The last song Jesus sang
A Passover meal included the singing of the Hallel, which were Psalms 113-118. According to Passover tradition, participants sang Psalms 113-114 earlier in the meal, and they sang Psalms 115-118 after the meal ended.
This was the last night that Jesus would share with his disciples and friends before going to the Cross. Ahead of Him was the torturous agony of the Cross, the indignity and pain of the trial, and then not only the physical torment of crucifixion itself, but then the unthinkable burden of taking the sin of the world upon himself - a weight that no human mind can begin to imagine.
As we consider ‘His last song’, there are lessons we can learn from the way that Jesus approached suffering. And let’s remember, He walked through His pain not as ‘God with human skin on’, but as a man in the power of the Holy Spirit - the same Holy Spirit who is our helper.
In singing Psalm 113, Jesus celebrated the power of the God whose ‘glory reaches to the highest heavens’. The heavens were created through the word and work of the pre-existent Christ - in his gospel, John reminds us ‘All things were made through him. Nothing that has been made was made without him’ (Jn 1:3). But this mighty God intervenes - he ‘bends down to look’, he ‘raises’, he ‘lifts’, he ‘gives’. God is not far away, detached and distant, but is the One who has traveled the greatest distance in the cosmos, from the throne of heaven to the pain of human life on earth.
Psalm 113
Praise the Lord.
Praise him, you who serve the Lord.
Praise the name of the Lord.
Let us praise the name of the Lord,
both now and forever.
From the sunrise in the east to the sunset in the west,
may the name of the Lord be praised.
The Lord is honored over all of the nations.
His glory reaches to the highest heavens.
Who is like the Lord our God?
He sits on his throne in heaven.
He bends down to look
at the heavens and the earth.
He raises poor people up from the trash pile.
He lifts needy people out of the ashes.
He lets them sit with princes.
He lets them sit with the princes of their own people.
He gives children to the woman who doesn’t have any children.
He makes her a happy mother in her own home.
Praise the Lord.
As the Psalm ends with the examples of the poor being raised to be with princes, and the childless woman becoming a happy mother, perhaps we recall the virgin Mary’s song when she learned that she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit (Lk 1:46-55)
Mary said, “My soul gives glory to the Lord.
My spirit delights in God my Savior.
He has taken note of me,
even though I am not important.
From now on all people will call me blessed.
The Mighty One has done great things for me.
His name is holy.
He shows his mercy to those who have respect for him,
from parent to child down through the years.
He has done mighty things with his arm.
He has scattered those who are proud in their deepest thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones.
But he has lifted up people who are not important.
He has filled those who are hungry with good things.
But he has sent those who are rich away empty.
He has helped the people of Israel, who serve him.
He has always remembered to be kind
to Abraham and his children down through the years.
He has done it just as he said to our people of long ago.”
In Psalm 114, the wondrous work of God in the Passover is recalled - Jesus celebrates the impossible being possible as the Red Sea parts, and then in Psalm 115 the greatness of God is compared with the impotence of dead idols. He is trustworthy, the One who acts and blesses.
Psalm 114
The people of Israel came out of Egypt.
The people of Jacob left a land where a different language was spoken.
Then Judah became the holy place where God lived.
Israel became the land he ruled over.
The Red Sea saw him and parted.
The Jordan River stopped flowing.
The mountains leaped like rams.
The hills skipped like lambs.
Red Sea, why did you part?
Jordan River, why did you stop flowing?
Why did you mountains leap like rams?
Why did you hills skip like lambs?
Earth, tremble with fear when the Lord comes.
Tremble when the God of Jacob is near.
He turned the rock into a pool.
He turned the hard rock into springs of water.
Psalm 115
Lord, may glory be given to you, not to us.
You are loving and faithful.
Why do the nations ask,
“Where is their God?”
Our God is in heaven.
He does anything he wants to do.
But the statues of their gods are made out of silver and gold.
They are made by the hands of men.
They have mouths, but they can’t speak.
They have eyes, but they can’t see.
They have ears, but they can’t hear.
They have noses, but they can’t smell.
They have hands, but they can’t feel.
They have feet, but they can’t walk.
They have throats, but they can’t say anything.
Those who make statues of gods will be like them.
So will all those who trust in them.
People of Israel, trust in the Lord.
He helps you. He is like a shield that keeps you safe.
Priests of Aaron, trust in the Lord.
He helps you. He is like a shield that keeps you safe.
You who have respect for the Lord, trust in him.
He helps you. He is like a shield that keeps you safe.
The Lord remembers us and will bless us.
He will bless the people of Israel.
He will bless the priests of Aaron.
The Lord will bless those who have respect for him.
He will bless important and unimportant people alike.
May the Lord give you many children.
May he give them to you and to your children after you.
May the Lord bless you.
He is the Maker of heaven and earth.
The highest heavens belong to the Lord.
But he has given the earth to human beings.
Dead people don’t praise the Lord.
Those who lie quietly in the grave don’t praise him.
But we who are alive praise the Lord,
both now and forever.
Praise the Lord.
In Psalm 116 the reality of trouble and death is faced, but God is the One who rescues from death.
Psalm 116
I love the Lord, because he heard my voice.
He heard my cry for his favor.
Because he paid attention to me,
I will call out to him as long as I live.
The ropes of death were wrapped around me.
The horrors of the grave came over me.
I was overcome by trouble and sorrow.
Then I called out to the Lord.
I cried out, “Lord, save me!”
The Lord is holy and kind.
Our God is full of tender love.
The Lord takes care of those who are as helpless as children.
When I was in great need, he saved me.
I said to myself, “Be calm.
The Lord has been good to me.”
Lord, you have saved me from death.
