We’re revisiting the Home blog series this week after some time off. You can check out the first five posts, here, here, here, here, and here.
If you could stand outside the door of the new heavens and new earth—if you could stand outside God and his peoples’ home—what would you hear?
You may recall the last post in this blog series considered the joyful welcome that awaits those who come into their everlasting home in God’s presence. Some key verses for us were Zephaniah 3:17,
“The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.”
and Isaiah 51:11 (35:10),
“And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”
It is clear that God joyfully welcomes his people home and his people enter into that joyful homecoming with joy themselves. God’s joy produces and is his peoples’ joy. But notice how that joy manifests: singing.
God sings over his people, and his people enter into Zion with singing. In fact, singing is just a part of the joyful expression that marks our eternal home with God. What naturally goes with singing? Nothing better than music and dancing. Yes, your eternal home with God, who comes to make his home with you, will be a home of music, singing, and dancing.
One of the best characters of Scripture to consider to get an idea of God’s heart is David, the man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14). While not a perfect man, David joyfully delighted in and obeyed God. Furthermore, David as King and worship leader of God’s people offers us a type of or pointer to the greater David, King Jesus. When we look at David, we see something of Jesus. Thus if we want to know what home with God and Jesus his Son will be like for those who have been made like God and conformed to the image of his Son, we can look at David to learn a bit.
David was a man of music. When God sent a harmful spirit to torment Saul, it was David, full of the Holy Spirit, who was called upon to refresh Saul with his music (1 Samuel 16:23). David invented musical instruments for the sole purpose of praising God (1 Chronicles 23:4–5; 2 Chronicles 7:6). David sang to the LORD his thankfulness (2 Samuel 22:1) and wrote psalms for God’s people to sing to the LORD, thus earning the moniker “the sweet psalmist of Israel” (2 Samuel 23:1). David, the sweet psalmist, wrote Psalm 150,
“Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens! Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness! Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals! Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!”
So it’s no surprise when David envisioned and organized corporate worship for the temple he was drawing up plans for, he dedicated 4,000 people to be musicians—with all kinds of instruments he had invented, as well as lyres, harps, and cymbals—and singers (1 Chronicles 25:1, 5–8). And, when all of these finally played and sang to the Lord, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever” at the dedication of the temple under Solomon, God’s glory filled the house (2 Chronicles 5:7–14). God dwelled at home with and sat enthroned amidst the music played by and the praises sung by his people (Psalm 22:3).
If music and singing filled the home for the Old Covenant people of God who worshiped under a Davidic king who was a type and pointer to the true Davidic king, then it’s safe to assume that the New Covenant people of God who worship under the true Davidic king, Jesus, will also have a home filled with music and singing. Indeed, this is what we see in Scripture.
Jesus himself was a singer. He led his disciples in singing a hymn after instituting the new covenant meal at the last supper before going to the cross (Matthew 26:30; Mark 14:26). This singing of hymns was likely a regular occurrence. Jesus’ people have always been singers. Paul and Silas sang to God while imprisoned in Philippi (Acts 16:25). The early church penned hymns and songs to God like Philippians 2:6–11 and Colossians 1:15–20, that they likely sang on the regular. Paul exhorts the churches to “[address] one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart” (Ephesians 5:19) and to “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” (Colossians 3:16). And the glimpses of the heavens and the new heaven and new earth that we get from John’s revelation is filled with music and singing to God and the Lamb (Revelation 5:8–10; 14:1–3; 15:1–4). It is clear, God’s people are a people of music and singing and his home with his people is a place of music and singing. Music and singing belong to the church. They are hers. Home with God is, right now in Christ and his Church, and will be in the new heavens and new earth filled with music and singing.
But what about dancing?
Well, let’s go back to the man after God’s own heart, that charismatic figure and type of Christ: King David. Recall David’s royal response to seeing God come to dwell with his people again when they finally brought the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem,
“And David danced before the Lord with all his might. And David was wearing a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the horn” (2 Samuel 6:13–15).
David, the man after God’s own heart, arguably the type of all types of Christ in the OT danced before the Lord. God’s people and indeed God’s King will be people and will be a King of the dance. Recall one of the ways King David exhorted God’s people to praise God in Psalm 150—not just with music, not just with singing, but with dancing,
“Praise him with tambourine and dance…”
Elsewhere David writes,
“You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sack cloth and clothed me with gladness” (Psalm 30:11).
“Praise the Lord! Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of the godly! Let Israel be glad in his Maker; let the children of Zion rejoice in their King! Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with tambourine and lyre!” (Psalm 140:1–3).
Jeremiah also spoke of dancing when he prophesied of the new covenant days when God’s people, finally home with him again, would dance before him like David both did himself and exhorted the people to do,
“Again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin Israel! Again you shall adorn yourself with tambourines and shall go forth in the dance of the merrymakers” (Jeremiah 31:4).
“For the Lord has ransomed Jacob and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him. They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion, and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord, over the grain, the wine, and the oil, and over the young of the flock and the herd; their life shall be like a watered garden, and they shall languish no more. Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry” (Jeremiah 31:11–13).
God’s home, your home, will be a home filled with music, singing, and dancing. When you find yourself walking up to the home of God here on earth now in the people of God, the Church, and one day in the new heavens and new earth, don’t be surprised when you hear what the returned prodigal son’s wayward older brother heard,
“Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing” (Luke 15:25).
That is the sound of joy you are hearing. Your home with God here and now should be filled with music, singing, and dancing as it will certainly be in the new heavens and new earth. Don’t find yourself standing outside the door now as the older brother did. Now is the time to come on in to the house of your Father and your King, a home filled with music, singing, and dancing. Come on in that you may both find yourself at home with God now and home with God then. Come on in and join the joy.
