THE SERVICE OF SONG (NOTES OF A READING)
THE SERVICE OF SONG (NOTES OF A READING)
1 Chronicles 6: 31, 32; [p. 236] 1 Chronicles 15:1-3; 1 Chronicles 15:15,16; 1 Chronicles 25: 1, 2
There has been a certain amount of exercise as to the service of song, and my thought in these Scriptures was that it might be spiritually profitable for us to see the connection between the service of song and the ark getting its place. No doubt we have all noticed that there is no such singing recorded either in the books of Samuel or in the books of Kings. In these books we see David as a type of Christ in victorious power, asserting the rights of God and doing great achievements in order that every adverse power might be brought into subjection and that the people of God might be in rest from all their enemies. That is suggestive of what Christ has done for us. But the service of song does not stand in relation to that; so that though there are great triumphs, and the people of God are brought into rest, the supremacy of David over every hostile power is unchallenged; yet there is no service of song.
Ques Do you gather from that that the ark must be in its place before there can be any service of song?
CAC It is strikingly suggestive. I put it out for consideration that the service of song is not ordered until there is a place secured for the ark. I think it is a matter of great spiritual import. In connection with a place being provided [p. 237] for the ark the service of song is at once introduced and enlarged upon.
Ques How does it apply today?
CAC I trust the Lord will help us to see how it does apply today. The ark had been available all through the reign of Saul. We are told in 1 Samuel 14: 18, that the ark was amongst them, but there was no enquiry of it (1 Chronicles 13: 3). It was there but it was neglected; it had no place. Saul, as we know, represents what is fleshly in character, in contrast to what is pleasing to God. Now it is quite obvious that under such an influence as that the ark could not have its place, and therefore there was no basis for the service of song. And, in spite of the fact that the religious world is very much marked by singing, I doubt whether the service of song has any place at all where the influence and will of man after the flesh predominates. David comes in as the man chosen of God, and he is able to establish typically all the rights of God, and there is complete subjugation of everything that is adverse; then he can take another character, so that, instead of acting in subduing power toward adversaries, he can take a place as head. And that is the character in which, it seems to me, David is presented in 1 Chronicles. He is seen as the victorious lord in Samuel and Kings, but as head in 1 Chronicles. I believe it is in connection with the recognition of Christ as Head that we can alone have the service of song.
Ques What is the difference between this and the song at the Red Sea?
CAC The song at the Red Sea was the celebration of divine triumph. There was at that moment a complete triumph of Jehovah over all adversaries, and He became the strength and song and salvation of His people, but there was no inauguration of a service of song.
In 1 Chronicles 13: 1, we read that David consulted with the captains of thousands and hundreds, and David [p. 238] spoke to all the congregation of Israel. There is a suggestion also on his part in chapter 15, verse 16, “And David spoke to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brethren, the singers, with instruments of music”. The suggestion comes from David and in chapter 25, verse 2, we read “The sons of Asaph under the direction of Asaph, who prophesied at the direction of the king”. “All these were under the direction of their fathers ... for song in the house of Jehovah ... under the direction of the king” (verse 6). That suggests headship; it is not now victorious power dealing with adversaries. We all have to begin with that. We all begin with an appreciation of Christ in the greatness of His victory, as in Exodus 15. We like to think of what He has done for us, and there is a certain song connected with that, but not the service of song. The song in Exodus 15 died away but when the service of song is inaugurated it is to continue. It is an ordered ministry for the pleasure of God of a permanent character. We have to discover that the divine intent in all that we know of what the blessed Lord has done for us in His great victory over everything adverse is that it should secure Him such a place in our affections that He becomes Head to us. We become prepared to receive directions and suggestions from Christ as Head. I believe it is on that line that the service of song is set up. I am sure we all want to minister to the pleasure of God. We should all like to use the instruments of God and to sing.
Ques Is the last verse of the Psalms the climax?
