JOwen
Puritan Board Junior
Tuning the Soul
"And no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth." Revelation 14:3
JERROLD LEWISMAY 2, 2023
Some songs are only learned by trial. No director can teach them. No composer can hum a few bars. This is because the tune is in the soul. It’s an experiential song about personal redemption. The Apostle John says here that in heaven, there is a psalter only sung by the sons of men—to the tune 'Redemption.' It's a complicatedly beautiful song. Without a doubt, it is a song of triumph. A psalm of victory in Christ who has made the soul free indeed! (Jon. 8:36) But this sense of triumph must come at a cost. This jubilant melody must arise from somewhere, some event, right? How are voices raised so high in heaven unless somehow touched by memory? Somehow, there must be the sanctified memory of sin in that tearless, painless place. No? Because no angel, no archangel, knows this tune. There would be no treble of joy in their upper range, no base of relief in their lower. In heaven, none sing so sweetly as the redeemed soul. To sing this song requires the misery of sin, the inexplicable wonder of personal redemption, and praise to God for such deliverance from bondage. None can learn this song but the children of the cross.
Dear soul, have you received this divine music lesson? Do you know true soul music? Are you being instructed in the minor chords of sin and misery and the major chords of redemption, love, and obedience? If so, there's a part in that heavenly choir that no one can sing but you. These notes are too low for the angels, too high for the seraphs, but wonderfully fit for a poor sinner redeemed. Is the Holy Spirit training you for a song angels cannot sing? Perhaps you’re learning new bars of that tune even now.
Some say God sends sorrow to test the heart. But I wonder if He doesn’t send them to train the voice. To train the soul for the choir triumphant.
If you are His, then He is writing your song in your darkest hours. In the valley, He is tuning your voice. In the night, He is warming your chords. In the storm, He is enriching your harmony. In the rain, He is sweetening your melody. In the cold, He is writing your lyrics.
Don't despise the many Divine music lessons of life, dear soul. It will give you a unique part in the new song of heaven.
