Sing a New Song
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I love to sing. And I especially like to sing songs of praise to God. That hasn’t always been the case. I can remember growing up singing hymns thinking- these are dull and boring. I do remember one of the first times that my heart rejoiced upon singing a hymn. The song was Amazing Grace. Now I had sung this song countless times before, but during my freshman year at college I believe that God marvelously saved me, and for the first time in my life I began seriously walking in Christ. Then one Sunday during a service, or perhaps during a chapel hour I sang the song Amazing Grace. And for the first time in my life I was the blind person, who now saw. I was the lost one who was now found. I was the wretch who had deeply and profoundly experienced the grace of God. And my spirit stirred within my heart and almost with tears in my eyes I sang, “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see… Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed… When we’ve been there 10,000 years bright shinning as the sun, we’ve no less day to sing God’s praise, than when we first begun.”
In Ps 98.1, the psalmist writes this...
1 O sing unto the Lord a new song; For he hath done marvellous things: His right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory.
Here the psalmist is commanding the nation of Israel, O sing unto the Lord a new song.
I do not think that the idea is primarily new in terms of content, but rather new in terms of quality. As my spirit stirred within my heart when I grasped the true meaning of Amazing Grace so we must ever have a new song of praise in our hearts for the Lord. In other words the quality of our praise or our worship must be genuine.
How often do we fail at this task? How many times have we participated in corporate worship in our local church- singing in the song service, responding to the preaching of God’s Word, participating in the Lord’s supper- and our worship is at best mechanical / wooden / sterile? We serve a God that deserves for our worship to be always new / genuine/ of the utmost quality.
So, the question facing us is this, how do we create within our hearts worship that is always new? How do we obey the command to sing unto the Lord a new song?
It is an important question- it effects the very quality of your relationship with God.
The psalmist attempts to answer this question by means of three stanzas of a psalm of praise.
Stanza #1- (vv. 1-3)
Stanza #1- (vv. 1-3)
1 O sing unto the Lord a new song; For he hath done marvellous things: His right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory.
O sing unto the Lord a new song; For he hath done marvellous things
This functions almost like a refrain- it sets the tone for the whole psalm. Sing to the Lord a new song. Why? For he hath done marvellous things? What things has He done? Well, let me tell you.
His right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory.
Apparently, this psalm was written after an incredible victory in the history of the nation of Israel.
Here God is spoken of in anthropomorphic terms- His right hand- indicates this victory was accomplished through God’s power. His holy arm indicates God’s perfection- no one or no thing compares with God’s ability.
And God Himself is the one who won the victory- Israel benefited of course, but God alone claimed victory. We don’t know the exact event referred to here, but it would be akin to such supernatural acts of deliverance like God saving Israel through the Red Sea, or God bringing down the walls of Jericho, or when God delivered Israel from the Assyrians by means of an angel. Whatever event was behind this psalm, it was clearly a powerful deliverance of the people by God alone.
2 The Lord hath made known his salvation: His righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the heathen.
Salvation here is better the idea of victorious deliverance from some kind of danger. And this deliverance was very public. Everyone knew that it was from God alone. And it was in accordance with God’s righteousness- God was putting right what was wrong in saving His people.
3 He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel: All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
God supernaturally delivered His people, and did so very visibly, so that everyone would know the power of God, and He did all this because of His mercy (hesed), this is God’s lovingkindness or His loyal love to His people. Because of God’s loyal love and his truth or better faithfulness (He is trustworthy to keep His covenants) to the house of Israel, God victoriously delivered them. So marvel at God’s deliverance and sing a new song.
The end of v. 3 is interesting. The psalmist here makes a pivotal statement.
“All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.” God’s salvation, His deliverance was so wondrous that all the ends of the earth have seen it.
When God caused the Red Sea to collapse upon the Egyptian army I imagine that that news got around. They didn’t have cell phones or social media, none the less, that event had far reaching ramifications. It would have reached to all the ends of the earth.
But, the verb for “seen” here could be understood as a “prophetic perfect.” That means that yes, God supernatural deliverance was great and its effects were far reaching then and there, but the full realization of the “All the ends of the earth” seeing the deliverance of God is still primarily in the future.
In other words this present deliverance is wondrous, but folks you haven’t seen anything yet. When God fulfills all his promises and fully delivers his people- when will that be? The coming kingdom. When God users in His kingdom, and conquers every foe, and delivers His people- then there will not be a corner left on this earth where God’s salvation will not be seen.
And who will be the one that carries out God’s ultimate deliverance? The coming Messiah, Jesus Christ.
30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
It is also interesting that Mary may have had Ps 98 in mind in her song of Praise sometimes called the Magnificat-
54 He hath holpen his servant Israel, In remembrance of his mercy;
3 He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel: All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
How do we create within our hearts worship that is always new? How do we obey the command to sing unto the Lord a new song?
I. We dwell richly on the truth that Jesus Christ is our Deliverer!
I. We dwell richly on the truth that Jesus Christ is our Deliverer!
Now we are not Israel, and God’s covenants with Israel are not for us, but we, the church, are a people of God. Isreal is a people of God and the church is a separate and distinct people of God, yet often what effects one people of God will effect another people of God. So we will share in the benefits of God’s deliverance when Jesus returns and establishes His kingdom on earth.
Lately, it seems like we are more and more in need of that deliverance. This world’s system seems to be exponentially more and more hostile toward Christians. (Examples)-
Jesus will one day return and set up His kingdom and He will deliver us, he will gain the supernatural victory that will extend to ends of the earth. Is that not reason to sing a new song?
