Singing Men And Singing Women

Issues – May 2022 – Grace & Truth Magazine

Singing Men And Singing Women

Singers! Singing men and singing women. How we need them! Would to God we all might be such. Oh, that our singing be not simply a customary way to open and close meetings, or to change our position during meetings, but a joyful singing to the Lord from the heart and with volume.

In Scripture we can trace singing all the way back to the time when God brought Israel out of Egypt by His power. As soon as this redeemed people was brought across the Red Sea – when they had experienced full redemption – we find Moses leading Israel in singing (Ex. 15:1-18). All the people sang. And then Miriam led the women in singing the triumph of the LORD (vv.20-21). Pharaoh’s power had been broken, and the people were joyful now that they were redeemed.

Another Old Testament book in which we find singers having an unusually prominent place is the book of Nehemiah. In it and its companion book, Ezra, we see a recovery and have a little remnant of this nation before us. We often dwell on their feebleness and get occupied with the recorded ruin and the rubbish. Yet, we have some special mentions in these books about singing, which the Spirit of God has given for our encouragement.

1 Chronicles 25
Before looking at Nehemiah, let us note a few things in 1 Chronicles 25. We are deliberately passing over several references to singing earlier in this book, although they are precious, and are likewise passing over mentions of singing between Exodus 15 and the end of 2 Kings. In 1 Chronicles 25 we find that singers were appointed from among the Levites by “David the man of God” – Nehemiah 12:24 calls him by this title specifically in this connection.

We need to keep in mind an important difference between the books of Kings and Chronicles. Kings is occupied more with the day-to day details of history as man sees it. Chronicles, on the other hand, is arranged in a moral order, God focusing more on those things with which He is particularly concerned. Thus we have quite a few chapters in Chronicles about the arrangement of Israel’s worship; chapters we do not find in Kings.

First Chronicles 25, about the appointment of singers, is one of these. Verse 1 (NKJV) says, “Moreover David and the captains of the army separated for the service some of the sons of Asaph, of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should prophesy with harps, stringed instruments, and cymbals. And the number of the skilled men performing their service was …” (v.1). Note that they are called “skilled men.” Names are then mentioned, and we are told that they “prophesied according to the order of the king” (v.2). At the end of verse 3 these were “under the direction of their father Jeduthun, who prophesied with a harp to give thanks and to praise the LORD.”

The next man, Heman, had 14 sons – quite a family already, to say nothing of his three daughters – and he trained them in singing. We go on to read: “All these were under the direction of their father for the music in the house of the LORD, with cymbals, stringed instruments, and harps, for the service of the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman were under the authority of the king. So the number of them, with their brethren who were instructed in the songs of the LORD, all who were skillful, was two hundred and eighty-eight” (vv.6-7). We too need instruction in the songs of the Lord! The world has many songs, most of them quite shallow. The popular list constantly changes, for such songs fail to satisfy the heart. How wonderful, by contrast, are the songs of the Lord. We do well to be skillful in them.

“And they cast lots for their duty, the small as well as the great, the teacher with the student” (v. 8). In other areas it seemed experience counted much more, but in singing they just divided them all out, small and great, teacher and student. Singing is a joyful activity of the heart. Even the small, those who are learning, can participate in singing the praises of the Lord.

Nehemiah 7
In Nehemiah 7 we come to the time immediately after the Jews who returned from their captivity in Babylon had rebuilt the wall around Jerusalem. As soon as the wall was completed and the doors set up, gatekeepers, singers and Levites were appointed. How important faithfulness is in this connection.

But we have something else in this chapter: a review of those already mentioned in Ezra 2 who had returned earlier from captivity in Babylon. This list is like the other one, but repetition with God is neither accidental nor arbitrary. All these names are precious to the LORD; every detail is important to Him. When we come to chapters like these we should not quickly turn the page because the list of names looks too difficult and frightening to us. After all, we are very pleased and feel most thankful that God records our names in His book – that our names are precious to Him. The names listed in Nehemiah 7 are of people who in faithfulness to the LORD made the long, difficult journey to return to Jerusalem from Babylon, to rebuild the temple and ultimately the city. God honors them.

Among these we read of “the singers: the sons of Asaph, one hundred and forty-eight” (v.44). And the end of verse 67 says, “And they had two hundred and forty-five men and women singers.” Thus, of the nearly 50,000 people coming back after 70 years of captivity in Babylon, 148 were officially appointed singers, being descended from those appointed in David’s time (1 Chr. 25). Besides these there were those who were not singers by official appointment but who sang anyway: 245 singing men and singing women!

