Cantate is the first word of the Introit for this past Sunday. It means “sing and rejoice.” We Christians have a lot to sing about as we continue our celebration of Christ’s resurrection from the tomb. For we rejoice in the fact that Jesus, who died to pay for our sins, now lives to proclaim eternal life to all who believe in His name and work.
From the beginning, the Christian Church has been a singing church. The earliest songs were the sung Psalms of the Old Testament. Then came hymns about Christ’s resurrection. Later, the liturgy was sung as Christians “proclaimed the praises of Him who called them out of darkness into His marvelous light” (2 Peter 2:10).
The devil and the world do not want us to sing praise to God. They load our lives with trials, pains, and sorrows. At times, we will need to cry out to the Lord because of these afflictions. The hymns in the “Cross and Comfort” section of our hymnal aid us as we express our sorrows and our faith in God’s help. With songs of praise to God, we also drive away the devil and his angels so that our sorrows do not overwhelm us or lead us to despair of God’s mercy and blessings.
Meanwhile, no matter what our situation on earth, we can “sing a new song” to the Lord. The song is new because of the certain forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternal life, which Jesus’ death won for all people. He established a new covenant of God’s grace that fulfilled the old covenant of the Law.
As we sing here on earth, we also are practicing for the time when we will sing with all the choirs of the saints and angels who are in heaven. For they never tire of singing to the Lamb who was slain and now lives.