At prayer meeting on Wednesday, we song this amazing hymn by John Newton:
Now let us join with hearts and tongues,
To emulate the angels' songs;
For mortals may address their King
With songs that angels cannot sing!
Maybe I was zoning before, but it felt like something actually hit me when I sung that last phrase. We emulate the song of unfallen beings, who constantly praise the Savior and yet we sing "that angels cannot sing!" And what is this unique song we sing?
They praise the Lamb Who once was slain,
But we must praise in higher strain;
Not only sing, "He suffered thus,"
But, that He suffered all for us!
Jesus did not die for the angels. He did not humble himself; he did not undergo humiliation for those who had served him perfectly and sinlessly. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died for sinful humans. Spend one day with yourself, oh my soul, and then ask why the King of universe would do such a thing for you. Vile, wretched, self-consumed, and ugly. That is all I can of my own be, and yet God sent His Son because despite all of this, He loved us. Don't let the key chains and the posters and the other flimsy Christian paraphernalia cheapen this truth - Jesus loves us. "For I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present nor things to come nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Jesus, Who passed the angels by,
Assumed our flesh, to bleed and die;
And still He makes it His abode;
As man, He fills the throne of God.
I don't think about this enough. Jesus became man - yes, who could forget at this time of year? But He remains a man - even now in heaven. Wherever heaven is, there Jesus is in bodily form. He ascended into heaven, and there He sits. How glorious to have the same form as Jesus Christ has chosen to take. And as a man, He fills the throne of God, for He is God. The God-Man loved me; the God-Man died for me. How dare I ever feel lonely and unloved, when such a One died for me?
Our next of kin, our Brother now,
Is He to Whom the angels bow;
They join with us to praise His name,
But we the nearest interest claim.
Exactly! We were made a little lower than the angels and crowned with glory and honor, and yet BECAUSE OF our sin, God in His mercy has so joined Himself to us that we are now His brethren, His bride, His people - who have a nearer interest to Him than even the glorious angels do. Why is this not more a subject of our thoughts and conversations?
But O, how faint our praises rise!
This is the wonder of the skies,
That we, who share His richest love,
So cold and unconcerned should prove.
I am ashamed of how piercingly true this is. If this is the God I serve, then why so coldly and weakly? Why does my mind wander in worship? Why does my mind not constantly dwell at Christ's side? No wonder my coldness is the wonder of the skies. I have every reason to be on fire, and yet my warmest moment is but a flickering candle. But I bless God that although I am inconstant and wavering, His love is changeless and assured. How I long for heaven, for sinlessness, for constant, unimpeded communion with my Savior:
O glorious hour! it comes with speed,
When we from sin and darkness freed,
Shall see the God Who died for man,
And praise Him more than angels can.
