Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say, rejoiceYeah, quite the complicated song. (To be fair, it's straight from Scripture (Php 4:4), so I'm not complaining.) The interesting thing about rounds is that they're ... endless. I mean, there's no obvious end point. You just keep singing until someone says, "That's enough." So, in theory, this song could just ... go ... on ... forever.
Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say, rejoice
Rejoice, rejoice, again I say rejoice.
Rejoice, rejoice, again I say rejoice.
Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say, rejoice.
And ... in this one instance, I'm not sure that's not a good thing. I mean, the command is to "Rejoice in the Lord always" (Php 3:1). Paul repeated the command ... three times. It appears to bear repetition, with it's "always" aspect. Biblically, repetition can be significant. The angels cry "Holy, holy, holy" over God ... twice (Isa 6:3; Rev 4:8). Jesus said "Truly, truly" on multiple occasions. Repetition is often emphasis in Scripture. So it seems as if the command to "Rejoice in the Lord always" is significant simply because it says "always," but additionally because it's repeated (Psa 35:9; Isa 41:16; Zec 10:7; Php 3:1; Php 4:4). If the joy of the Lord is my strength (Neh 8:10) and we're to "Count it all joy when we encounter various trials" (James 1:2), are we ... rejoicing always? Or ... do we have a ways to go to become the joyful people we are commanded to be?
12 comments:
It's odd (and slightly worrisome) to me that singing isn't more of a part of my life. Especially once I stopped listening to secular music. I wanted to, for a while after stopping listening to secular music, but trying to find faithful Christian music that wasn't "Jesus is my boyfriend" style, or too complex to sing without practice, but I eventually gave up searching.
I understand that. I like music enough to be willing to filter what I listen to. I understand there will ALWAYS be potential problems, from the hymns on out. But there is some good stuff. Steve Taylor, Downhere, some intentionally trying to teach and admonish with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. I prefer not to throw out the baby with the bathwater.
I find myself still singing the little ditties I learned when I was a new Christian in the late 1970s (ones like Stan’s round). The vinyl records and cassette tapes that I played over and over are long gone, and I now have thousands of songs in my mental music library, but those early songs are still in my head and in my heart!
In a book of mine about the Fruit of the Spirit, I found these thoughts about joy, rejoicing, and expressing joy through song:
The word “joy” occurs in the New Testament sixty times; “rejoice” seventy-two. The word translated “greetings” in the New Testament literally means “joy be with you.” The New Testament begins with angels announcing good news of great joy and closes with joy flooding heaven.
Our doctrine should lead to doxology [praise or glory]. Since the Gospel is good news of joy, the richer our doctrine, the more we will rejoice. Pure joy is joy in God as both its source and object. “Joy is the flag that is flown from the castle of the heart when the King is in residence there.”
Praise is the identical twin of joy. Joy is more inward; praise is more outward. Joy is pressure in the system, while praise is the safety valve letting it go. “The oil of joy is God’s lubricant to keep the machinery of life from clanking.”
It is thrilling to recall that Christianity began with a song. There is no other religion that sings its ways into the hearts of the people as does Christianity. It is the only religion that has songbooks filled with songs of joy and rejoicing.
“Joy is love smiling.”
Music isn't completely gone from my life. There's Sunday service where I'll have a song or two to sing with. Or Ligonier's radio program sometimes has music between lessons. I just don't go out of my way to try to find music anymore. I've got too many sermons and theology classes to listen to these days.
You said, "It's odd (and slightly worrisome) to me that singing isn't more of a part of my life." I simply tried to offer hope that it could be.
Most people don't know this, Lorna, but most of the books of the prophets are written in poetry/song form. They understood that singing this stuff adds to the memorization. Music has long been a part of God's redemptive history. (By the way, the angels did not sing at HIs birth. The text says they "said.")
True, but whoever translated my ESV has put what they said in the textual format of a song.
Regarding your parenthetical statement: I realize that Luke 2:10 says that the angel of the Lord stood before the shepherds and “said to them.…” The author of the excerpts I quoted was no doubt referring to Luke 2:13-14, when the lone angel was joined by “a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!’” Surely that “praising” would have included exuberant song, as is fitting for such a joyous occasion--perhaps even some nice Gregorian-style chants :).
Isn't it interesting? I've had lots of people argue that the angels sang, even though the text clearly states (in both cases) "said". Not you, but they've been angry, because obviouslyl they sang. But that's not what it says. You say that it was surely "exuberant song" as if that's the only reasonable conclusion. I've exuberantly praised Him often without breaking into song. It's funny how we hang on to ideas because we like them and not because they're in the text.
I am normally a stickler on accuracy, and I myself have corrected people on this point (as part of busting Christmas myths). This assumption on people’s part might be due to commonly hearing carols and hymns about singing angels (and general references to those who “sing like an angel”). I don’t know anything about the original word translated as “said” (or “saying”) in Luke chapter 2. However, technically--and not to split hairs!--something can be “said” in spoken word, in song, or in written form (and even through body language or creative arts). Therefore, I feel the angels in Luke chapter 2 could have “said” what they said (i.e. expressed themselves) by singing it. Personally, it’s hard to imagine that the “multitude of the heavenly host” would appear at the scene of Jesus’ long-awaited birth and not belt out those praises to God in exuberant song. Joy, joy, joy, joy!
Just for clarification to all readers, I don't wish to say that the angels did not sing. I'm simply pointing to the words of the text. Since we're supposed to "teach and admonish in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs," quite clearly songs can say something.
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