Sing a New Song

Sing a new song to the LORD! Let the whole earth sing to the LORD! Sing to the LORD; praise his name. Each day proclaim the good news that he saves. (Psalms 96:1-2 NLT)

Psalm 96 call us to sing a new song to The Lord. But what does that mean? Does that mean we are to always buy the latest worship album, learn the chords and sing the new tunes? That would make this command about the latest Christian worship album and not about God. I'm sure the Christian music artist is happy with that interpretation. But there's much more here.

The context of this Psalm is the moment the Ark of God finally entered it's resting place in Jerusalem from the house of Obed Edom. This is the famous incident in which David disrobes in front of a disapproving wife in wild celebration that Gods presence was coming to the city. 

David penned these words in response to the NEW THING God was doing. David instructs us to sing a new song when God does something new! This makes our worship what it is supposed to be about... GOD and His rule and reign. 

O nations of the world, recognize the LORD; recognize that the LORD is glorious and strong. Give to the LORD the glory he deserves! Bring your offering and come into his courts. (Psalms 96:7-8 NLT)

The Ark coming to Jerusalem was a foretaste of God's reign coming to the Earth. Of course the true Ark Jesus came to Jerusalem to a new song and palm trees being waved. Finally in Revelation 5, when the Lamb takes the scroll and begins to rule, the people from every nation sing a new song again! Why? Because Gods reign was becoming more real with every new occasion for Joy among His people.

We sing a new song for every new sign of the reign of God, that's what this Psalm is calling us to do. Remember that Jesus told us all heaven rejoices when one sinner repents. Why? Because the reign of God is becoming more certain by the soul!

Sometimes we look at our lives and wonder what's new? What's really there to sing about? But here's the truth: God is doing something new. He renews your mind by the Word. He makes all things new in creation through redemption. He renews your youth like the Eagles. He saves the lost and lonely.

Because of the new thing God is doing we always have reason to sing.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

God’s View of You

Sometimes I think we imagine that God is mostly disappointed with us. That He puts up with us and bears with us because He has to (after all He is love), but most of the time our glaring weaknesses weary Him and make His day miserable. Of course, this is the devil’s doing in our minds. The truth of scripture bears out that the world has to get staunch-raving evil before God is totally weary of us. And the stories in the Old Testament remind us with each passing character that God is patient, loving and kind to His very flawed inconsistent servants. Saul is a case study of this. His lineage will not hold the kingdom, that has already been stated from the mishap of offering the sacrifice instead of waiting for Samuel to arrive in 1 Samuel 13. His next great gaff will happen in the chapter to come in 1 Samuel 15 where his own kingship will be taken from him and the anointing placed on one soon to come. Yes, God will regret making Saul king and we’ll talk about that next. But for now...
Read more

The Stain of Slavery

One of the greatest pains in my heart over the history of the church is the fact that many "Bible-believing" Christians used the Bible to promote, continue, and enable slavery in America's past. It may have happened elsewhere, but I'm an American, and I know it happened here. Then, some repeatedly make the claim because of a tiny amount of verses where God informs Israel on how to take slaves, it means the Bible is a pro-slavery document. How absurd. The overarching narrative of the Bible is that God sets the slaves free. The second book testifies to this part of God's character.  Getting to Jeremiah's day, one of the reasons Israel's nation was handed over to exile was because they enslaved each other. This attitude was so engrained into the culture of Israel that they had a hard time giving up slavery even in the face of national catastrophe.  In Jeremiah 34, the king is promised that he will die in Babylon, but he will die in peace. Jeremiah 34:3–5 (ESV...
Read more

Leaders Who Later Fail

Remember Johanan from Jeremiah 41? The man who saved many others from the threats of the murderous coup? He seemed like a noble leader. But time reveals a lot.  Jeremiah 42:5–6 (ESV)  Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the LORD be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act according to all the word with which the LORD your God sends you to us. 6 Whether it is good or bad, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God to whom we are sending you, that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.” These are the words of the presumptive leaders of Israel in the land while the nation is in exile. The previous chapter saw a hero arise to protect a few remaining survivors. His name was Johanan. On the surface, he seems like a good man, seeking the will of the Lord in his leadership position. Jeremiah returns with directives from the Lord: Jeremiah 42:10 (ESV) If you will remain in this land, then I will build you up and not pull you down; I will plant y...
Read more