Devotions from Matt Redman – 10,000 ReasonsSample

Endless Hallelujah

“No more tears, no more shame; no more sin and sorrow ever known again.”

I love old hymns, and in fact love to collect hymnbooks- the older and more tattered, the better! One of the most bizarre hymns I’ve come across so far is a hymn about death by Charles Wesley. At first glance, it’s a slightly morbid theme, and yet the perspective of this hymn is strangely inspiring. As he writes the hymn he’s standing over the coffin of his dead friend- and here are the words that start to form:

“O, lovely appearance of death, what sight upon earth is so fair?”

Of course at this point we are all a little bit worried. It’s a strange way to start a song, particularly a song for Christian worship. But as Wesley continues, the hymn starts to make it quite clear where he’s heading. He starts to talk about how his friend will never sin or be tempted again. And he sings of how he will no longer face affliction of any kind, or walk through another single day of suffering or sorrow. So what begins as a seemingly morbid theme soon becomes a song of unending freedom- pointing us towards the hope of a perfect eternity with Jesus. The penultimate chapter in the Bible tells it loud and clear”

“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:3,4)

We will be eternally alive, forever joining in the anthem of God. We will sing an endless hallelujah- a heavenly tribute of thanks praise to the One true God. Sing it to Jesus today. Continue tomorrow. And then sing it out forevermore.