CAC What a climax! “Let everything that hath breath praise Jah. Hallelujah!”. That is the climax in the millennial day. In 1 Chronicles 16: 7, we read, “Then on that day David delivered first this psalm to give thanks to Jehovah through Asaph and his brethren”. That leads on to the climax in verse 36, “Blessed be Jehovah the God of Israel, from eternity and to eternity! And all the people said, Amen! and praised Jehovah”. They are all brought into line with the Chief Singer. The sweet psalmist of Israel was there, “and all the people said, Amen!” The praise is everlasting in character; it is “from eternity and to eternity”. There is no thought of this song ever dying out. There was a day when it began but it belongs to eternity. The service of song today is eternal in its character and it arises in relation to the ark getting its place. We must not lose sight of that.
David’s preparing a tent for the ark is most suggestive; it applies in such a peculiar way to the present moment. It is not the ark in the temple; that awaits another day. Solomon has not come in yet to build the temple, and to give the ark its glorious place in a setting of magnificence in this world. Before that day comes, Christ as Head secures an unpretentious place outwardly for Himself as the Ark. It was in a tent; it had not even the glory of the tabernacle. It was an unpretentious tent but it was a place for the ark. Now, beloved brethren, that is precisely the position today. Christ as Head is securing a place for Himself as the Ark and it is unpretentious. It has not the glory of the outward display which will be in the kingdom, and it refuses all the glory of a corrupt and almost apostate profession, but there is a place for the ark. How we should think of that — a place for Christ as the Ark! I do not think we realise the greatness of the privilege that God has called us to. Its being a “tent” suggests its provisional character; not exactly movability because it never was moved until the ark was taken from it to be put in the temple; that is the next move. The ark is in the tent today; it is cherished in humble and lowly hearts, it is cherished where there is nothing of the glory of the world, but it is going to be cherished there and the service of song is going to be there until the moment comes for Solomon to bring it into the temple.
[p. 240] Before we go any further on that line, I would like to go back and call attention to an important aspect of the truth as presented in 1 Chronicles. That is, that the first nine chapters of this book are occupied by genealogies; many of us have noticed it and passed them over without reading them, but those nine chapters are essential to the character of the book. There are some choice gems in those chapters. I am not going to turn aside to these jewels now, but the whole of this book and its service rests upon these genealogies. That is to say, every one who took part in the service, whether it was the service of the altar, or the keeping of the doors, or raising the song, whatever was directed or suggested by David as head, every man was qualified to take up his service by his pedigree. I look upon that as a vital point. We should not think that this long list of names means nothing. God would show us that, if He is going to appoint persons to any kind of service, He will qualify those persons by their generation for the service He means them to take up. It is a very important truth in connection with the headship of Christ, because what would be the practical gain of the headship of Christ unless there was a generation that was qualified to respond to His direction?
Ques Where do we derive from?
CAC That is very important. In relation to Christ as Head we are not simply viewed as sinners saved by grace, but we are looked upon as persons who have a spiritual pedigree. John insists on pedigree — a generation born of God. And it is essential that if there is such a wonderful thing as Christ being Head and giving directions, there must be a generation that will respond. It is not now a question of subjugation but of response, and that is why we have to learn the kingdom first. Nothing could respond to Christ as Head that had not been brought into subjection. We have to learn what Christ has done for us, and the [p. 241] sense of what He has done, and the wonderful place that He takes before us as maintaining the rights of God brings us into subjection. We feel that He has rescued us from the awful tyranny of our own wills. That is experimental. But on the divine side we are of a new generation; we are born of God; we have a pedigree. Being born suggests the idea of generation and if we are born of God it is a wonderful pedigree. John gives us the whole history of how the generation is formed. He speaks in the first chapter of the gospel about persons who receive Christ because they are born of God. There we see them as newborn babes, and then we go through the gospel to chapter 17 and we find there, “men”. They have come to maturity; all the men of the Levites that David numbered were twenty years old. There was maturity.