You have dried the tears from my eyes.
You have kept me from tripping and falling.
So now I can enjoy life here with you while I’m still living.
I believed in you even when I said to myself,
“I’m in great pain.”
When I was terrified, I said to myself,
“No one tells the truth.”
The Lord has been so good to me!
How can I ever pay him back?
I will bring an offering of wine to the Lord
and thank him for saving me.
I will worship him.
In front of all of the Lord’s people,
I will do what I promised him.
The Lord pays special attention
when his faithful people die.
Lord, I serve you.
I serve you just as my mother did.
You have set me free from the chains of my suffering.
Lord, I will sacrifice a thank offering to you.
I will worship you.
In front of all of the Lord’s people,
I will do what I promised him.
I will keep my promise in the courtyards of the Lord’s temple.
I will keep my promise in Jerusalem itself.
Praise the Lord.
In Psalm 117-118, the final words of the hallel repeat the refrain over and over: ‘His faithful love continues forever’. Poignantly, Jesus sings; I will not die but live’ - resurrection was to come!
Psalm 117
All you nations, praise the Lord.
All you people on earth, praise him.
Great is his love for us.
The Lord is faithful forever.
Praise the Lord.
Psalm 118
Give thanks to the Lord, because he is good.
His faithful love continues forever.
Let the people of Israel say,
“His faithful love continues forever.”
Let the priests of Aaron say,
“His faithful love continues forever.”
Let those who have respect for the Lord say,
“His faithful love continues forever.”
When I was in great pain, I cried out to the Lord.
He answered me and set me free.
The Lord is with me. I will not be afraid.
What can mere men do to me?
The Lord is with me. He helps me.
I will win the battle over my enemies.
It is better to go to the Lord for safety
than to trust in mere men.
It is better to go to the Lord for safety
than to trust in human leaders.
The nations were all around me.
But by the Lord’s power I destroyed them.
They were around me on every side.
But by the Lord’s power I destroyed them.
They attacked me like large numbers of bees.
But they died out as quickly as burning thorns.
By the Lord’s power I destroyed them.
I was pushed back. I was about to be killed.
But the Lord helped me.
The Lord gives me strength. I sing about him.
He has saved me.
Shouts of joy ring out in the tents of godly people.
They praise him for his help in battle.
They shout, “The Lord’s powerful right hand has done mighty things! The Lord’s powerful right hand has won the battle!
The Lord’s powerful right hand has done mighty things!”
I will not die. I will live.
I will talk about what the Lord has done.
The Lord has really punished me.
But he didn’t let me die.
Open the gates of the temple for me.
I will enter and give thanks to the Lord.
This is the gate of the Lord.
Only those who do what is right can go through it.
Lord, I will give thanks to you, because you answered me.
You have saved me.
The stone the builders didn’t accept
has become the most important stone of all.
The Lord has done it.
It is wonderful in our eyes.
The Lord has done it on this day.
Let us be joyful and glad in it.
Lord, save us.
Lord, give us success.
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
From the temple of the Lord we bless you.
The Lord is God.
He has made the light of his favor shine on us.
Take branches in your hands. Join in the march on the day of the feast.
March up to the corners of the altar.
You are my God, and I will give thanks to you.
You are my God, and I will honor you.
Give thanks to the Lord, because he is good.
His faithful love continues forever.
In the final refrain, Jesus sang, ‘The stone the builders didn’t accept has become the most important stone of all. The Lord has done it. It is wonderful in our eyes’. Jesus used this quotation earlier in His parable of the vineyard:
Jesus said to them, “Haven’t you ever read what the Scriptures say, “ ‘The stone the builders didn’t accept has become the most important stone of all. The Lord has done it. It is wonderful in our eyes’ (Mt 21:42)
And then Peter would use these words when he stood before an accusing Sanhedrin:
‘Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit. He said to them, “Rulers and elders of the people! 9Are you asking us to explain our actions today? Do you want to know why we were kind to a disabled man? Are you asking how he was healed? Then listen to this, you and all the people of Israel! You nailed Jesus Christ of Nazareth to the cross. But God raised him from the dead. It is through Jesus’ name that this man stands healed in front of you. Scripture says that Jesus is “ ‘the stone you builders did not accept. But it has become the most important stone of all.’(Ac 4:8–11)
And then, again in his first epistle, Peter uses this quotation:
Christ is the living Stone. People did not accept him. But God chose him. God places the highest value on him. You also are like living stones. As you come to him you are being built into a house for worship. There you will be holy priests. You will offer spiritual sacrifices. God will accept them because of what Jesus Christ has done. In Scripture it says, “Look! I am placing a stone in Zion. It is a chosen and very valuable stone. It is the most important stone in the building. The one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” The stone is very valuable to you who believe. But to people who do not believe, “The stone the builders did not accept has become the most important stone of all.” (Psalm 118:22) And, “It is a stone that causes people to trip. It is a rock that makes them fall.” (Isaiah 8:14) They trip and fall because they do not obey the message. That is also what God planned for them (1 Pe 2:4–8).
A final word from the great Baptist preacher, C.H. Spurgeon:
Let us, O fellow-heirs of salvation, learn to sing when our suffering time comes, when our season for stern labour approaches! Yes, let us pour forth a canticle of deep, mysterious melody of bliss when our dying hour is near at hand! Courage, Brothers and Sisters! The waters are chilly, but fear will not by any means diminish the terrors of the river! Courage, Brothers and Sisters! Death is solemn work, but playing the coward will not make it less so! Bring out the silver trumpet—let your lips remember the long-loved music—and let the notes be clear and shrill as you dip your feet in the Jordan! “Yes, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff they comfort me.”