The Worship of the Redeemed

‘They fell down and worshipped God that sitteth on the throne, saying, Amen; Hallelujah.’ — Rev.xix. 4 (R.V.).

‘jZJMEN; hallelujah, These are not the empty words of an idle song. They are the expressions of dispositions, not of the transient day, but of the endless life. In those two days, if only we look at them aright, we may see the two great features of the heavenly life, the life that is lived in the immediate presence of God. ‘Amen,’ a note of resignation and submission, not sung with reluctance, but with a glad and eager consent. To all the revelations of God’s will the angels send the response, ‘Amen ‘; ‘Hallelujah,’ the note of praise. The angels obey, but not sullenly: they submit, but cheerily. They love and praise; they serve and sing. God’s love shines upon them as the sunlight falls upon our busy birds in spring, and like the birds

they cannot help but sing. They bow to the Lord’s will in ‘Amen, They sing to the Lord’s praise in ‘Hallelujah, The two together make the unbroken harmony of the eternal song.

Now, need we wait for the great unveiling before we learn the song? This heavenly harmony may be in our lives even while we walk the ways of earth. To the cry of ‘Amen, * So be it, ‘Thy will be done, the angels kneel and lay their crowns at the King’s feet. They kneel there, not as monarchs, but as subjects, listening for the King’s will, in order that, as deputy kings, they may hasten away to perform it. May we not, even now, adopt the angels’ posture and the angels’ speech? We are too prone to stand in stiff rebelliousness when we ought to bow in resignation and submission. We keep our crowns upon our brows, as kings and queens whose rights and dignities we jealously guard against infringement, when our truest nobility would be gained in laying our crowns at the feet of our God. What crowns have we? We have the crown of thought and the crown of will, the power to think and the power to rule; but these powers only attain their highest efficiency and glory when they are constrained into obedience to the all-loving King by whom

they were created. We must ‘bring every thought into captivity to Christ.’ Our thought must be ‘Amen’ to the Master’s. ‘We have the mind of Christ.’ Our will must be ‘Ame :i ’ to the Master’s. ‘Not my will, but Thine, be done, How is it with us? Are we in mutiny? When the angels look upon us, do they tremblingly whisper, ‘A child of rebellion, or do they gratefully proclaim, ‘A child of obedience ‘? Is our life a c will not,’ or does there rise from it a strain ’ like the sound of a great “Amen” ‘?

But to ‘Amen, the note of submission, the angels join ‘Hallelujah,’ the note of gratitude and praise. It is a beautiful companionship. One would be very incomplete without the other. Praise is very comely; it is a most gracious thing. The prophet Isaiah speaks of it as ’ the garment of praise, a lovely and exquisite robe which both warms and adorns the soul. Many of the loveliest psalms begin with a trumpet-blast like the clarion call of a herald, ‘Praise ye the Lord 1 ‘And now this Book of Revelation assures us that praise constitutes one of the great notes of the heavenly life that is lived in the radiant presence of our God.

Why do they sing ‘Hallelujah ’ in glory? Why do they wear the ’ garment of praise ’ in

the city of God? Here is the reason, given to us by the apostle-seer, ‘Hallelujah, for * the Lord God omnipotent reigneth, That is the faith that calls forth the jubilant ‘Hallelujah, ‘The Lord God omnipotent reigneth.’ Cannot we let that faith shape the strains of our pilgrimage through time?

I sometimes hear men of little faith and wavering hearts moan, in their despondency,

I I don’t know what things are coming to.’ They have temporarily lost the vision of their Lord. ‘I don’t know what things are coming to, The angels do; and why? Because they keep their eyes fixed upon the King who wields the sceptre, and, gazing there, they have the assurance which enables them to sing with confident lips, ‘Hallelujah,

or the Lord God omnipotent reigneth, There is much round about us that is stormy and bodeful. There is much in our nation to dishearten and perplex. ‘The whole creation travaileth and groaneth in pain, Society is tossed in fevers and convulsion. Homes are smitten with sorrow and death. But that is not all. If that were all, the note of hallelujah would be smothered and choked in the sobs of despair. Lift up your eyes to the hills! ‘The Lord reigneth, No force in the universe is chaotic

or erratic, moving without purpose and aim Social convulsion is not an accident. Sorrow is not an accident. Pain is not an accident. Death is not an accident. The sceptre is in the hand of the Almighty, and these fearful ministries are working out His bidding. ‘The Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Hallelujah!’ It is out of that faith that songs are born; aye, even ‘songs in the night’