Psalm 96, Hebrews 3:7-11

Growing up I remember listening to America’s Top 40 with Casey Kasem. Each week I was excited to hear who held the coveted spot of the new number one song. And each week we too have a new song to sing. One of praise and worship to the Lord for His blessings, glory, and gift of salvation. Because His goodness and mercy are new each morning. (Lam. 3:23) And in our daily Christian walk, when we look, much is the evidence of Him lovingly, working in our lives daily. So how can we help but sing, “great is the Lord and greatly to be praised.” (Ps. 96:4)

Each day God is busy doing something new. He’s building up, tearing down, blessing, intervening, answering prayers, working miracles, and saving souls. For as He says in Isaiah, “Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them. Sing to the LORD a new song, His praise from the end of the earth. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland”  (Is. 42:9-10, 43:18-19)

The “new song” we sing comes from when we experience God in a new way. I love how gotquestions.org puts it. “A new song springs forth unrehearsed from the heart of a worshiper who has been struck anew with wonder at the greatness of God and the salvation He has provided. When we see the mighty hand of God working in a way we’ve never observed before, we can’t help but burst forth with a song we’ve never sung before.” Every day the Lord never ceases to amaze me. Because just when I think I know all there is know about Him, He overwhelms my heart with something new! 

All of creation cries out in worship to God’s glory, splendor, and majesty. The heavens, earth, sea, fields, and even the trees, sing to the Lord a new song. For one day God will restore everything His hands have made to its original perfection. From the beginning, God has had His master plan in motion. And with the birth of Jesus Christ, that plan was made real before all mankind. In His amazing love, God planned to once and for all destroy evil and reconcile everything back to Himself, our great Creator. And one day soon, all will sing a new song praising and giving glory to Him alone! 

Pause and Reflect -

In this Psalm we are encouraged to sing to the Lord. What songs do you most enjoy singing to the Lord? Why do you like singing those? Why is the Lord worthy of our praise? What changes in nature are you most eager to see when the Lord reigns over all the earth?

Finally, let’s pray together, 

Our dearest Father in heaven above, hallowed be Thy name. Father we lift up our voices in praise and thanksgiving for the wonder that You have done in our lives. And we pray that our lives in thought, word, and deed, may be a song of praise to You, and the goodness of Your grace. Father may we declare Your glory, not only among those who know You, but also among those who do not. For You have sent us into this world to bring the good news of Your marvelous works, most of all Your salvation through Jesus Christ. And we thank You for the newness of Your goodness and mercy each morning. In Jesus precious name we pray, Amen.

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I can’t wait to hear your thoughts, and I pray your day overflows with love and blessings.

Psalm 71, Isaiah 2:5

When God created man, He gave to us the wonderful gift of song and singing. Music has a power all its own. It invokes emotion, triggers memories, empowers, unites, and divides. I myself come from a family of singers. A long line of beautiful voices. Unfortunately, that’s a gift God didn’t bless me with. For as my Dad would jokingly say, “Honey, you couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket!” Yet I love it all the same. And I happily belt out the words to my favorite songs. Especially when it comes to songs of worship.

The Christian life is meant to be one of joy and celebration. A celebration of all God is and His amazing, unmerited blessings. David knew this well. The psalms he wrote, no matter the subject, were songs from his heart to the heart of his beloved Creator. All in worship to the God who was his everything. No matter what he faced, David had an unquenchable inner joy. A joy stemming from his great love for God. One that put a song on his lips and made his heart burst into singing praises to the Lord. 

As lovers of God, we too should have a song in our heart. One that yearns to burst from our lips and sing the praises of God. For once we were dead in our sin, and enemies of the Lord. Yet from His great love, God redeemed, adopted, and provided a path to eternal life. And if that wasn’t enough, He is intimately involved in every aspect of our lives as our Father, Comforter, Provider, and Friend. Knowing all of this, how can we not have that same inner joy as David? How can we not have lips that, “shout for joy when I sing praises to You.” (Ps. 71:23)

Although prayer is a valuable gift in which to praise God, singing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs helps us glorify Him in a special way. It brings our hearts, souls, and minds, together to focus completely on God. And most importantly of all, it pleases our Father to hear the songs of His children. For He too sings of us. Just think of that! Like our hearts burst for Him, God’s heart bursts for us as He rejoices over us with songs of love! (Zeph. 3:17) And I don’t know about you, but knowing this makes my mouth too want to sing of His great power and righteousness! 

Pause and Reflect - 

Do you have a favorite worship song? When you sing it how does it affect you spiritually, emotionally, and physically? Did you know studies prove that singing creates a musical tone in one’s chest and throat which provides a unique pleasure?

Often times, we think only of singing when we’re happy and times are good, but in Acts 16 Paul and Silas sing for strength while imprisoned. Do you sing not only in times of joy but times of weakness?

Let’s Pray Together -

Our dearest Father in heaven above, hallowed be Thy name. Father we are not worthy to be in Your presence and yet you show Your love for us in everything. Lord, who are we that You would delight in us and rejoice over us with singing? Father we give You all the glory, honor and praise for who You are. We declare that we will sing to You, we will sing praises to You and tell of all of Your wonderful works in our life. We will sing so that all can hear it and see how great You are. Thank You because our voices are a blessing from You. We sing not for ourselves, but to demonstrate Your goodness in our lives. Heavenly Father, thank You that You have been our strength in times past, and You have continued to support and strengthen us through every stage of our of lives. May Your name be glorified forever and ever. In Jesus' precious name we pray, Amen.