One can hardly imagine what that trek must have been like: almost 50,000 people – men and women, old and young – all crossing the desert, walking hundreds of miles from Babylon to Jerusalem, a most wearisome journey. Yet among them were some who repeatedly broke into song! Isn’t it a joy to think of them, of those 245 singing men and singing women?

Note with gladness that Scripture mentions both “singing men” and “singing women.” Those who officially served in the temple worship, who used the instruments and were appointed to this responsibility, were men. But God’s Word makes it abundantly plain that singing God’s praises is not to be confined to men. Nor is it simply to be relegated to a trained choir of musicians accompanied by skillfully played instruments.

And something else – we do well to note the feebleness and poverty that is so glaringly apparent in this list. What a contrast the singing men and singing women present to this. Notice the figures given us: a congregation of 42,360 plus 7,337 servants and 245 singing men and singing women. Even their animals are numbered, and how few there were of them: 736 horses among 50,000 people – we could never squeeze that many people into 736 cars today; and no horse, the animal used in warfare, carries as many people as a car can. Of mules, the royal animal, there were even less, only 245; there were just 435 camels, the burden bearers so well adapted for crossing the desert. As to donkeys, the commonplace burden bearers man in his natural uncleanness and rebelliousness is compared to from time to time, there were 6,720 – not quite one for every seven people.

It is thus obvious that these people walked this long way. Doubtless they had to carry most of their goods on their own backs. They were poor. This group of roughly 50,000 Jews had just over 8,100 assorted beasts of burden among them – less than one for every six people! We would find it most difficult to move that many people with all their belongings such a distance with the same number of cars today. Yet these people did not go back in a sad, depressed attitude. No, God notes for us that there were 245 singing men and singing women among them. May such be the case with us. We take note of weakness, of remnant conditions, of the day of ruin. Let us also take careful note that God values singing men and singing women at such a time.

Nehemiah 8–9
The word “singing” is not in these chapters, but we find rejoicing, gladness and the definite command to cease mourning and weeping. It is striking to see that as the Word is read, God’s character becomes known – as a loving and a giving God.

Reading further in the Word after the Feast of Trumpets, they found instructions for keeping the Feast of Tabernacles (consider Lev. 23:33-36; Num. 29:12-38; Dt. 16:13-15). The solemn fast day, the great Day of Atonement, that most somber day in the whole year for Israel, came first, but God does not at all bring this day to our attention in this portion. The Feast of Tabernacles was the most joyous feast of the year for Israel. It lasted eight days, coming after the harvest and the vintage were all over and climaxing the entire year. The people then could rest and rejoice in God’s goodness. It was a most joyous time, done unto the Lord and at His command.

As they read the Word, this is what they found that God wanted them to do. But more than this – in reading the Word they found how God wanted them to celebrate the feast. They realized that it had not been kept in this way for some 900 years, since the days of Joshua. But in seeking the old paths they did not go back 70, 100 or 200 years in their history or traditions; they didn’t even go back to the great days of David’s or Solomon’s time. In seeking out the old paths they went back all the way to what God had commanded in His Word. They were not satisfied until then.

In going back to the old paths we often do not go back far enough. We may go back to something we were accustomed to in our youth, to something we have heard from our parents’ youth, or to something even further back that we have read about. But we need to go back to the old paths taught in the Word of God. There and there alone do we find the true paths in which to walk. It is not a matter of what we did in 1940, 1900 or 1830. No. What does The Acts Of The Apostles tell us? What do the Epistles teach for God’s people? That is what is really vital. Going back to this in obedient simplicity, we will find true gladness that will cause our hearts to sing. It will bring us to confession, too – to confession and worship as in Nehemiah 9:3.

Nehemiah 11–12
In the later chapters of Nehemiah, interspersed among long lists of names we tend to pass over, we find some interesting details about the singers. Let’s take a closer look at some of these. In Nehemiah 11:22 we read: “Uzzi … of the sons of Asaph, the singers in charge of the service of the house of God.” Isn’t it lovely to think that the singers were “in charge of the service of the house of God”? Should this not give us some direction too?

Scripture presents the Assembly as the house of God on earth. Who are those who take the lead in the business matters of local assemblies today? Shouldn’t it be those who correspond to the singers, those who are really rejoicing in the Lord and giving expression to their joy? Sadly enough, it sometimes seems as though those who are toughest and longest-faced, and who can crack the whip hardest, are those who are doing so. How contrary such a state of things is to the spirit of this precious little verse! The next verse goes on to tell us, “For it was the king’s command concerning them that a certain portion should be for the singers, a quota day by day” (v.23).

