Purposeful Praise: Making Sense of Congregational Singing

Holy, Holy, Holy-Our January Doxology

When I was a child, if you had asked me to sing a doxology I would have used the following words: “Praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise him all creatures here below; praise him above, ye heavenly host; praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.” Thousands of English-speaking congregations around the world treasure this poem and sing it regularly. Yet the term doxology does not refer to these specific words; it simply means a brief expression of praise. The word is derived from the Greek doxa, meaning glory, and logos, meaning word or speaking.

Verse 4 from “Holy, Holy, Holy!” makes an excellent doxology. Note how the traditional words cited above urge God’s earthly and heavenly creatures to praise him: “praise him all creatures here below; praise him above, ye heavenly host.” When we sing “Holy, Holy, Holy!” we join the chorus of creaturely voices already singing God’s praise on earth and in heaven.

“Holy, holy, holy” echoes the refrain of the cherubim John saw in his vision of heaven, endlessly praising God from before his throne: “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” (Rev. 4:1). Isaiah similarly saw a vision of seraphim before God’s throne crying “holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” (Is. 6:3). These passages lend even more of their imagery to verse 2 of the hymn, which not only pictures the cherubim and seraphim worshipping God, but also refers to “all the saints … casting down their golden crowns before the glassy sea”—the calm-as-crystal sea John describes in front of God’s throne (Rev. 4:6).

John’s “twenty-four elders” who “cast their crowns before the throne” (Rev. 4:10) represent all the saints—that is, the complete church past and present, two-times-twelve suggesting the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles. As Andy Styer explained in week 5 of his Revelation class, Revelation 4 reminds us that God is receiving the worship he is due right now, in heaven, by the whole gathered church and all the angels. So when we sing our doxology to God, this is the congregation we are joining.

And what do we join all God’s works in calling him? “Merciful and mighty,” and—most emphatically—“holy, holy, holy.” We tend to think of holiness as synonymous with righteousness, but it more properly refers to being set apart: a holy object is set apart from common use, and a holy person is set apart from common existence (including sin). To call God “holy” is to acknowledge his transcendence and his absolute superiority to his creation.

Finally, who is the God we are praising? Our God has graciously identified himself to us in his three persons, and so we take care to address our praise to the Trinity explicitly.

This blog was written by Corrie Schwab

Treasuring God's Truth in Your Heart

Mark 10:43-45: “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve.”

Mark 10:43-45: But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”[1]

If anyone in the history deserved to be served it was Jesus Christ. As the eternal Son of God, “by whom all things were created,” He warranted the respect of all His creation. [2] But Jesus did not come demanding His due. Instead, He washed feet, healed the sick, and lived in poverty. [3] But His serving did not end there. As the end of Mark 10:45 indicates, Christ died to save His people from their sins. [4] Christ’s death was intensely painful, but more importantly He bore the just wrath of God the Father so that we could approach Him in peace. [5]

Why does this matter? First, if you follow Christ, there is a clear command to grow to be like Christ. [6] You will never do it perfectly in this life. [7] But as people in Christ we can grow in the fruits of the Spirit to minister to our families, communities, and the world at large. [8] Perhaps you, like me, can begin by patiently listening to everything your spouse has to say before responding. But what if someone does not follow Christ? Can she or he borrow Christian principles without Christian spirituality? The Holy Spirit is needed to have the benefits of Christian living, and you cannot have the Spirit of Christ without Christ. [9] Christian disciplines without Christ are merely morals. But there is another important matter: Christ will return. [10] He will save His people and require His due from those who are not His followers. [11] Will you serve the Servant peacefully or be forced into submission?

This blog was written by Seth Dunn

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016). All Scripture references will be ESV unless noted otherwise.

[2] Colossians 1:15-20.

[3] John 13:4, 13-15; Matthew 8:16; Luke 9:58, etc.

[4] Mark 14:24; John 10:15, 11:51-52; Romans 4:25, 5:15; 2 Corinthians 8:9; Galatians 1:4, 2:20; Titus 2:14, 3:4-8; 1 Timothy 2:6; Hebrews 2:10, 9:28; Revelation 5:9, etc.

[5] Isaiah 52:13-15; Matthew 26:67; Mark 15:15; Luke 23:34; Matthew 27:46; Hebrews 4:14-16.

[6] Philippians 2:1-11.

[7] Romans 7.

[8] Romans 6; Galatians 5:22-23.

[9] John 14-16; Acts 2:38-39; Romans 8; Galatians 4:4-7; etc.

[10] Matthew 24:23-31; John 14:6; Acts 1:10-11; Revelation 19:11-21.

[11] Hebrews 9:28; Romans 14:11; Philippians 2:9-11.

Treasuring God's Truth in Your Heart

Matthew 1:22-23: The Greatest Rescue

Matthew 1:22-23: All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,

and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). [1]

Matthew 1:20-21 teaches that salvation in Christ brings God’s elect freedom from the darkest evil and makes them possessors “of the greatest good.” [2] How did the Lord make this great rescue possible? By becoming man—as the Old Testament promised. [3] The virgin birth shows that God keeps His promises, and that salvation needed to come through a sinless redeemer. [4]

The Gospel is the greatest rescue because our sins are so awful. [5] The reality that the Son of God had to become human to redeem humans shows how far we all are from perfection. [6] The marvel of Isaiah 7:14 and Matthew 1 is our sins had separated us from God, and the Triune God rescued us. [7]

So what does the Trinity’s redemption mean for us? Christ’s work demands that all people believe in Him exclusively for salvation from their sins, put sin to death, and live as God calls us to live. [8] Only in Jesus can we be forgiven and spared from God the Father’s wrath and have the Holy Spirit to live as Scripture calls us to live. [9] Cry out to the Triune God of Scripture, because He will hear and act. [10]

This blog was written by Seth Dunn

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Logos Bible Software 7. All Scripture references will be ESV unless noted otherwise.

