Sing a New Song
The idea of singing is certainly not novel for Christians. Singing is just an integral function of all worship services. The Bible is replete with examples of and encouragements to offer praises to God in this way. Although we all have the fundamental ability to perform in this manner, we are not all equally gifted with musical talent. I once pastored a church blessed with a very faithful and spiritual woman who unfortunately could not carry a tune in a bucket. She happened to be a very loud and forceful person, so her voice pretty much carried throughout our small congregation. This lady gave new meaning to that well-known verse, “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord.” To the credit of those present, they mainly overlooked this distraction.
I once pastored a church blessed with a very faithful and spiritual woman who unfortunately could not carry a tune in a bucket. She happened to be a very loud and forceful person, so her voice pretty much carried throughout our small congregation. This lady gave new meaning to that well-known verse, “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord.” To the credit of those present, they mainly overlooked this distraction.
I personally was very blessed as a teenager by being a member of our church choir. The rehearsals were always a time of great fellowship, and I enjoyed the activity of reading music and singing bass. My mother was the church organist so we shared that experience together. This represented an important, and even formative, time during my teen years.
As important as singing is in our worship, I think there is an even deeper meaning to be derived from the biblical incentives to praise the Lord. In our worship, music is basically the conveyance for the words we are singing. The music provides a meaningful and often powerful way for us to express how we feel about God. It also allows us to be unified in our expression. It should be clear that the real significance in our worship is in the text we are espousing. That text should always be Christ centered and Christ honoring. The bottom line, then, is this: the words we sing in worship ought to convey what we are living in our lives or at least are striving to achieve. Failing this, we might find ourselves guilty of offering “strange fire” before the Lord.
Unfortunately, a lot of Christian worship today does more to emulate in essence the practices of the Old Testament rather than follow in spirit what we can learn under the New Covenant. I mean by this that lifestyles are fundamentally divorced from worship practice. In reality, one’s life should reflect the truth being expressed in worship. Barring this, worship becomes a sham, if not outright hypocritical.
Interestingly, a number of times in Scripture we are enjoined not only to sing but to sing unto the Lord a “new song.” I don’t think this is a matter of God becoming weary of worn out hymns. The Lord is not suggesting here that we need to check out some new choruses. Basically, the “song” is our life and the “singing” is how we are living out that life. When the Word says that God has put a new song in our mouths, it is telling us that God has given us a new lifestyle in Jesus Christ. He has given us the capacity to be conformed to the image of Christ. It then becomes our choice on how we choose to live out our lives. It becomes our choice whether or not we’re going to sing a new song. Are we willing to join with King David when he says, “I will sing a new song unto thee, O God.”
In the movie, Mr. Holland’s Opus, there was a great quote which very much captures the spirit of what I’m trying to say here. Mr. Holland took a job as a teacher while throughout the movie he tried to find time to work on his personal composition. As circumstances would have it, he was constantly interrupted from fulfilling his heart’s desire because of needing to meet the various needs and demands of his students. At the end of the movie, many of his students, present and past, came together to play his composition, his opus. Gertrude Lang, one of his students, shared this line prior to their playing Mr. Holland’s opus, “We are your symphony, Mr. Holland. We are the melodies and the notes of your opus. We are the music of your life.”
When we embrace and live out the new life we find in Christ, we are also singing a new song. When we embrace and emulate the principles and life of Jesus, we are making Christ come alive to all those around us. For many of us, singing a new song means revamping our attitude and view on life. Singing a new song means putting one’s faith, trust, and confidence completely in God and forsaking the things of the world. When we choose to do this, we too will be like the overcomers in Rev. 14…
“And they sung as it were a new song before the throne…”
