• 0. Jerdan. * D. Dariea.
396 THE GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE
Up the dark, starry skies Kolled the deep harmonies; Angels, who heard the strain, How ran the high refrain?
How rose the holy song? Triumphant, clear, and strong As a glad bird uplift Over the wild sea-drift? Or was its liquid flow Eeluctant, sad, and slow, Presage and prophecy Of lone Gethsemane?
Was it a lofty psalm. Foretelling crown and palm? Soared it to heights of prayer On the still, vibrant air? When the last feast was spread, And the last words were said, Sang the Lord Christ the hymn In the old chamber dim?^
II.
The Occasion of the Hymn.
It is a striking fact that here and in the parallel passage in the Gospel according to St. Matthew we have the only recorded iTistance of Christ and His disciples singing. It is extremely probable that they sang on many occasions ; but it is specially recorded now because of its exceptional significance.
1. We are apt to marvel, indeed, that the Eedeemer was able to sing at all at such a time. He has bidden His sorrowful disciples farewell, and uttered the words — "Arise, let us go hence." He and they sing the Hallel immediately after they have risen from the table, but before they go out into the night. Jesus is on His way to Gethsemane, and Gabbatha, and Golgotha. He is about to be betrayed by Judas and condemned by Pilate. He has immediately before Him His agony and bloody sweat. His cross and Passion, His physical anguish and desolation of soul upon the accursed tree. He is the "Man of Sorrows,"
1 Julia 0. E. Dorr.
ST. MARK 397
about to be " wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities " ; and yet on the way to His doom He " sings a hymn " ! This fact shows us how pure His faith was, and how unflinching His courage. It proves to us how whole-hearted He was in His work, and how absolute was His devotion to His Father's will. He has been saying for some time past, " For this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name."
•[[ It is a singular incident in the life of the God-fearing Jehoshaphat, that he (2 Chron. xx. 21), before the commencement of a decisive engagement, placed a band of singers at the head of his army, that they might "praise the beauty of holiness," and go forth to fight as to a festival ; but what was this contest compared with that which awaited the Saviour? Yet He too goes forth to meet the insolent foe with the hymn of praise upon His lips ; and when the hymn was ended. He calmly steps across the threshold which divides the hall from the street, security from danger, life from death.^
2. What did the singing of the hymn signify ?
(1) It meant tTie fulfilment of the Law. — Because it was the settled custom in Israel to recite or sing these Psalms, our Lord Jesus Christ did the same ; for He would leave nothing unfinished. Just as, when He went down into the waters of baptism, He said, " Thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness," so He seemed to say, when sitting at the table, "Thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness ; therefore let us sing unto the Lord, as God's people in past ages have done."
(2) It m^ant surrender to the Father's Will. — If you knew that at — say ten o'clock to-night — you would be led away to be mocked, and despised, and scourged, and that to-morrow's sun would see you falsely accused, hanging, a convicted criminal, to die upon a cross, do you think that you could sing to-night, after your last meal ? I am sure you could not, unless with more than earth-born courage and resignation your soul could say, "Bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar." You would sing if your spirit were like the Saviour's spirit ; if, like Him, you could exclaim, " Not as I will, but as thou wilt"; but if there should remain in you any selfishness, any desire to be spared the bitterness of death, you would not be able to chant the Hallel with the Master.
^ J. J. TRn Oostarsee.
398 THE GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE
Blessed Jesus, how wholly wert Thou given up ! how perfectly consecrated ! so that, whereas other men sing when they are marching to their joys, Thou didst sing on the way to death ; whereas other men lift up their cheerful voices when honour awaits them, Thou hadst a brave and holy sonnet on Thy lips when shame, and spitting, and death were to be Thy portion.
•[I Thus the first thing Jesus did was to set His great sorrow and Passion to music. Burdened, as the world's Saviour, with the weight of the world's sin, He nevertheless made all His sorrow and even His agony harmonious. We have read in the Psalms about singing the statutes of the Lord in the days of our pilgrimage. That is the highest spiritual attainment when we not merely obey God but make obedience musical, when we get praise out of our very service and suffering for God's sake. It is there that the Saviour, as in so many other instances, has become our great example,^