The highest point and peak of prayer is praise. Praise is much better than prayer; so we must go on from prayer to praise. When you pray and pray until you reach the highest point, then prayer is over and praise begins. You are on the top of prayer, and the top of prayer is praise. Do you think that we will still pray in the New Jerusalem? I tell you, in that day we will sing all the time. We will sing, “It is done, it is done; prayer is over, praise begun!” We must have the foretaste of the New Jerusalem now.
Now we must learn something deeper concerning praise; we must see something not just in a general way, but in a deeper way. I have never been so concerned regarding the utterance as I am when we come to this matter. Now we are touching something very deep and tender. It is easy to speak concerning something superficial, but really difficult to convey a matter so deep and precious as this. I look to the Lord that you will exercise your spirit with your understanding to follow me.
Have you ever heard a message telling of the Lord Jesus singing praises to God? We have one verse (v. 12) in Hebrews chapter two, a quotation from Psalm 22:22, which says, “I will declare Thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto Thee.” This is the Lord Jesus speaking, and He says, “I will declare Thy name.” That means the Father’s name. He goes on to say, “In the midst of the church will I sing praise unto Thee.” At what point of time did the Lord declare the Father’s name to His brethren? And at what time did the Lord sing hymns of praise unto the Father? Have you ever considered this? Let us look at Psalm 22, where these words are first recorded.
The first part of the Psalm deals with the crucifixion of Christ: “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” (v. 1). When the Lord Jesus was on the cross, He cried these very words (Matt. 27:46), and His cry amazed all those who heard. He was quoting and fulfilling Psalm 22:1. In verse 16 of that Psalm we read, “They pierced my hands and my feet,” and in verse 18, “They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.” These verses relating to the Lord’s death are fulfilled and recorded in the four Gospels (Luke 23:34; Matt. 27:35). Then we come abruptly into the second part of this Psalm in verse 22, where the Lord says, “I will declare Thy name unto my brethren.” What is this? This was fulfilled in the Lord’s resurrection. After the crucifixion in the first part of Psalm 22, we have the resurrection in the second part. While He was on the cross He cried, “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” But later in His resurrection He declared the Father’s name unto His brethren. On the morning of the resurrection day, as recorded in John 20:17, Jesus said to Mary, “Go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God and your God.” Jesus did not tell Mary, “Go to my disciples,” or “Go to my friends,” but “Go to my brethren.” Before the day of resurrection, no human being was a brother to Christ as a son of God. It was by His resurrection that all the disciples, all the believers in Him, became His brethren. So He said to Mary, “Go to my brethren.” By His resurrection God has begotten us (1 Pet. 1:3), God has regenerated us as His sons; so we have become the brethren of the Lord. It was at that time that He declared the name of the Father to His brethren.
Then when is the time when in the midst of the church the Lord sang praise unto the Father? On the day of resurrection? The church was not formed on the day of resurrection. It was not till the day of Pentecost that the church actually came into existence. But here we have a difficulty, for on the day of Pentecost Jesus was in the heavens. How then could He sing praise to the Father in the midst of the church? On the day of Pentecost, Peter told the people that “this Jesus hath God raised up,” saying to Him, “Sit Thou on my right hand” (Acts 2:32, 34). If Jesus is at the right hand of God, how can He sing hymns of praise to the Father in the midst of the church?
On the day of Pentecost, when the Lord Jesus was in the heavens at the right hand of God, the church came into existence. On that day there were one hundred and twenty disciples plus three thousand new believers, making a total of three thousand one hundred and twenty constituting the church. For simplicity’s sake let us consider only fifty believers meeting in a locality as a church. How could Jesus sing praises to the Father in the midst of that church? Have you ever been in a meeting where you saw Jesus singing in the midst of the church?