Stanza #2- (vv. 4-6)
Stanza #2- (vv. 4-6)
4 Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth: Make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.
Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth- the psalmist switches here from exhorting Israel to now commanding all the earth, Jew and Gentile, to shout joyfully and to make a loud noise. The idea here is to cause to break or burst forth, it is the idea of noise that starts abruptly with a high degree of intensity.
One of my greatest joys in life is taking the opportunity to scare my wife. I don’t know why, there is probably a physiological deficiency in me somewhere. But for some odd reason it causes me delight. Back when we were both at MBU, she used to work in the Fine Arts Department and here office was on the top floor of Old Main back were the piano practice rooms are. One night I went up to here office and, fortunate for me she had just left to use the rest room. So I waited patiently for here to return, in her office, crouched down behind her desk. And when she returned, and suddenly and unexpectedly made my prescience known to her and guess what her response was? She screamed, and I mean it was one of those high pitched girl screams. She couldn’t help herself, it was almost involuntary. It just broke forth from her mouth.
That is the idea that the psalmist is trying to convey. Your delight and desire to praise the Lord should be so fervent that songs of praise and joy just burst out of your lips. Your worship for Him should be so compelling that you just can’t help yourself.
5 Sing unto the Lord with the harp; With the harp, and the voice of a psalm. 6 With trumpets and sound of cornet Make a joyful noise before the Lord, the King.
In vv. 5-6 we have a climatic effect. First sing with the harp, then with the voice of psalm/song (sound of melody), then with trumpets (metal tubes made with bronze or silver), then with the sound of the cornet (horn- ram’s horn, made from animal horns, often used to signal the divine presence in Scripture). The idea here is as the song of praise and joy is breaking forth from your lips, it should also be a sound that is worthy of the Lord- you want your praise to be skillful. So you excellently mix the sound of the harp, with beautiful melody of the voice, followed by deep and rich tones of the trumpet and the ram’s horn- for that is what God is worthy of.
Notice the end of v. 6- make a joyful noise before (in the presence of) the Lord, the King.
How do we create within our hearts worship that is always new? How do we obey the command to sing unto the Lord a new song?
II. We dwell richly on the truth that Jesus Christ is our King!
II. We dwell richly on the truth that Jesus Christ is our King!
Do you remember the last presidential election? Do you remember having to decide who you were going to vote for? There was this feeling you got that you were choosing between the lesser of two evils to some extent. No mater how you voted for there was some degree of reservation of making that person president of the United States.
When Jesus Christ returns and He is King we will have no reservation whatsoever. He will be our perfect King. He will rule with the power of his right hand and with his holy arm. He will rule with righteousness, and loyal love and faithfulness unto the ends of the earth. And the only thing that will be in our hearts is worship and praise. We will break forth in songs of joy and praise. And we will sing as skillfully as we can for Jesus Christ our king. That day is coming! O sing unto the Lord a new song!
Stanza #3- (vv. 7-9)
Stanza #3- (vv. 7-9)
7 Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof; The world, and they that dwell therein.
There is an intensification to these stanzas. In stanza one there is a historical event that causes the psalmist to look toward the future deliverance of God in the Messiah, then the level of praise ramps us as one dwells on Messiah as King, now the very creation itself adds to the majesty of the praise of God.
Let the sea roar! How is it that the sea roars? The idea here is that of abundance- and all the fulness thereof. When Messiah comes back he will transform the very seas so that they teem with life, the like of which we have never seen- and it will roar.
Video of fish
The world and they that dwell therein. World here could be a reference to animal life on land or it could include people as well- again they too are pictured as roaring in abudance.
8 Let the floods clap their hands: Let the hills be joyful together
Let the floods or rivers clap their hands.
How can rivers clap?
Video of river and applause
Let the hills or mountains be joyful together- the idea is let them sing together for joy.
How can mountains sing?
Images of hills
It reminds me of Rom 8.19
19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. 20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, 21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
When Jesus returns, the curse will be lifted, nature itself will be transformed and it will join in the chorus of praise.
9 Before the Lord; for he cometh to judge the earth: With righteousness shall he judge the world, And the people with equity.
How do we create within our hearts worship that is always new? How do we obey the command to sing unto the Lord a new song?
III. We dwell richly on the truth that Jesus Christ is our Judge!
III. We dwell richly on the truth that Jesus Christ is our Judge!
Now isn’t that an odd statement? Sing with joy before the Lord because he is coming to judge the earth. When is the last time you were summoned to appear before a judge and you were instantly filled with joy? Not only that, but Jesus will judge the earth with righteousness and equity. What reason do we have to rejoice in that?
Someday the angels in heaven will themselves sing a new song to the Lamb and it will go something like this:
King James Version Chapter 5
And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; 10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
King James Version Chapter 5
Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive ipower, and riches, and wisdom, and istrength, and hhonour, and hglory, and kblessing. 13 And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, kBlessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.
This is why, if you have trusted in Jesus Christ as your Savior, if you have been redeemed by the blood of the lamb, that one day when He comes to judge the world, you too can rejoice. Jesus is coming, and he will judge the world in righteousness, He will destroy the curse, He will set every wrong right. O sing unto the Lord a new song.
And that is the point of this psalm:
We must always have a new song in our hearts when we worship the Lord, for he has done, is doing, and most importantly will do wonderful things.
How do we create within our hearts worship that is always new? How do we obey the command to sing unto the Lord a new song?
We dwell richly, and deeply on the truths that Jesus Christ is our Deliverer, our King, and our Judge!
O Sing unto the Lord a new song, for he has done wonderful things.