Singing

All posts tagged Singing

Let The Singing Begin

Posted by Jim Thornber on November 5, 2011
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Scripture. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . 4 Comments

The Lord, your God, is in your midst . . . he will exult over you with loud singing. – Zephaniah 3:17

Last week at our church Bible study, we were reading the passage from John 12 that talks about Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem just prior to His crucifixion. We were going back and forth between our text in John and some Old Testament texts, and we ended by reading this passage from Zephaniah 3:17. 

As we were getting ready to leave, one of the men said to me, “I like the idea that God is singing. It never occurred to me that God sang.” And this is what bothered me about his observation: It never occurred to me, either.

And it should have! Why wouldn’t God sing? Every culture in the world sings, so why wouldn’t God? He invented singing and endowed us with the joy of opening our mouth and singing loud, joyful, heartfelt songs.

            Of course, the idea of God singing isn’t really news; it was just a new thought to me.

C. S. Lewis wrote of Aslan singing Narnia into existence in The Magician’s Nephew. Aslan would sing a note and stars would appear. He’d sing another note and trees would appear. And all creation, with different molecules vibrating at different frequencies, would sing back. So why didn’t it occur to me that God sings? I’m fifty years old, and NOW it occurs to me that God likes to sing? What took me so long to see it? Continue Reading

Heavenly Songs, Earthly Noises

Posted by Jim Thornber on October 20, 2010
Posted in: Christian Spirituality, Religion. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

“In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures. . . . Day and night they never stop saying: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” – Revelation 4:6, 8

In chapter 4 of Revelation, the Apostle John has a vision of the throne in heaven. He sees one sitting on the throne with the “appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling and emerald, encircled the throne” (vs.3). I’m not exactly sure what jasper and carnelian look like (they are colorful types of quartz), and I’m not sure how to envision a rainbow that looks like an emerald, but I think that is the point. Our minds cannot comprehend the beauty and magnificence of the throne while we remain on the earth side of heaven. But then, who is to say we’ll be able to wrap our minds around it when we finally see it?

However, that is not what bothers me. What bothers me is the day and night singing of the cherubim.

Cherubim, like us, are created beings. They are not all powerful and all knowing, but they do pre-exist mankind. Although most of us think of cherubim as supernatural angelic beings covered with eyes and having four faces, who protect the throne of God and may even have tremendous power, there is one thing we have that they do not: an experience of the saving mercy and grace of Jesus.

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