10 Days until Easter

10 Days until Easter

The Upper Room was lit by candle.  It was late.  The Passover meal had a new meaning and the sorrow of things to come surely hovered above the glow of the flickering flames.  After His Last Supper with His disciples, He humbly clothed Himself in a towel and poured the water into a basin, taking on the role of a servant.  I can picture the reflections of the pouring water creating ribbons of light that danced around the room.  I can see the fingers of Jesus, interrupting the flow of the water from the pitcher into the basin as he feels the temperature.  He was showing them what the heart of a servant looks like.  Settling His knees to the floor, I can hear the water splash as He places a foot in and gently wipes away the dust.  He washed their feet out of the purest form of love. 

“If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.  For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.”  -John 13:14-15

But before they’d leave the Upper Room, they would sing a hymn together one last time.  

    “And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” -Matthew 26:30

Before learning the traditions and history of the Passover meal, I never really thought about which hymn they might have sung.  However, after learning more about Passover, I now know that the hymn was most likely the traditional hymn that was sung in unison and rhythm at the end of a Passover meal, which is the second half of Psalms 113-118.  So now, when I read Psalm 118, I can’t read it without hearing the deep voices of the disciples sing the passage, surrounding their Lord.  Together, in the Upper Room they sang a song of praise right out of the Old Testament.  The dull orange glow of a flame, now low on the candlestick, sputtered and flickered, moving the shadows of the men about the room.  Although the light was dim, it was enough to see the glistening eyes, in both the disciples and in Jesus.  And if I know Peter like I think I do, He sang Psalm 118 with the taste of salt on his lips, not from the dipped bitter herbs, but from the sorrowful tears that surely moved like streams across his cheeks. 

“Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His steadfast love endures forever?  Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”  Let the house of Aaron say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”  Let those who fear the Lord say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”  Out of my distress I called on the LORD; the LORD answered me and set me free.  The LORD is on my side; I will not fear.  What can man do to me?  The Lord is on my side as my helper; I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.  It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.  It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.  All nations surrounded me; in the name of the LORD I cut them off!  They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side; in the name of the LORD I cut them off!  They surrounded me like bees; they went out like a fire among thorns; in the name of the LORD I cut them off!  I was pushed hard, so that I was falling, but the LORD helped me.  The LORD is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation.  Glad songs of salvation are in the tents of the righteous: “The right hand of the LORD does valiantly, the right hand of the LORD exalts, the right hand of the LORD does valiantly!”  I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the LORD.  The LORD has disciplined me severely, but He has not given me over to death.  Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord.  This is the gate of the LORD; the righteous shall enter through it.  I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation.  The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.  This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.  This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.  Save us, we pray O LORD!  O Lord we pray, give us success!  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD!  We bless you from the house of the LORD.  The LORD is God, and He has made His light shine upon us.  Bind the festal sacrifice with cords, up to the horns of the alar!  You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God; I will extol you.  Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; for His steadfast love endures forever!” -Psalm 118

I read this Psalm with a new perspective, not at David’s side, but this time at the side of my Savior.  In the Upper Room.  Holding His hand.  Hours before He gives His life for me. 

By man, He’ll be rejected.  By man, He’ll be tortured.  By man, He’ll be mocked.  But not before He sings out to God, “What can man do to me?  The Lord is on my side as my helper”.  With the heaviness of what’s to come, He sings, “ Glad songs of salvation are in the tents of the righteous: The right hand of the LORD does valiantly, the right hand of the LORD exalts, the right hand of the LORD does valiantly!  I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the LORD.”  He will die so that we might not.  But His death will not last long.  Indeed, singing out Psalms of praise, He is valiant. The Cornerstone Himself, hours away from greatest rejection in the history of the world sings,  “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.  This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.”

The disciples probably had a hard time keeping in rhythm with the anguish that sat below their throats, but standing in the presence of the Messiah, the Lamb of God and their close friend and brother, they sang, “The LORD is God, and He has made His light shine upon us.  Bind the festal sacrifice with cords, up to the horns of the alar!”. 

This last night, He sang one last song, leading His disciples in praise.  He lifted His voice in worship and poured out a song to His Father.  “You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God; I will extol you.  Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; for His steadfast love endures forever!”

The last moments of the Upper Room were some of His last moments on earth.  That may have been His last song on earth, but still today, songs of love flow freely from His heart.  Do you hear them?  I do. 


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