Monday: Sing to the Lord a New Song
Daily Lesson for Monday 18th of March 2024
Read Psalms 33:3, Psalms 40:3, Psalms 96:1, Psalms 98:1, Psalms 144:9, and Psalms 149:1. What is the common motif in these texts?
These psalms summon people to sing a “new song.” What is a “new song” here? The reason for the “new song” is the fresh recognition of the Lord’s majesty and sovereignty over the world and gratitude for His care and salvation as the Creator and Judge of the earth.
Image © Kevin Carden at Goodsalt.com
Deliverance from enemies and from death, and God’s special favor toward Israel, are some of the more personal motives to sing “a new song.” While other songs also praise the Lord for His loving-kindness and wonders, the “new song” is a special song, expressing rekindled joy and promising renewed devotion to God. The new experience of divine deliverance inspires the people to acknowledge the Lord as their Creator and King. The common themes in the psalms that tell of “a new song” are trust in God, praise of His wonderful works, and deliverance from affliction, among other things.
Read Isaiah 42:10-12, Revelation 5:9, and Revelation 14:3. What can we infer about the “new song” from these biblical texts?
God’s people Israel is depicted in affectionate terms as “a people near to Him [God]” (Psalms 148:14, NKJV), implying that of all the creation, Israel has the most special status, and thus is most obliged and privileged to praise God. The Bible thus encourages believers of all generations to sing the new song in praise of their Redeemer, which carries their unique testimony about salvation in the blood of the Lamb. A “new song” can depict a fresh song that no one has ever heard before, a song that commemorates a vivid experience of God’s grace in one’s life. The “new song” can also express hope, in which case the newness of the song is demonstrated in the anticipation of the unique, unprecedented experience of God’s majesty in the future. True worship goes beyond sacrifices and offerings and reflects a living relationship with God that is always fresh and dynamic. In a sense, one could simply say that the “new song” is a new expression, even each day, of our love and appreciation for what God has done for us.
Dwell on God’s blessings in your life. If you were to sing a new song, what would it be?
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Most of my grandfather’s family were fairly musical and much of this talent was attributed to my great-grandmother who was Harriet Virgo Watts before she married Sedman Ashton. There is a strong tradition in the family that she was connected to Isaac Watts the famous hymnwriter. Our family were non-conformists as was Isaac Watts’ family. The connection is of doubtful authenticity. Isaac Watts remained a bachelor for life and lived in the southern part of England; while our family lived in Yorkshire. The discrepancies have not stopped us from getting a good grounding in the history of Isaac Watts and his contribution to Hymnody.
Up until the time of Isaac Watts, most church music had been restricted to singing the Psalms pretty much as they were in the Bible. Isaac Watts introduced new poetry into the church repertoire. He took the symbolism of the psalms and used the language of the New Testament to express his Christian faith. This was quite radical in his day (the 1700s), but he was a non-conformist and got away with it. He was not the first hymn-writer to do this, but he was prolific, and he used popular melodies for his hymns, and as a result became quite well known. He described his work thus:
He made a significant difference to hymn signing not only in the non-conformist congregations such as the Methodists but even the Church of England have accepted his “new songs”.
Interestingly, the current Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal still has 25 Hymns authored by Isaac Watts. Look them up. You will find they are some of our most loved hymns.
He was also a logician (mathematical logic), so maybe this is a connection to the Ashton family after all.
I pray for God's blessings to be sent out to all my family and friends, however, I do not have a favorite song picked out at this time. Amen
My favourite hymn is
BECAUSE HE LIVES!!
God Bless you all.
Same with my Father in-law.
The new song is remarkably personal. It is derived from a personal experience with Jesus Christ, which is based on an acknowledgment of His grace and mercy. It speaks to one's commitment to follow Jesus, recognizing His continuing spiritual empowerment through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The new song acknowledges the singer's current and continuing saving relationship in Jesus Christ. I pray that all we all sing a new song "with melody pure and true."
I have no answer to the mom, a good Christian who lost her son at the age of 8. I have no idea of the pain she feels... and who am I to judge her reactions? It is a harsh situation, but there have been stories about people who lost ten times more. God also gave away His only child. Even though sin exists and evil causes a lot of pain, our existence is possible to be a worship reality. Often, we need to find New Songs to help us through the valley of shadows, and even there, the Lord promises to be with us! To worship Him, as Job did.
Redeemed - but with the newer tune (338 in my hymnal)
But what I find myself whistling all the time is He Leadeth Me. I will often start whistling and not recognize what it is but I recognize the tune so keep going. Then shortly I get further along and realize “oh, He Leadeth Me”. After all the many, many times I’ve sung the song in church or whistled it around the house or out on walks it is amazing to me that I still don’t recognize it right away. God is like that sometimes- we don’t recognize His hand at work in our lives.
We don’t know what is going on but we just have to keep going, and then we realize that God had His hand on the situation all along.
And it is also my new song because I want to go to the place He has picked out for me and not the one that this stubborn human thinks is best.
Thank You Lord for Redeeming me and Leading me to the life that will take me to my new home.
Thank you, Gale. You have described a new song in a beautiful way. The song that just came to my mind was "Tell me the old, old story" The "old" songs seem to become as good as new every time we sing them because the message of Jesus and His love. "Sing them over again to me, wonderful words of love". We should never get tired of the messages in the songs we sing. However, I get the idea of a new song. When we get to Heaven, we can sing songs that are new to the angels that haven't had our experiences on this earth.
I consider it to be something very special about the changed and grateful heart to be able to sing a 'New Melody, a New Song'. In the Psalms, though performed by skilled musicians, 'singing a new song’ is not a performance, but rather the heart's conviction finding expression through song.
Can one sing a song without audible words or melody? Yes - the 'new melody', present in the heart and mind of a believer touched by the Holy Spirit, expresses its new ‘disposition/abilities’ through love and trust likened to a beautiful, affirming and uplifting melody.
I understand that ‘singing a new song’ could also be the metaphor for being used as our Lord’s 'sounding board'. Send to all who love Him, He speaks to us through the Holy Spirit to live and experience His New Song. It is composed by Him and expressed in Spirit and Truth, whether through thought or deed.
Responding to the melody of this new song never gets old, boring, or outdated; no words are needed because the Father knows the thoughts of our heart. Though, for a testimony to our redemption, for the benefit of others, our words and deeds become the vehicle to express our heart's new melody, expressing love toward our God and our fellow man as it sings its New Song.
God touches other's hearts when we sing this ‘New Song’. We worship our heavenly Father from morning ‘till night - it is the song of our redemption and ever increasing love for Him.
Isaiah 30:15 - ”In repentance and rest is my salvation, in quietness and trust is my strength.”
Based on personal experience with our Savior, singing a new song to the Lord represents the daily change and transformation I experience as He faithfully works on to give me a refreshed and new character, a restored and new life. Everyday is like a new chapter of my existence, as He molds me into His image and likeness, as He transforms me from to glory to glory until His fullness be revealed in my life.
Singing a new song to the Lord also symbolizes living the new life and new creation He has crafted in us through His son Jesus Christ. "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things have become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Thank you Brigette Humphrey,you brought it out just the way I thought of it..