Ques As to the kingdom, what is the difference between lordship and headship?
CAC Lordship is in the books of Samuel and of Kings, and we would like to assume that that was a settled thing with us — that Christ really had His place with us as Lord, so that we are not living on the principle of doing our own will but on the principle of subjection to Him as Lord. This is primary and essential, but all this is to prepare us to give Him His place as Head. He would say, as it were, ‘I want to be able to direct and suggest to you’, and what He would suggest to us is that the ark should have its place. ‘I suggest to you that you should think of Me in relation to God’. Now that is what the Lord suggests as Head this afternoon, for every young believer here — and every old one too -’I suggest that you should give Me a place in all that I am in relation to God’. That is the ark! There is no service of song until we accord Him that place, as we are subject to the Head and responsive to the directions of the Head. David suggested securing a place for the ark, and when the service was inaugurated and carried on,
[p. 242] it was under the direction of the king, that is headship; not exactly an arbitrary order, but a spiritual direction. The Lord would have us responsive, and as having a new and spiritual pedigree we should be responsive to the direction of the Head, so that we should be ready to be door keepers or for the service of the altar or the service of song, any part of the service that He might direct.
Ques. As to Hebrews 2?
CAC The Lord is seen in Hebrews as the Minister of the sanctuary; He is the One who has charge of the service of God, and everything that has a part in the service of God is under His hand. It is all living.
Rem Say a little more about the generation.
CAC We have to make manifest that we have spiritual features. That is the simple meaning of it. No one has spiritual features according to the flesh. According to my natural generation I have not a single spiritual feature. We shall not come into the assembly of God like that. If I can establish that I have spiritual features I have declared my pedigree. Spiritual features are very simple: first I judge myself, and secondly I appreciate Christ. I have to make manifest to myself and to God and then to the brethren that I am marked by these spiritual features. Thus I prove — I establish — my pedigree. It does not imply that one is fully grown, but the pedigree is there; you may be only a little child, not competent yet for service in relation to the ark, for maturity is required for that, but if you have established your pedigree, every day you are getting bigger. It is astonishing how quickly people may become twenty years old if they are spiritually minded. I believe the apostle Paul became twenty years old in a few days. You judge everything in yourself and the world that is not according to Christ. The youngest babe may start with that. As I judge and refuse everything in myself and in the world that is not according to Christ I go on increasing [p. 243] in the appreciation of Christ; and, on the other hand, the more I appreciate Christ the more refined and sensitive are all my sensibilities to refuse what is not of Christ. In that way we should soon grow from babes to be twenty years old. To serve at the altar or to be singers or doorkeepers, maturity is required.
In John 17 we see men marked by maturity, who could be trusted with the testimony. They were mature and they were trustworthy. The Lord could put everything that was in His heart in their hands.
I would like us to get distinctly before us the character in which Christ can be known as the ark, because that is not on our side at all. It is not what He has done for me, it is not His victory over the enemy, but it is the relation in which He stands to God. Until we have secured Him a place in that character we cannot sing.
Ques. As to Psalm 22?
CAC The Lord praises there on the ground that, through the value of the sin-offering, all that God is can be declared to His brethren. When He says, “I will declare thy name unto my brethren” (Psalm 22: 22), He is on our side, He makes God known to us so that we may sing with Him. But then the way we know God is in relation to the ark. I would call earnest attention to that.
