The Origin of Song

By David Hall

True song is far more that a set of pleasant sounds and lyrics.  Where did it begin?  What is the essence of song? 

In its original form, song is the expression of the life and being of God Himself.  Both Moses and Isaiah sang, ‘The LORD is my strength and song’. 1

Song was not invented by man for its origin goes way back beyond the dawn of time and creation. It is clear from the scriptures that God Himself sings.  The prophet Zephaniah wrote,  ‘The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing’. 2

Before Time Began

The first song rang out joyfully within the fellowship of the Trinity when They initiated the first step of Their divine plan to create mankind.  Let us explain.

The Trinity is a fellowship of three Persons within one Godhead.  To establish the ‘beginning’ that led to creation, each One in the Trinity gave Himself to His particular part within Their scheme.  God the Father offered Himself to become the Father of all.  The Holy Spirit offered Himself to be the servant of both Father and Son, constraining (or ‘sanctifying’) each part of the coming creation to the confines appointed to it.  God the Son, Who was co-equal with the other members of the Godhead at that point, gave Himself to become the Son of the Father.  For this to happen, He emptied Himself of His glory in order to be brought forth in the Father’s bosom as the begotten Son of God. 3

It is clear then that the master plan for creation began in an offering – the offering of each One in the Trinity.  It is also true that the Son of God became the complete expression and manifestation of all the offering of God.  He was called the ‘Lamb of God’ who was fore-ordained and slain ‘before the foundation of the world’. 4

The Song of Offering

At this point a song resounded among the Godhead.   It was the song of the offering that had just been made.  How do we know this? - by looking at the order of music that King David established in the temple.  David’s order gives us a clear indication, because it was taken from what David saw in heaven. 5

David appointed permanent singers and musicians in the Tabernacle and Temple whose task it was to sing and play over every burnt offering that was presented.  The Bible records that ‘when the burnt offering began, the song of the LORD also began, with the trumpets and with the instruments of David, king of Israel.  So all the assembly worshiped, the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded; all this continued until the burnt offering was finished.’  Notice this important point – as long as there was an offering on the altar there was a song resounding over it.  This was the heavenly pattern, and is what first occurred before time began. 6

The song that rang out over the offering in the Godhead was the first expression of the ‘song of the Lamb’.  It could also be called ‘the song of redemption’. 7  Ultimately, everyone who is redeemed by the blood of the Lamb will sing this song because they will be joined to His offering.  That is why the psalmist declared, ‘my lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing to You, and my soul, which You have redeemed’. 8

The Song of Life Brought Forth

The song of the offering of the Lamb celebrated the new life His offering had brought forth.  When God the Son offered Himself to be the begotten Son of the Father, He became the one ‘seed’ of God, and in Him every future son of God was created in seed form. 9  The apostle Paul said, ‘we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus’.  He also said that we were chosen ‘in Him before the foundation of the world’. 10  In other words, His offering brought us forth too, so that we also were the substance of that song.

The New Song

The song that flows from the offering of the Godhead is also what the Bible describes as the ‘new song’.  We see this in the book of Revelation where they sing a ‘new song’ before the throne of the Lamb, extolling His offering and the redemption it provided.  When we join the offering of the Son of God, giving ourselves to Him in relationship and service, then we can also sing the song of offering, the song of redemption, the new song which is also the song of the Lamb. 11  Our lives become part of His song, because we participate in His life.

Now when we open our mouths in physical song, there is substance in it.  We are not simply making pleasant vibrations in the air with lyrics saturated with emotive concepts.  Rather, we are expressing the reality of the life we share with the Son of God.

The musical, ‘Heart of the Father’ is an example of such song.

1  Exo 15:2;  Isa 12:2.
2  Zep 3:17
3  Psa 2:7; Phil 2:6-8; John 1:18. 
4  1 Pet 1:19,20; Rev 13:8.
5  1 Chr 28:12-13.
6  2 Chr 29:27-28; 1 Chr 16:4; 2 Chr 23:18. 
7  The biblical term ‘redemption’ refers to the price paid to place us in God’s family as sons of God, participating in the inheritance of the Son of God, Who is also the Lamb of God.
8  Psa 71:23;  Rev 5:9;  15:3;  Isa 44:23.
9   Gal 3:16
10   Eph 2:10;  1:4.  Rev 13:8;  Psa 139:14-17. 
11   Rev 5:9;  Psa 33:3;   40:2;  149:1.