We can be firmly assured that it is still the King’s command today, or more properly expressed, our God’s command that every need of those truly occupied with the praise of the Lord, those rejoicing in Him, be met. Do we not find Paul in this attitude of a singer as he wrote from his imprisonment to the Philippians? He told them that he had learned to be content in whatever circumstances he found himself, whether being abased or abounding (Phil. 4:11-12). The entire epistle is an expression of joy and of singing. “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, Rejoice!” (v.4). So sang out the apostle in strains that still stir our hearts more than 19 centuries later. In this epistle, too, Paul made mention of how he had, and how God had, appreciated the gift the Philippians had sent him by Epaphroditus. From this acknowledgment he went on to say, “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (v.19).

The needs of the singers, as recorded in Nehemiah, were taken care of by the king’s command. There was to be a portion for them, due every day. What more do we need? Is this not enough? The Lord taught His disciples to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread” (Mt. 6:11). As we daily sing the praise of the Lord, we need not be concerned about needs far away in the future; we can in all simplicity look to Him for the provision we need that day.

Another interesting point comes before us in Nehemiah 12:29, where we read: “For the singers had built themselves villages all around Jerusalem.” We have been reminded that Jerusalem in many respects depicts the local assembly. How lovely then to see that the singers, those most occupied with the Lord’s praise, lived as close to Jerusalem as they could. When things are right, those who are rejoicing in the Lord are very close to the assembly. The Word admonishes us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together. These singers did not only come to Jerusalem at set intervals, but they built themselves villages round about the city in every direction.

In Nehemiah 12, singing becomes a very great thing. But their singing is not a matter of unrestrained joy and enthusiasm without instruction, bounds or coordination. In verse 30 we read of purification, although interestingly enough we do not read specifically of singers having to be purified. In the following verses Nehemiah “appointed two large thanksgiving choirs” (v.31) to march in procession in opposite directions on the wall. Some of the priests’ sons blew on trumpets and others used the “musical instruments of David the man of God” (v.36). There was a going up – exaltation – at the Fountain Gate up the stairs of the City of David. The whole mood in this portion is one of up, up, up, until finally we read: “So the two thanksgiving choirs stood in the house of God, likewise I and half of the rulers with me; and the priests … with trumpets … The singers sang loudly with Jezrahiah the director. Also that day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and the children also rejoiced, so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard afar off” (vv.40-43).

How glorious a climax to the dedication of the wall! The singers sang. It was not just that the singers were present. No, there was more. Their hearts were in it, and their voices gave evidence of this: the singers sang loudly. They offered great sacrifices that day. They rejoiced – God had made them rejoice with great joy. And not merely the men – no, the women and the children rejoiced too. In a previous chapter the wives and the children had been listening together with the men to the Word of God (8:1-3); here they joined in the loud singing and rejoicing. In the New Testament, too, we find children praising the Lord Jesus and gladdening His heart thereby. When some wanted Him to stop them, He refused. Instead, He told them, “Have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise’?” (Mt. 21:16).

In the final verses of Nehemiah 12 we again see the old paths sought out. All Israel “gave the portions for the singers and the gatekeepers” daily (v.47). No doubt, in a practical sense this was the way the king’s command referred to in chapter 11 was carried out. They consecrated the holy things for the Levites, and the Levites in turn for the children of Aaron. Things are really in order – quite a contrast to the next chapter, where the portions of the Levites and the singers are not given them, so that these go back to their fields.

We have already noted the singers singing under direction. We are reminded that this was according to God’s pattern: “For in the days of David and Asaph of old there were chiefs of the singers, and songs of praise and thanksgiving to God” (12:46).

Habakkuk 3
As we think of the chief of the singers, we are reminded of the last few verses of the book of the prophet Habakkuk. Habakkuk wrote about very difficult days, ones most perplexing and confusing to him. He closed his short book with a prayer, concluding with the words: “Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls – yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, and He will make me walk on my high hills. To the Chief Musician. With my stringed instruments” (3:17-19).

Many of the psalms also are dedicated to the Chief Musician. Who is this Chief Musician other than the Lord Jesus Himself? In Hebrews 2:11-12 we read of Him: “For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying: ‘I will declare Your name to My brethren; in the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.’”

He sings praise in the midst of the assembly and declares God’s name to those whom He deigns to call His brethren. The implication that many godly men have drawn from these verses is that the Lord is leading our singing. As He sings praise in the midst of the assembly and declares God’s name to His brethren, we will all join in this praise, in this singing. It simply cannot help but have this effect.

And as we have noticed, He is the One to whom our songs are dedicated. He is the One to whom we can sing in a day of perplexity, in a day of confusion, in a day of discouragement. We can be reminded of all His past mercies and put our wholehearted trust in Him. So, with joy we too dedicate our song “To the Chief Musician. With my stringed instruments.”

By Eugene P. Vedder, Jr.