Did Jesus sing when He lived on the earth? If He did, why and when did He sing? Furthermore, if Jesus sang, how should that impact our lives today? If Jesus, the Head of our Church, our Lord and our Savior, sang while He was on the earth and if we are to be growing in Christ-likeness, then the answer to these questions ought to impact our lives. With 100% certainty we can say that Jesus sang while He lived on this earth. As Jesus completed the Passover with His disciples, we read in Matthew 26:30, “and when they sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.”

Many times we can just skip over those words “when they had sung a hymn.” But I want to encourage you to not skip those inspired words of God. At one of the most crucial moments of Jesus’ life, as He just instituted the Lord’s Supper, and as He departed to the Mount of Olives where He would be betrayed into the hands of sinners, we find that Jesus sang! So what did Jesus sing? The answer is most likely one of the Hallel (Hallelujah) Psalms, Psalms 115-118, that the Jews would historically have sung during and at the conclusion of the Passover meal. This also gives us some insights into how Jesus would have learned to sing as a boy growing up in a Jewish culture (Luke 2:52). The con-text of Luke 2:41 reveals that Jesus’s parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of Passover. Jesus would have heard the singing of Levites as the Passover lambs were slain and Jesus most likely would have been led in song by his father as they ate the Passover meal together. In both the temple and in the home, Jesus learned the importance of singing praise to God.

Therefore, it should not surprise us that the gathering of the local church is to be a time of singing (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16), and the Christian home ought also to be a place where teaching, through singing takes place (Ephesians 6:4; Colossians 3:20-21). A primary means for imparting truth is through song. Consider how many Scripture verses you can recite and compare that to how many song lyrics you can recite. It is likely that you have more lyrics to songs placed in your mind than you have Scripture verses. This is not necessarily a bad thing if the lyrics in our minds are rooted in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. In Ephesians 6:4, fathers are specifically encouraged to bring up their children in the admonition of the Lord. The word “admonition” literally means to “put or place in the mind.” Singing is a God-ordained way to place truth in our minds. That is why the church is told to teach and admonish one another through psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.

Let me conclude with some practical suggestions to help us in our singing. First, participate in the song service of your local church by singing! Second, think about what you are singing. Third, develop a personal repertoire of songs that are rich in meaning and praise to our God. Memorize one new song each month! Fourth, sing those songs whenever appropriate as praise to God and as spiritual encouragement to your own soul. Allow them to be songs in the night whose truths can turn you to Christ and bring you through life’s darkest moments. And finally, if you are a parent, develop a strategy where your home is a place where doctrinally-rich songs are frequently sung to the praise of God and to the benefit of your children.

There is a war that every generation of mankind has experienced. This war will continue to impact all of human history until this earth is no more. Multitudes have been taken captive by the enemy and the casualties from this war far exceed all of the World Wars combined. This war began in heaven but quickly spread to God’s creation on earth. The battle ground for this war takes place in the hearts and minds of every person, just like it began in the heart of Lucifer, one of God’s created angels. In Isaiah 14:12-14 we read, “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.” And just like Lucifer said in his heart, so the man and the woman in Genesis 3 said in their hearts, that they too wanted to be like God (Genesis 3:5). This rebellion of Satan and of mankind is an act of war and rebellion against the Creator. This war is ultimately a worship war! The creation exists for the Creator. The Creator is God and we, as the creation, exist to worship Him. This issue must be resolved in our hearts so that we don’t become a captive or a casualty in this worship war.

Revelation 4 takes us back to the throne of heaven. This is the place where Lucifer in his heart first rebelled. Catch a glimpse of the main focal point of heaven in Revelation 4:2, “a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne.” There is only one true God and we are to worship Him. Later in this chapter, you read of the four living creatures, who are angels, and the twenty-four elders. You will notice their main activity is to worship God. The chapter concludes with these words from the twenty-four elders, “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: For You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.” Revelation takes us back to Genesis. God is the Creator. And we exist for the Creator. He alone is to be worshiped.

How can fallen and rebellious mankind go from being at war to being at peace with God? Revelation 5 summarizes the answer as the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, is introduced in heaven. And the Lamb is also worshiped by the twenty-four elders, because the Lamb is also God. The Triune God is to be worshiped. “And they sang a new song as they fell before the Lamb 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 nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.” It is only through the blood of the cross and Christ’s subsequent resurrection that we can be redeemed and be at peace with God. By the grace of God, the redeemed are on the right side of the worship war and will even have the privilege of ruling and reigning with Christ on the earth.

The battle continues in the book of Revelation and there will come a time in the future when it looks like Satan might win as the first beast is worshiped by all who dwell on the earth (Revelation 13:12-14). But that rebellion and all other rebellions will be crushed by Jesus Christ (Revelation 19-20). If you want the key command in the book of Revelation, it is found twice in the last four chapters of the book. The command is simple: “Worship God” (Revelation 19:10; 22:9). God created us to worship Him and God has graciously redeemed us so that we can worship Him. For more details on how this worship war will play out, please join us on Sun-day nights as Pastor Leary continues our book study through the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ.