Psalm 98
Day 98: Be blessed
I love how the Message opens this Psalm with “Sing to God a brand-new song.”
Brand new.
“The new Christian music is not as pleasant as the more established style. Because there are so many new songs, you can’t learn them all. It puts too much emphasis on instrumental music rather than godly lyrics. This new music creates disturbances, making people act indecently and disorderly. It’s a money-making scene and some of these new music upstarts and lewd and loose.”
Some may be thinking “that’s right! Where are all the old hymns gone?”
Except this quote is not about today. It was attacking the hymns of Isaac Watts in 1723!
Yes, although incredible, people have been moaning and complaining about new songs for centuries.
But every experience of God needs a brand-new song.
Some people love the old songs and they are indeed wonderful, I wonder though whether it is more that they are longing for their old experience of God.
We need brand-new experiences of God.
There needs to be continual changes taking place in our lives.
The Psalmist calls us to sing because God has moved towards us, v1-3. We should sing with everything we can think of using, v4-6. There is even a call for nature to join in with the song to God, v7-8 For God will move towards us again, v9.
Of course there’s more to life than a new worship song. I am really speaking about what song of life is being displayed from your life. I met a friend recently I had not seen for some time. Sadly, he was singing the same song of old. I pray for him, that God may give him a new experience and new revelation of His heart.
And for us? Surely our prayer and aim is to see change in our lives, attitudes, how we remember events, what we allow ourselves to think about, things we have stopped in order to live differently. This is the brand-new song.
Let the blessed sing a new song today.
Missions Paul 