Week 8: Return

Songs of Praise

There is an old parable that I like to share from time to time. A man had three sons. He gave them each a dollar to earn their inheritance. He brought them into an empty room with only a table at the center. He asked each of them to fill the entire room using only the dollar he had given them.

The next day he returned with each of his boys to the room. He asked the oldest boy to go first. The boy, being strong and wise, reached into his pocket and pulled out a candle. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out one single match. He lit the candle and said,

“I have now filled the room with light. The candle and match only cost 75 cents, so here is your quarter.”

The father nodded and smiled.

The second boy, who loved being outside, reached into his pocket and pulled out a stem of fresh lilac from the florist. He said with a smile on his face,

“I have filled the room with the aroma of spring. It cost half a dollar, so I return to you 50 cents.”

The father nodded and smiled.

The third boy, small in stature and often forgotten, did not reach his hand into his pocket. Instead, he closed his eyes and reached his hand high. His voice quivered as he began to sing, “Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart…”

Tenderly, he carried the melody till his voice lifted loudly in the third verse when he dramatically finished,

“Riches I heed not, nor vain, empty praise,

Thou mine inheritance, now and always,

Thou and thou only first in my heart,

High King of Heaven, my treasure Thou art.”

The final note echoed inside the room as the boy turned towards his father. “I have filled the room with praises to my king. You can have back your dollar for no amount of money could ever pay for what those praises cost.”

The singing of God's people has been echoing through every hall, corridor, room, and catacomb where Christians have gathered for thousands of years. This praise cost Jesus his life and costs each of us our life as well. Those who have received the inheritance of God can’t help but lift songs of praise. Our singing in the present anticipates the final chorus of the returning king. As you will read today, the book of Revelation points to God’s throne room filled with songs of praise where Jesus waits and works for his return. Isaiah describes the final scenes of eternal salvation as lauded with Zion’s (the people of God) singing. Zephenaiah prophetically portrays the returning king as a Mighty Warrior who “will rejoice over you with singing.”

This week we focus on the return of Jesus. As we share the good news of Jesus, we testify that he will return. We are going to practice this return by singing praises to God. So the final practice for this study is simple. As the brother of Jesus, James, writes in his letter, “Is any happy? Let them sing songs of praise.”

Fill every room that you are a part of to the brim with songs of praise this week as we anticipate the return of Jesus, our Messiah!