Sing A New Song

Oh sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth! (Psalm 96:1)

In the Bible, mostly in the Psalms we are commanded to sing a new song. There are many new songs sung in churches and they are available on CD, iTunes, or wherever you find music. I know for our church we like to introduce songs that maybe some in the congregation has never heard or we just never sung before.

As I mention that there are many places in the Bible where we are told to sing a new song. Here are just a few:

Shout for joy in the LORD, O you righteous! Praise befits the upright. Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre; make melody to him with the harp of ten strings! Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts (Psalm 33:1-3).

I waited patiently for the LORD; he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the LORD (Psalm 40:1-3).

Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise in the assembly of the godly! (Psalm 149:1).

Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise from the end of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that fills it, the coastlands and their inhabitants (Isaiah 42:10).

And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying,

“Worthy are you to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation,
and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
and they shall reign on the earth.” (Revelation 5:5-10)

What does it mean to sing a new song to the Lord? Does it mean I have write a song? Does it mean I have to carry a tune? While the issue of the "new song" is up for debate, I can say as gospel people we can sing a new song. Think back to Psalm 40:1-3. The Lord "drew us up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock." God took us from the pit of destruction that our sin was taking us. Think about, our sin is cosmic treason to a holy God who created us and has creator rights over us yet we turn from Him. We were, those who truly believe, under the wrath of God. God took us from the miry bog of our sin and place us on a rock, more like, the Solid Rock of Christ Jesus. Just as the old hymn says, "My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness...on Christ the Solid Rock I Stand."

This new song is our song in response to what God has done for us in Christ. That new song can come in many forms. If you are a song writer, you have a song of worship for what God has done. If you are not a song writer, you still have a song to sing. As you sing in church with the body of believers, you have a song. The impact of the gospel in our lives makes us sing a new song. Missionaries sing a new song when they proclaim the gospel in the ends of the earth. As you go in your daily life, you sing a new song. One day, before the presence of God with all His angels and the Saints who have gone before us, we will sing a new song.