Daniel 3:51-90; 1 Peter 3:18-20
One of the most beloved songs from the Bible, used in worship throughout the centuries is the hymn known in the Western Church as Benedicte es (“Blessed art thou”) or in the East as the Song of the Three. Sung by the faithful three from the fiery furnace, it is found in the extended Septuagint text, Daniel 3:51–90, and follows upon both Azariah’s prayer of confession (3:25-45) and the short description of the stoking of the fire (3:46-50). It is a litany of praise that, when contextualized in our worship, folds the entire congregation into the praise of the entire cosmos
from the winds and rains, to the persecuted faithful, epitomized in three young men called Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, or Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael. So well-known was the song to early Christian worshipers that it was not printed out in full anywhere in typical missals or prayer books, but simply indicated for use by its title. It is an ideal song for God’s people in any context, placing them within the lively creation’s praise and thanksgiving, no matter what our humble station or circumstances. It was also well known in ancient days as “the canticle of blessings” and is referred to by such preachers as the fifth-century St. Caesarius of Arles. Because this song is less known in our day, coming as it does from the apocryphal or “deuterocanonical” works that are not often read, especially in Protestant circles, a complete understanding of the song requires that we read it from beginning to end. Here, I will offers some important snippets from the song, an important section from what Orthodox entitle “The Readable Books,” quoting it at some length. In this colorful psalm, notice how God is especially glorified in the temple (for Christians, the temple is wherever Christians may be found!) and adored for His general mercy toward his creation:
Blessed art thou, O Lord, God of our fathers,
and to be praised and highly exalted for ever;
And blessed is thy glorious, holy name
and to be highly praised and highly exalted for ever;
Blessed art thou in the temple of thy holy glory
and to be extolled and highly glorified for ever.
Blessed art thou, who sittest upon cherubim and lookest upon the deeps,
and to be praised and highly exalted for ever. . . .Bless the Lord, all works of the Lord,
sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.
Bless the Lord, you heavens, sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.
Bless the Lord, you angels of the Lord,
sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.
Bless the Lord, all waters above the heaven,
sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever….Bless the Lord, all powers, sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.
Bless the Lord, sun and moon,
sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.
Bless the Lord, stars of heaven,
sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.Bless the Lord, all rain and dew,
sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.
Bless the Lord, all winds,
sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever. . . .
Bless the Lord, you sons of men,
sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.
Bless the Lord, O Israel, sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.Bless the Lord, you priests of the Lord,
sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.
Bless the Lord, you servants of the Lord,
sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.
Bless the Lord, spirits and souls of the righteous,
sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.
Bless the Lord, you who are holy and humble in heart, sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever.Bless the Lord, Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael,
sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever;
for he has rescued us from Hades and saved us from the hand of death,
and delivered us from the midst of the burning fiery furnace;
from the midst of the fire he has delivered us.Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures for ever.
Bless him, all who worship the Lord, the God of gods,
sing praise to him and give thanks to him, for his mercy endures for ever.
This Song of the Three is a perfect example in early worship of how the personal and contemporary are commingled with the historic and general: “Bless the Lord, Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael, sing praise to him and highly exalt him for ever; for he has rescued us from Hades and saved us from the hand of death, and delivered us.” Even as the story of Daniel’s three friends is recalled in its particularity, the praises of the three heroes merge with the praises of God’s entire people, “us:” we come to see ourselves symbolized by the three released young men, as we remember our own rescue by Christ from death and from imprisonment under sin. The song is made even more poignant by that ancient tradition of the Church, in which the mysterious figure “like a man,” who joins them in the furnace, is understood as a preincarnational appearance of God the Son. He is “God’s enduring mercy,” a theme stressed throughout the psalm: God’s Mercy personified. The presence of the fourth man with those who are praising God for delivering them from Hades turns our Christian imaginations to the words of 1 Peter 3:20:
For Christ also sufferedonce for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, who formerly did not obey.
Our Three find themselves in the furnace because they are representing a disobedient and exiled people! But One is with them, bringing them comfort, and pointing forward to the climax of God’s action in the world. The time would come, which we Christians are overjoyed to have seen, when He would suffer in the flesh, and then condescend to go naked, like all humanity, into Hades in order to proclaim to His beloved, but disobedient people that sin and death had been destroyed!
The picture of the Three with their fourth Helper looks forward to this earth-shattering event, while their stirring recital of God’s care for the whole of creation, for particular servants, and for the worshiping congregation, sets an imporant keynote for our corporate worship. We are invited to go further up and further in as we enter into God’s own enjoyment of His entire creation, and as we marvel at His decisive actions and ongoing providence.
Our singing in the Orthodox tradition of this song during Pascha is a highlight for many worshippers. Even toddlers who cannot read can be seen enthusiastically joining in the refrain, “Sing praise to Him, and highly exalt Him unto ages of ages.” Before our eyes, we see happening in our congregation what the Song describes of the entire creation—everyone joins in. The Song is a study in the nature of God, who is both transcendent (beyond anything that we can imagine) and immanent, closer to us than our very breath. It recognizes God’s presence both in the sacred heavens and in human temples, and in the depths of the sea. It is also a study in the nature of the world that He has formed, moving through the entire created order, from archangels down to the animate and even inanimate creatures. It details human beings according to ranks and conditions: priests and servants; those who are still on this earth and those spirits who await the resurrection. It is both general, seeking to comprehend all creatures, and specific, naming even the Three heroes who have given voice to our praise. The early theologian St. Hippolytus of Rome, puts it this way:
We may well marvel at the words of the three youths in the furnace, how they enumerated all created things, so that not one of them might be reckoned free and independent in itself; but, summing up and naming them all together, both things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, they showed them to be all the servants of God, who created all things by the Word, that no one should boast that any of the creatures was without birth and beginning.
(Fragment from the third century).
Perhaps the most compelling injunction that we hear during the song is the one that says “Bless the Lord, O holy ones and humble in heart.” In this phrase, the Three call upon us, their brothers and sisters, naming us by our most important characteristics—we are “holy,” or separate to God, and so we are (or should be!) humble in heart, for He has made us His. Part of our holiness is to serve, as do these Three, in offering the whole of creation back to God, in thanksgiving. This song, among all the passages in Scripture, helps us to understand what Fr. Alexander Schmemann underscores in his luminous book, For the Life of the World: as those made in God’s image, we are called to worship, meant to give thanksgiving to Him, and placed in a bridge-like position between God and the rest of creation. Created both to have deep communion with Him, and to share characteristics with the rest of creation, we are well placed to serve in this priestly position—neither worshipping nor exploiting creation, but helping it, along with us, to praise God. And if we retain the humility to which we are called, we will also see that the rest of creation helps us to praise with abandon, and sincerity, as it praises God by doing what it was made by God made to do. Wine turned into his blood, roaring waves, dancing dolpins, racing horses, awe-inspiring thunder, mother dogs licking their new born into warmth: all these magnify the LORD naturally, and teach us how to praise in a more conscious manner. They simply act, and respond instinctively to God’s command. But our praise involves also our reason and our will: we exalt Him for He is good and His mercy endures forever!
*This podcast and blog replicates and reworks material from my book Grand Entrance: Worship on Earth as in Heaven.
Edith M. Humphrey 