O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing!

The words of this great hymn of the faith go like this:

O for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer's praise, the glories of my God and King, the triumphs of his grace!

My gracious Master and my God, assist me to proclaim, to spread through all the earth abroad the honors of thy name.

Jesus! the name that charms our fears, that bids our sorrows cease; 'tis music in the sinner's ears, 'tis life, and health, and peace.

He breaks the power of canceled sin, he sets the prisoner free; his blood can make the foulest clean; his blood availed for me.

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It was a gorgeous, sunny, fall afternoon on Broad Street in downtown Philadelphia. My 2 year old son Luke was sitting on my shoulders gazing up and down the street, entranced and encircled by the great throng of people, thousands more than he has ever seen at one time or place. I gazed into the northern sky to see the proud statue of William Penn, which adorned the apex of City Hall. Was it me or did he seem to be standing a little taller today?

Off in the distance I could hear the crowd’s excited chatter swiftly unify into a deafening roar that spread like a tidal wave over all who were there. Shredded office paper began to rain down from the crowded windows of the skyscrapers above, as the 2008 world champion Philadelphia Phillies rounded the corner along the route that would parade them past hundreds of thousands of frenzied fans on their way to Citizens Bank Park, where they had won the World Series two nights earlier.

The sound of thousands of tongues joined together in praise of the Phillies was an amazing thing to behold. And as a die-hard, championship-starved Philadelphia sports fan, I couldn’t help but get caught up in the moment. At the same time, as a die-hard, Jesus following Christian, I couldn’t help but feel a nagging sense of sadness as I caught bits and pieces of the conversations of adjacent Phillies fans. Most were some sort of variation of, “This is the best day of my life!” or, “now I can die in peace.” For them, a World Series Championship was as good as it gets. And as good as it was in one sense, it doesn’t even come close to the surpassing greatness of knowing Jesus Christ, my Lord. 

I believe that is what Charles Wesley was trying to capture as he penned the words to this hymn. His soul was so captured by the Son of God, so full of praise waiting to burst out, that he could only describe it by wishing for more than just one single, solitary tongue to praise Him with. In fact, anything less than a thousand tongues would simply not be enough to give voice to the overflow of his heart.

Wesley loved the name of Jesus. Its very mention was music to his ears. He knew the power that was in the name – power to heal and forgive; to chase our fears away and give us peace; power to work miracles, not the least of which is the transformation of a dead heart that is hostile to God into one that is full of life and worships Him.   

While we may never be given a thousand tongues to worship Jesus with, we do have one, and so let’s not fail to let it be full of praise for the name that is higher than every name. And one day we will be among not thousands, but millions, all gathered together for the Parade of all parades, given in honor of Him who gave his life for us by dying on a cross to pay the penalty for our sins and take away the wrath of God that was upon us. We will sing, along with, “every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!’ (Rev 5:13)”