[2] William Hendriksen. Exposition of the Gospel According to Matthew. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1987), 133.

[3] Hendriksen, Matthew, 133 and 143-144.

[4] John Calvin. Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, and Luke Vol. 1. Trams. William Pringle. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1984, 98-99.

[5] Romans 5:6-11. For background, please see Genesis 3:1-15; Romans 3:9-23; 8:7-8.

[6] Calvin, Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists, 98-99.

[7] Ephesians 2:1-10.

[8] Luke 13:1-5; Acts 2:14-40; Romans 6; Galatians 5:16-26.

[9] Ephesians 1:7; Romans 8:1-2, 9; Ephesians 1:17; Galatians 4:4-11.

[10] Psalm 116; 1 John 1:9-2:2.

Purposeful Praise: Making Sense of Congregational Singing

What Child Is This: All Hail the … Baby?

It’s easy to forget just how incongruous Christ’s birth must have seemed at the time. The long-awaited Messiah, the son of David, the king with angel heralds—introduced as a helpless infant sleeping in a feeding trough! And of course that incongruity pales in comparison to the paradox that this human child was God himself.

The question-and-answer format used in “What Child Is This” serves to revive our sense of awe and wonder at Jesus’s identity. Each verse juxtaposes signs of Christ’s majesty with signs of his humble position. I’d like to focus on the carol’s second verse, which is packed with meaning.

Why lies he in such mean estate, where ox and ass are feeding?

Mean estate means a humble, lowly, or impoverished condition. This phrase brings to mind Mary’s hymn of praise (the Magnificat), in which she glorifies God for singling her out for blessing: “he has looked on the humble estate of his servant” (Luke 1:48). It also brings to mind Paul’s meditation on Christ’s humility: Jesus, “though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” (Phil. 2:6–7). (More on this later.)

Good Christian, fear; for sinners here the silent Word is pleading.

In normal syntax, this sentence might run something like this: “Fear, Good Christian, because the silent Word is pleading for sinners!” The Word refers to Christ, identified as the “ultimate truth” sought by Greek philosophers—though they conceived of the Word as an impersonal force. In his very personal role as the mediator between God and his people, Christ pleads our case before God’s judgment seat (Rom. 8:34). And what does Jesus plead? He pleads for God to show us mercy because he (Jesus) has satisfied God’s law on our behalf. This is why, even as a speechless baby, the then-silent Word was pleading for sinners by his righteous life.

Christ’s accomplishment should inspire fear, in the sense of reverential awe of God.

Nails, spear, shall pierce him through; the cross be borne for me, for you …

Going back to Philippians 2, “And being found in human form, [Christ] humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (v. 8). Becoming human wasn’t enough, becoming a helpless baby wasn’t enough, even becoming a poverty-stricken, homeless baby wasn’t enough. Jesus came to endure the most shameful death imaginable.

And now we come to the answer to the question posed in the first line of this verse: the reason for Christ’s “mean estate,” the explanation for the incongruity of God the Word as a human baby destined to be crucified, is that he bore all these things out of love “for me, for you.”

Hail, hail the Word made flesh, the babe, the son of Mary.

Our response is decreed by Philippians 2: “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (v. 9–11). In the last line of the carol’s second verse, as in the last lines of the other two verses, we urge creation to join this chorus.

This blog was written by Corrie Schwab

Treasuring God's Truth in Your Hearts

Matthew 1:20-21: Not Heartbreak But Heart Rescue

Matthew 1:20-21: But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”[1]

Joseph was likely heartbroken: the woman he loved was pregnant and the baby was not his. Matthew 1:19 helps us see Joseph’s struggle as he wants to protect Mary and honor God’s design for marriage. [2] The angel’s message would have been a huge comfort to Joseph because he could still marry his love. [3] But Joseph’s marital bliss would take second fiddle in the orchestra of God’s redemption: this unexpected pregnancy would result in the Trinity’s people being saved. Bible scholar William Hendriksen teaches, “To be saved means a. to be emancipated from the greatest evil: the guilt, pollution, power, and punishment of sin; and b. to be placed in possession of the greatest good.” [4]

The good news that Joseph received is good news for all who believe in Christ. If Jesus is your exclusive means of salvation and forgiveness from sin you are liberated from the greatest evil and own the greatest good. You no longer need to live in guilt nor sin’s control. [5] You have everything you need to live as God has called you to live. [6] If Jesus is not your only Redeemer, then you lack the greatest good and are still enslaved to sin. [7] When people who say they believe in Jesus walk unrepentant in sin, they are returning to the slavery from which God freed them. [8] We all must pray to the Spirit of Christ, asking for help so that we can be rescued from sin’s heartbreak to have Christ’s heart rescue—either for the first time for salvation, or as sinning saints fleeing their former master.

This blog was written by Seth Dunn

[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Logos Bible Software 7. All Scripture references will be ESV unless noted otherwise.

[2] William Hendriksen. Exposition of the Gospel According to Matthew. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1987), 130.

[3] Hendriksen, Matthew, 131.

[4] Hendriksen, Matthew, 133.

[5] Romans 6:1-4.

[6] 2 Peter 1:3.

[7] Romans 3:9-23; 8:5-8.

[8] Romans 6:15-23; Galatians 5:1-6.