prophetic of His sufferings: “The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing; It is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it” (vv. 22-24). On the way to drink the cup of God’s wrath, Christ delighted in His Father’s perfect will and praised Him in song.
The Son of God as soloist
The Lord Jesus’ singing did not cease after His return to glory. Happily, the Scriptures point to a future day when He will sing in the company of His Father and His delivered brethren. Two passages in the New Testament refer to this great future recital of the Father’s name in song: Romans 15:9 (quoting Psalm 18:49 and 2 Samuel 22:50) and Hebrews 2:12 (quoting Psalm 22:22). While the former text emphasizes that God’s will is to bless Jews and Gentiles, the latter stresses the risen Christ’s identification with His redeemed people—He is not ashamed of them! As brother Gooding eloquently puts it:
Would not the glorified Son of Man now feel a little ashamed before the majestic angels of God to acknowledge His humble followers on earth as His brothers? Never! On the very threshold of the ascension He said to Mary: ‘Go…to my brothers and tell them, I am returning to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God’ (Jn. 20:17); and in the bright morning of the second half of the Psalm 22 we hear the glorified Messiah announce: ‘I will declare Your name to My brothers; in the congregation I will praise You’ (22:22). And still wherever His people meet, there He is among them, revealing the Father’s name to them (Jn. 17:26, AV/KJV) and leading the response of their praise.3
In the future realized kingdom of God—which encompasses the millennium and the subsequent eternal state (Rev. 20-22)—the Lord Jesus will sing of His Father’s name, thereby revealing afresh God’s character, identity, authority, and activities. All of these things are manifested in the names and titles of God the Father. This action of the glorified Messiah is also the opposite of impenitent men’s treatment of the divine name (Rev. 16:9). Having brought many sons to glory, the Captain of their salvation sings praise to His Father in their congregation.
The theme of His song
The Old Testament passages of the Messiah singing that are quoted in the New Testament reflect His rejoicing over the culmination of God’s plans of redemption and judgment. In Psalm 22:22, He exults in the fact that after His unparalleled sufferings, which are recorded in verses 1-21, He is now on resurrection ground. Consequently, He praises the Father for delivering Him from such deep sorrows. Thereafter, God the Father raised Him from the dead (Rom. 1:4). Psalm 18 and 2 Samuel 22 are virtually identical. Their shared theme is God’s ultimate triumph over evil in the setting up of the Messianic kingdom that He promised in the Davidic Covenant (2 Sam. 7).
The Son’s future praise of the Father’s name is prefigured every time the saints gather here on Earth to praise and worship God in the power of the Holy Spirit. To paraphrase Kepler’s description of his scientific research, when they adore their Maker in word or song, Christians are thinking the Lord’s thoughts of the Father after Him (Jn. 16:12-15). Jenning’s beautiful hymn grasps the idea well:
Hark, my soul! Thy Savior sings;
Catch the joy that music brings;
And, with that sweet flood of song,
Pour thy whisp’ring praise along.4
Endnotes
1 “The Hallel was sung at the great Jewish festivals—Passover, Tabernacles, Pentecost, and Chanukkah (‘Dedication’ of the Temple).” W.O.E. Oesterley, “Hallel”, in James Hastings, John A. Selbie, John C. Lambert and Shailer Mathews, Dictionary of the Bible (New York, NY: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1909), p. 326.
Another adds: “Pss. 135–136 are sung on the sabbath, and the Great Hallel (Pss. 146–150), with Ps. 145, at all morning services.” H.L. Ellison, “Hallelujah”, in D. R. W. Wood and I. Howard Marshall, New Bible Dictionary, 3rd ed. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996), p.?441.
2 Steven R. Swanson, “Hallel”, in The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, Vol. 3, ed. David Noel Freedman (New York: Doubleday, 1992), p.?30.
3 David W. Gooding, An Unshakeable Kingdom: An Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews (Port Colborne, ON: Gospel Folio Press, 1989), p.?54.
4 F.C. Jennings, “Oh My Savior Glorified”; Hymn #109 in Hymns Of Worship And Remembrance.