The gospels are the supreme part of the Holy Scriptures, and the four gospels answer to the different characters in which the ark is presented. In Matthew, I believe, the Lord is seen as the Ark of Jehovah; that is, there is set forth in Him the faithfulness of God to all His promises. In Mark, we see Him as the Ark of the testimony; that is, God is giving testimony to all that He is in the presence of all the conditions that sin had brought into His creation. Then in Luke, I believe, the Lord is seen as the Ark of the covenant, the expression of all the divine favour to men. In John, He is seen as the Ark of God. There is the expression in Him of [p. 244] God, in His nature, and in all the purposes of His love. He is the Ark of God. Now, beloved brethren, how far have we secured affectionately a place for the blessed One of God as He is set forth in these four gospels? Then what a wonderful service of song there would be! Can anybody imagine the sweetness and the power and the elevation and the depths of those notes that would rise to God from those who have really reserved a place for Christ as the Ark in its fourfold glory? It is secured in a very simple form outwardly. Through infinite grace a few obscure individuals can come together, and walk together in the consciousness that they are reserving a place for Christ as the Ark. They are really in communion with God as to what Christ is to Him. And then you can have the service of song. But it must be remembered that if there were four thousand singers there were also four thousand doorkeepers; that is very suggestive. It is said of certain persons that they “were doorkeepers for the ark”, 1 Chronicles 15: 24. I would suggest that it is a mark of increasing maturity when souls turn to the gospels. We all begin with the epistles, Romans particularly, but we end in the gospels. There we have what is supreme. If we get a sense of it, how important it is that every association in which it is found should be safeguarded from the intrusion of evil! We are called, beloved brethren, to be doorkeepers for the ark, and the doorkeepers correspond numerically with the singers, showing that the song must be accompanied by the most jealous safeguarding of all that is due to Christ as the ark. Otherwise there will be no service of song. There may be plenty of hymns but no service of song — nothing that reaches the ear of the blessed God as being in accord with His own heart and mind. The better the doorkeeper, the better the singer. This is how the service of song really gets its place. What marks singing is joy, “Lifting up the voice with joy”, 1 Chronicles 15: 16. The real tuning of the music [p. 245] must go on in our hearts. If we could have a hymn book, accurate and with the most refined expressions that had ever been used, that would not in itself enable us to sing. The music is in the heart. And it is as we have in our hearts the joy of all that Christ is as the Ark of Jehovah, and the Ark of the testimony, and the Ark of the covenant, and the Ark of God that we can sing. We want more of that. I would like to see the saints ready for a revised hymn book; many of us need revising in our affections.
Ques What would be the difference between singing in Colossians and singing in Ephesians?
CAC That is an interesting question. In Colossians we sing to God as under the headship of Christ, and as directed by Him. I think the Lord as Head would direct us into the truth of what He is as the Ark. I do not think we can get it any other way. As He does that we should become Colossian singers. We should be able to sing to God. In Ephesians we sing to the Lord; we also give thanks to God the Father, but we sing to the Lord. As filled with the Spirit — and that is the setting in which we sing in Ephesians — we sing to the Lord because we see the great place that He holds on God’s part.
Ques Is singing individual?
CAC In the idea of singing there is the thought of blending in harmony. 1 Chronicles 15: 22 speaks about the instruction that is needed for singing: “And Chenaniah, chief of the Levites for the music, gave instruction in music, for he was skilful”. Verse 20 mentions a number of names and ends with “lutes on Alamoth”, then at the end of verse 21, we read “harps on the Sheminith”. “Berechiah and Elkanah were doorkeepers for the ark” (verse 23). Instruction in music is under the headship of Christ. Without this I do not think anybody can give out a hymn suitably, though in one sense there is nothing easier than giving out a hymn. It does not seem to [p. 246] be suitable for a brother to give out a hymn who does nothing else, who never speaks to God in prayer or praise. The giving out of a hymn is the most elevated service in the house of God. It requires the most profound spirituality. If I address the Lord in praise, that is on my own responsibility, and no one need say, ‘Amen’ unless they like, but if I give out a hymn I commit the assembly to it. If it is not suitable I detain the service of the assembly. I believe meetings are often greatly detained by hymns, I do not say hindered. A spiritual company of persons together would not be hindered by a hymn, but they might be detained for the time from the present service of God in the Spirit. How important it is to have instruction in singing! Alamoth represents a high note and Sheminith the bass notes. We need instruction. Who is going to give it to us? We must get instruction from the Head — then we shall know whether to sing high or low or how to blend the two. Spiritual persons alone come under headship. If I am a carnal man I shall not know the gain of headship; I may talk about it for years but I am not in it. Singing as under headship would engage us with Christ in relation to God.
