The Song of a New Heart (5)

In that day I will sing unto Thee.” There are many lyrics in the world. They convey only one message: let us sing; today we live, tomorrow we die. Yes, that is truth, tomorrow we die, and when we only have the song of the world in our heart then in dying that will stop. Often it becomes a groan, and when we pass into eternity it becomes a cry of anguish. Think of the rich man in hell… There are also many religious songs; we sing them in church. These good words convey the message of eternal life, but are they sung without a new heart? Then also they will one day stop, and in our dying they will become a testimony against us. The Lord will say, “Why were you always satisfied to sing those words without a new heart?” “

“Cry out and shout.” Why does the prophet have a longing desire to cry out and shout? He may remember how the anger of the Holy One was like a burning fire in his heart. He may remember the time that he stood before the breach between God and his soul. There he saw only a righteous, holy God, and a sinking away sinner. He may remember how for the first time those spiritual eyes were opened, and through the lattice of God’s Word he saw a way opened for a sinner to be saved. Yes, for the first time he heard the Song of a New Heart. I will praise thee, I will praise the Lord. Thou wast angry with me. Oh, what a wonder—the anger of the Lord is turned away. How?

“Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion.” Then, when those burning eyes rest upon that Saviour, they know how He is ever at the right hand of the Holy Father. There He pleads the cause of His Zion. There He ever points to that sacrifice which flowed out of those five wounds upon Golgotha. Truly, Zion is bought with such a precious price.

Here below, God’s people are but travelers through the wilderness. Again and again, a faithful Saviour gives them to experience the storms upon the way, times when it all becomes dark, and in those dark nights all they see is the anger of a just and righteous God. They dare not believe that His anger was ever taken away; they see the breach, but they cannot see the Saviour. Then the devil has an easy way with them, and they wander on a dark journey until it pleases the Lord to again open those poor, burning eyes, and they again see Him, the Redeemer, the Deliverer of Zion.

They long to cry out as one of the inhabitants of Zion, “Great is the Holy One of Israel.” Oh, what a wonder when those poor eyes again see Him at the right hand of the Father. Yes, only because of Him is there a Zion. In self they are deeply sunken sinners, dead in sins and trespasses, but in Him they are the Zion of God. Through Him they want to cry out that He is the Holy One. Here below they may know that at times, but hereafter, when through that Saviour they come home, they will be with Him forever, never to miss Him anymore. There they will always cry out, “How great Thou art, the Holy One of Israel.”

What a wonder that will be, dear friend, when one day we may belong to Zion—when Zion will be in heaven, clothed upon with white robes, robes made white in the blood of our Saviour. There Zion may sing forever about the great love that sought and saved such a wretch. I know that here below, upon this wilderness journey, the Zion of the Holy One often walk with fear and darkness. Then they have no more than a whisper. Oh, Lord, I dare not sing; I dare not praise; I dare not shout. I am afraid that the Song of a New Heart cannot become my song.

All of Zion as they journey here below can only sing when the Holy Spirit makes known the words and melody in their heart. The wonder is that, at the right hand of the Father, the Holy One has never sent any of those crying beggars away. Time and again, He calls unto them, “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Is there anywhere else you can hang your wretched condition? Anywhere else you can hang your lost self? Your sinful self? There is nowhere else, but by the grace of God, you may entrust all your impossibilities to that precious Saviour and His finished work. Then, there comes a time when you begin to learn the Song of a New Heart. There, all the praise and all the love is for the Holy One of Israel. “For great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.”

(This installment marks the end of this series.)

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