“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding, who set its measurements? Since you know. Or who stretched the line on it? On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” – Job 38:4-7
It is significant that there was singing at the very time of creation. The ‘morning stars’ of this verse are the same as the ‘sons of God’ who were present when God ‘laid the foundations of the earth’. These would be the angels in heaven.
It is thus beautifully appropriate to sing of the glories of God’s creation, for angels were doing this even before Adam and Eve were created!
The first actual human song mentioned in the Bible, however, was the thanksgiving song of Moses (Exodus 15:1-21), composed and sung by Moses and the children of Israel after their deliverance from Pharaoh and the waters of the Red Sea. “Then Moses and the sons of Israel sang this song to the Lord, and said, ‘I will sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted…the Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise Him…the Lord is a warrior; the Lord is His name…Your right hand, O Lord, is majestic in power…in Your lovingkindness You have led the people whom You have redeemed…the Lord shall reign forever and ever.’ ” – Exodus 15:1-18.
The Bible also writes of singing in the Book of Revelation.
There is “the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb” – Revelation 15:3, sung in
heaven by “those who had been victorious over the beast” – Revelation 15:2. This presumably refers back to the original song of Moses, since the deliverance from Pharaoh was, spiritually, a type of their triumph over the anti-christ, the world ruler in the end times. However, it is now combined with the song of the Lamb, perhaps the ‘new song’ of the saints at the Lamb’s throne in Revelation 5:8-10, praising the Lord for their redemption through His blood, shed in substitution for their sins. “And they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.’ ” – Revelation 5:9-10.
There will be another ‘new song’ sung by the remnant of Israel, the 144,000 – Revelation 14:3 – which ‘no one else could learn’, when the LORD once again stands on Mount Zion.
These should surely be the three major themes of Christian music, for these are the main themes of the Bible’s songs. It is fitting that they should refer to the past, present, and future works of Christ – His mighty work of creation in the beginning, His gracious work of sustenance in the present, and His glorious work of full redemption in the future.
click here for: Salvation Call – God’s Love