Ques You would not leave the Lord out after the breaking of bread?
CAC Certainly not. I do not think we should know what will happen in the meeting after the breaking of bread. We ought to know what will happen up to the breaking of bread, for we come together to break bread, and therefore we are under specific instruction, and any part that is taken in the meeting should have direct reference to the breaking of bread. But when we have broken the bread and are prepared in affection to receive suggestions and directions from the Head, I do not know how He is going to direct. He may have a word of ministry for us. All would be in wisdom, and He would have regard, too, to the state of the saints. The word “music” in chapter 15,
verse 22, has the sense of ‘lifting up’ or ‘transport’, and it indicates that the service of song is so serious a matter as to be described by the Spirit of God in this way. It is not because a hymn comes into one’s mind that it should be given out. It is a matter of deep exercise that in the service of song all should be under the instruction of the Head. It shows the onerous character of it. It is not a thing to be touched with a light hand. It is only the Chief of the Levites who can instruct us. I am delighted when another brother gives out a hymn that has come before me. It is confirmatory of one’s exercises, and what is of the Head would carry all spiritual persons with it as being suitable at the moment.
The service of song is a very serious matter and to take up active service in regard to it means carrying something in your spirit that is weighty. If we considered that there will never be anything in eternity greater in spiritual dignity than the service of song in the house of God today it would make us serious and sober and we should be governed in what we say or sing, not by our feelings alone, but by the light that is in our hearts of Christ in relation to God.
Ques Would you address Christ personally after the breaking of bread?
CAC It is a question of spiritual sensibilities. I think sometimes we are too quick to hurry away from what the Lord suggests to us in the Supper. He suggests wonderful things to us in the Supper, and I have thought sometimes that if we lingered over what the Lord suggests then it would put more body into the praise. Sometimes as soon as the Supper is over there is a tendency to turn to the Father, and to express what is suitable to family relationship, when perhaps the meeting as a whole is not spiritually up to it. The result of that is that there is a drop. There is a high note sounded, and then a drop. Now I do not [p. 248] think the Lord would have drops; we read about “the ascent by which he went up”. In the Songs of Degrees there is the idea of going up from one step to another. We need to move with spiritual sensitiveness, to feel what is suitable to the moment.
Whenever we get the thought of “chief” as in verse 22, there is a spiritual reference to Christ. He alone is Chief.
Ques As to the burnt-offering and the song of Jehovah in 2 Chronicles 29: 27?
CAC The song is connected there with the saints entering into the pleasure of God in Christ in burnt-offering aspect. That is the sacrificial side, which has its place. The burnt-offering is a very elevated aspect of the sacrificial side. It sets forth the sweet odour of the offering of Christ to God. That confirms the thought that we have had before us that the service of song stands in relation to Christ viewed on the divine side. As the burnt-offering began the song of Jehovah began. The singers have moved over from their side to God’s side. They are thinking of the infinite sweet savour of Christ to the heart of God. That is never out of place in the assembly. Indeed, when we get to God’s side we cannot go wrong.
The service of song must be in unity. If at any time things are low they must be lifted spiritually; if the meeting is low it is no use trying to lift it by human effort. You must lift it spiritually. The singers were as one; no brother is to predominate. I have heard from a man who used to play in a band that the excellence of the music depends on no one instrument predominating; every instrument should blend. We have to learn to blend; so that if a very highly intelligent brother were in a meeting where they were all uninstructed and low down, he would have to learn to blend, but on their side they would have to learn to blend too. If their hearts were really touched they would have a desire to blend with him. The giving of Christ His [p. 249] place as Head according to 1 Chronicles is of the utmost importance.