I preached Sunday from Romans 15:7-13 on Christ as A Minister of the Circumcision. Here are some notes reflecting on v. 9b: "As it is written, For this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy name" (citing 2 Samuel 22:50//Psalm 18:49):
I want you to notice something else this verse tells us about
worship. Who is the one singing
here? It is Jesus himself! The Son leads the praise of the saints (which
now includes Gentiles) in lifting their voices to the Father.
When I read this I thought of a passage in a chapter written by Michael
LeFebvre in the book Sing a New Song: Recovering Psalm Signing for the Twenty-First Century (Reformation Heritage, 2010) where
he cites this passage and others like Psalm 22:22 which is quoted in Hebrews
2:11-12 (v. 12: “Saying, I will declare
thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto
thee”). LeFebvre makes the point that
when we sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs in worship, we are not merely
singing about Jesus but we are singing with Jesus. He is “the song leader” who leads us in
singing praises (p. 108)!
In part of his conclusion LeFebvre writes this:
Often congregations in
the church today see themselves as the choir (the “performers”) singing praise
to God (the “audience”). The Psalter
calls us to refine this outlook: it teaches
us to view ourselves as “a backup ensemble” singing with a great Soloist who is the primary “Performer.” It is the Son of David who stands as “the
sweet psalmist” beloved by the Father.
We, who enter into the Father’s delight in Christ, are privileged to
join with Jesus in His songs as we sing the Psalms…. We need to learn, again, to sing the Psalms
with Christ (pp. 109-110).
How would our view of sung praise in worship change if we saw Christ as
our lead singer?
JTR
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