Today we’re back with our online friends at Daily Encouragement.
The Song Of The Redeemed
by Stephen and Brooksyne Weber
“Worship the LORD with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs” (Psalm 100:2). “And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9).
We’ve been enjoying a song for several months titled “Be Enthroned” (included below). It begins with these words:
We’ve come to join the song
Sung long before our lives
To raise our voice along
Heaven and Earth alike
We sang it last Sunday in a missions service and the line that really struck me was “sung long before our lives”. Now of course there are many songs the church sings, some new, some old. Our musical tastes vary which has been a source of some division, minor in some churches and major division in others.
But as we sang the words on Sunday I thought of not one single song but rather the composite music of the church, the song of the redeemed, which is expressed in many different ways.
All over the world today God’s people are singing this “song of the redeemed”, a proclamation of praise to our great Redeemer and reigning Lord. We often consider this in a local church service, but of course singing takes place in a lot of places from large concerts to coffeehouses to families to individuals. They declare:
We’ve seen Your faithful hand
Your mercy without end
A king who bled and died
A God who sacrificed
The song of the redeemed is omnigenerational. The redeemed of all generations sing this song which, as the song we feature today states, was “sung long before our lives”. It will be sung by future generations should the Lord tarry and for all eternity. How we enjoy the line in Amazing Grace that states:
When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we’d first begun.
Young children sing the song of the redeemed. Consider the blessing of hearing the children sing in church. We also have the pleasure of hearing our Amish friends sing as we gather round their table following a meal. The children sing the “adult” hymns along with Mom and Dad, verses and all, which is becoming a rare thing these days. So it always brings a smile to our hearts when we hear the youngest child singing, “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” and other such beautiful, timeless songs of the redeemed.
We like to see teenagers singing songs of their faith; young families sitting together bound in a mutual proclamation of belief; choirs and smaller musical groups as well as praise teams.
Older people are still singing the song of the redeemed. Last night Brooksyne described an older lady as rather frail who had just joined the choir. When we first moved to Lancaster County in 2001 for several years we sat in front of Menno, who turned 100 a year or so later. He still sang out the songs of the redeemed, many of the same songs he had led the congregation in singing when he was songleader many decades earlier.
The song of the redeemed is omnigeographical. I consider the song in a mission context with the redeemed singing from, “every tribe and tongue and people and nation”.
An older contemporary song (although still modern!) many of us will recall has these words:
It’s the song of the redeemed rising from the African plain
It’s the song of the forgiven drowning out the Amazon rain
The song of Asian believers filled with God’s holy fire
It’s every tribe, every tongue, every nation
A love song born of a grateful choir
All over the world God’s children are singing this song of the redeemed. We are declaring in scores of different ways our foundational belief that He is worthy.
Be enthroned upon the praises
of a thousand generations
You are worthy Lord of all
Unto You the slain and risen King
We lift our voice with Heaven
Singing worthy Lord of all
Today we urge you to join us in singing the song of the redeemed.
Christianity 201 