April 9

God’s servants are joyful

“My servants shall sing for joy of heart” (Isa. 65:14).
“Shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God” (Luke 8:1).

Comes there to me an embassy from a royal house in sackcloth, and smeared with dust, to represent a great king? He must account for it that he fell among robbers, and that he had a hard fight, and then show his vouchers, and I will believe that he is an ambassador. Ordinarily a king’s servants represent a king by their demeanor, by their beauty of apparel, and by the abundance of the treasures they bring. What do you represent? What do people think of Christ’s care of His family when they see you, querulous, anxious, sleepless, nerveless? You, without the quiver of a song; you, without one sparkle of effervescence; you, with the smoke of a wick just as it is expiring and extinguished, but not with the brightness of it—what is to be the thought of Christianity when men see you?
—Henry Ward Beecher.

Yes, they had been with Him, and others knew,
Some inner radiance made their faces shine;
The glory of the sacred Upper Room
Illumined them with holy light divine.

I wonder if the people know today
That we, too, have sweet fellowship with Him!
Do we reflect the brightness of His love?
Or has that glory, with the years, grown dim?
—Alice E. Sherwood.

One of the first things the devil touches is a man’s song. Test this! Why does the devil touch the song? Why does he hate praise? Because he is fallen from the heavenly choir himself. See Ezek. 28:12-19. “Thy tabrets . . . thy pipes” speak of the excellent position he held as Choirmaster of Heaven! So having lost his position, he now hates praise and song.
Singing brings the spirit up into liberty. We are no good for the fighting till we know something of this freedom inside. Therefore, get back the song.
—John Harrison.

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