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Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.
(Revelation 7:9, 10)

The church has always recognized that the three highest peaks of the mountain-range of salvation are the incarnation, the atonement and the resurrection. So it is that the greatest hymnody of the church has focused on these three events and their significance. For example, "Once in royal David's city" celebrates the incarnation, "There is a green hill" the atonement, and "Jesus Christ is risen today" the resurrection.

It is here that we part company most decisively with the birds.

Perched on some conspicuous twig, with beak lifted high and throat vibrating violently, a bird will seem to sing its head off. Scripture even says, metaphorically speaking, that it is engaged with all nature in worship:

Praise the Lord from the earth, … wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds … Let them praise the name of the Lord (Psalm 148:7, 10, 13).

But of course this is a pure anthropomorphism. Singing birds have no idea what they are doing. And we must not copy them in this. Bishop John Jewel of Salisbury saw this clearly in his Second Book of Homilies (1571). In the homily entitled "Of Common Prayer and Sacraments" he wrote that we must sing "with the reason of man, not with the chattering of birds." To be sure, he continued, "ousels and popinjays and ravens and pies and other such like birds are taught by men to prate they know not what; but to sing with understanding is given by God's holy will to the nature of man."

We cannot sing with joy and gratitude to the Lord unless we sing with understanding.

Copyright © 2008 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

A review of the book accompanies this excerpt.

The Birds Our Teachers: Biblical Lessons from a Lifelong Bird Watcher  is available at ChristianBook.com and other book retailers.

Cindy Crosby also wrote the following bird book reviews for Books & Culture:

For the Birds | What are we looking for? (March/April 2008)

Chuckleheads and Timberdoodles? | A bird book you need to add to your shelves. (March 26, 2007)

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November (Web-only) 2008, Vol. 52