And they sung a new song, saying... — Better, And they sing a new song, saying. The use of the present (“sing”) is another example of that intensity of interest of which the change of tense in the last verse afforded an instance. As he records his vision, he sees it anew; he describes the action as though it were even now taking place, and he still hears the notes of praise. He who knows what it is to have the strains of some rich melody haunt him for days will understand how the prophet would hear the glad chorus burst forth afresh in his ears when he recalled the vision. The new song; the chorus of the redeemed —
“Worthy art Thou to take the roll,
And to open the seals thereof;
For Thou wast slain,
And didst buy to God in Thy blood
Out of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation,
And didst make them a kingdom and priests,
And they reign upon the earth.”
The English version, “hast redeemed,” and “hast made,” weakens the reference to the completed character of Christ’s redeeming work. It is the great victory in suffering and death which inspires the song, and makes them sing, “Thou art worthy;” and so they speak of that work of Christ as a work truly done: “Thou didst buy (omit “us”) out of every tribe, &c., and didst make them,” &c. The suffering Saviour has died, has broken the bond of the oppressor, has claimed, by right of purchase, mankind as His own; and the price was His blood. It is well to notice the harmony between this passage and the statements of other Apostles: “Ye are not your own;” “bought with a price.” (See 1 Corinthians 6:20; 1 Corinthians 7:23; 1 Peter 1:18-19; 2 Peter 2:1.) Observe, also, the four terms (tribe, tongue, people, nation), employed as if to give emphasis to the universality of redemption, for four is the number of extension in all directions. With this compare Romans 5:15-19; Colossians 3:11; Hebrews 2:9. We have a right to teach all to say, “He redeemed me and all mankind.” It is instructive to dwell on the climax “they reign,” in contrast with “Thou wast slain.” It is like an anticipation of the now familiar words —
“Thine the sharp thorns, and mine the golden crown;
Mine the life won, and Thine the life laid down.”
“Didst make them a kingdom and priests.” (See Revelation 1:6.) This kingdom and reign is the outcome of Christ’s work. “Every precept of Christianity is quickened by the power of the death and resurrection of Christ. It is by the presence of this power that they are Christians, and it is as Christians that they conquer the world” (Westcott). “They reign on the earth.” Such is the best reading; the tense is present It is not, I think, to be explained away as a vivid realisation of the future; it is a simple statement, which is as true as that the followers of Christ are “a kingdom and priests.” They reign with and in Christ, but they also reign on the earth. Christ gives them a kingship, even sovereignty over themselves — the first, best, and most philanthropic of all kingships. He gives them, too, a kingship on the earth among men, for they are exerting those influences, promoting those principles, and dispensing those laws of righteousness, holiness, and peace which in reality rule all the best developments of life and history. All who traverse these laws are intruders, transitory tyrants, exerting only a phantom power. They are not kings: they may govern, they do not reign. (Comp. 1 Corinthians 3:21-23; Ephesians 2:6.)