I have been wanting to start a weekly series highlighting worship music and the powerful scriptural truths these songs convey. My plan is to have a Worship Wednesdays post up each Wednesday.

This weekend in Church a pair of beautiful lines in the song Who Else from Gateway Worship really captured my heart:

“There’s a song of praise that only I can bring”

“So I have songs of praise not even angels sing”

These lines express a beautiful truth reflected in the Book of Revelation.

John sees a chorus of heavenly worship before the throne of God. All creation joins in glorious songs of praise:

 “I heard every creature in heaven, on earth, under the earth, on the sea, and everything in them say,

Blessing and honor and glory and power
be to the one seated on the throne,
and to the Lamb, forever and ever!” (Revelation 5:13) (CSB)

The angels themselves join this worship:

“Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels around the throne, and also of the living creatures and of the elders. Their number was countless thousands, plus thousands of thousands. They said with a loud voice,

Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered
to receive power and riches
and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and blessing!” (Revelation 5:11-12) (CSB)

But John sees that the Christians who have been redeemed by Christ can sing a new song that even the angels cannot sing:

“And they sang a new song, saying:

You are worthy to take the scroll
    and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
    and with your blood you purchased for God
    persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.
You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
    and they will reign on the earth.” (Revelation 5:9-10) (NIV)

The redeemed can sing from experience with a richness that even the angels cannot match. The angels have seen God’s miraculous acts of redemption, but they have not personally experienced salvation through the blood of Christ. They can praise Christ as the spotless lamb and as the one seated on the throne. But they cannot sing as one of the redeemed.

This is why Peter says that the gospel is something which “angels desire to look into” 1 Peter 1:12

The angels behold the glory of God’s saving work, but they are observers of redemption rather than recipients of it.

The Bible makes clear that angels are not heirs of salvation in the same way that redeemed humanity is. God did not send Christ to redeem fallen angels, but fallen humanity: “For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants.” (Hebrews 2:16)

Those angels who sinned received justice and judgment rather than the grace and mercy shown to humanity. As Peter explains, “God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment.” (2 Peter 2:4) (NIV)

And so only redeemed humanity can sing the song of the redeemed. Only those who have been forgiven can sing with the full knowledge of what it means to be forgiven.

This is a beautiful reflection of the judgment and goodness of our God. He has redeemed us so that we can be living witnesses to his mercy and compassion. He redeemed us when we didn’t deserve mercy and when he could have justly cast us to hell like the angels.

He has given us a new song to sing — a song that only we can sing.

And we will never grow tired of singing that song of redemption and grace.