“Great is the Lord, and greatly to
be praised in the City of our God, even upon His holy Mountain. Mount Zion...is
the joy of the whole earth, and the City of the great king. In the palaces
thereof God is known for a refuge. For lo, the kings were gathered, and went together.
When they saw it, they marveled: they were...suddenly driven back. As we have heard,
so have we seen in the City of the Lord of hosts, in the city of
our God: God will establish it forever...we wait for Thy loving-kindness, O
God, in the midst of Thy Temple. O God, according to thy Name, so is Thy praise
unto the world’s end: Thy right hand is full of righteousness. Let mount Zion rejoice, and the daughters of Judah be glad,
because of Thy judgments. Compass about Zion,
and go round about it, and tell the towers thereof. Mark well the wall thereof:
behold her towers, that ye may tell your posterity. For this God is our God
forever and ever, He shall be our guide unto the death” (Psalm 48, Geneva
Bible).
Alright, I suspect I’ll annoy folks
on a few sides of this issue, but let me say: I’ve always thought our sisters
in Christ make potentially great worship leaders. However, in light of the Scriptures,
I wonder if the model for the sister-in-Christ-as-worship-leader should be the
contemporary emoting dramatist or Tolkien’s Éowyn, shieldmaiden of Rohan.
- “And Miriam the Prophetess, sister
of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women came out after her with
timbrels and dances [cf. Psalm 81:2; 149:3; 150:4]. And Miriam answered the
men, ‘Sing ye unto the Lord: for He hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and
his rider hath He overthrown in the sea’” (Exodus 15:20,21).
- “When they came again, and David
returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, the women came out of all cities
of Israel
singing and dancing to meet king Saul, with timbrels, with instruments of joy,
and with rebecks. And the women sang by course in their play, and said, ‘Saul
hath slain his thousand, and David his ten thousand’” (1 Samuel 18:6,7,).
- “The Lord gave matter to the women
to tell of the great army. ‘Kings of the armies did flee: they did flee, and she
that remained in the house, divided the spoil’” (Psalm 68:11,12).
The context of the sisters’ song:
God’s saving victory over His and His people’s enemies.
From the Baptist Catechism: Q30.
How does Christ perform the office of a king? A. Christ performs the office of
a king, in subduing us to Himself, in ruling and defending us, and in restraining
and conquering all His and our enemies.
Consider
this, sisters, and lead us by proclaiming the victory of the King of kings and
Lord of lords.
Back to
Psalm 48.
- Commission
to the daughters of Zion: “Let mount Zion rejoice, and the
daughters of Judah
be glad, because of Thy judgments.”
- The dance of the daughters of Zion: “Compass about Zion,
and go round about it, and tell the
towers thereof. Mark well the wall thereof: behold her towers, that ye may tell
your posterity.”
- The song of the daughters of Zion: “For this God is
our God forever and ever, He shall be our guide unto the death.”
No introspective pathos/schmaltz
here. They sing of the victory and might of God in the midst of and on behalf
of His people. Sing and dance among the battlements, shieldmaidens of Zion.
