In the book of Revelation, we read that, “Day and night [the living creatures of heaven] never cease to say, ‘Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!'” From our point of view, the thought of singing the same refrain over and over again, even for just ten minutes, would be almost unbearable. But eternity?! How do the creatures of heaven–how will we–keep from growing bored, disinterested, and exhausted by that phrase?
We will never grow tired of singing, “Holy, holy, holy,” because we will never stop discovering new reasons why He is exceedingly worthy of those words.
There have been times when I have said, “I love you” to my wife, but the extent of the sentiment more-or-less stopped there, as a statement of fact. I know I love her, I affirmed that out loud, and that was that. But other times those words have come more consciously from a deep well of meaning related to our many years of marriage, and all the experiences that have forged that love. The further I dig into the memories that have made us who we are, the more tearful, ecstatic, and genuine the words, “I love you” will be.
A similar dynamic is at work when we sing to the Lord together on Sundays. It can be difficult to connect every lyric with a meaningful heart-conviction. That requires focus and prayerful meditation. And it can be particularly difficult when there is heavy repetition.
I imagine that if we were to sing to Jesus, seeing Him face-to-face, the problem of our intellect keeping up with the repetition of words would cease to be an issue. Pick a repetitive song and try it on, for practice. For example: “Waymaker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness, my God, that is who you are. That is who you are. That is who you are. That is who you are. That is who you are…”
While I am singing those words to God, I am actively searching my heart and life for reasons why they are true. Is there more than one, or two, or eleven times you can remember when God has proven Himself to be a waymaker in your life? A miracle worker? Has He only kept one promise, or countless thousands? How is He the light in your darkness? “All of this and infinitely more, God, that is who you are. It’s more than just what you do… that is who you are! You’re not some cheap genie who has rescued me once; you deliver me over and over and over again! Why? Because THAT is who you are! Not only in the past, but in the present too… waymaker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness… in my present and future pains… That is who you are. And you will never change!”
Do you see how the words gain meaning with time and repetition? Try to think along those lines during the songs we sing this Sunday. Especially when things begin to feel repetitive. If you search your heart and lean into those moments, you may just find that the words exceed the intellect and begin to take on entirely new (and virtually inexhaustible) dimensions of meaning.
Your brother,
Ryan