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Psalm 107:22
We saw in the sermon that song accompanies the ascension offering in the worship of the tabernacle. A sacrifice of praise is a means of ascent to God, calling on Him to draw near in glory and responding to His glory as He draws near. Through song, our worship becomes a point of intersection of heaven and earth.
But in Scripture, music is not only associated with the ascension, but with the peace offering and thank offering. Thank offerings are a type of peace offering, according to Leviticus 7, and the Psalms speak of praise being offered during the thank offering: “I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy,EDavid says, “I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to Yahweh.E “Let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving,EPsalm 107 says, “and tell of His works with joyful singing.E
This shows that we have biblical precedent for including music in our celebration of the Supper, but it also says something about the kind of music we should have. The meal we celebrate here is often called a “Eucharist,Ea word that simply means “thanksgiving.E In it, as Calvin emphasized, we not only receive Christ and His benefits, but we offer a “sacrifice of praise and thanks.E The tone, the atmosphere of this meal should be one of joy. And the music can bring that; we should sing at this table “until there is rejoicing.E
This is not the way the church has observed this meal. Too often, the meal has been more funeral than feast, more tomb than table. Habits formed over a millennium are hard to break, but we must begin. If you want a picture before you of the kind of atmosphere that should dominate this meal, don’t think of dark hushed cathedrals. Think of the mead hall. And eat and drink and rejoice.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Sunday, August 01, 2004 at 08:26 AM
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