Sing A New Song

Text: Psalm 96 Title: Sing a New Song
1/17/10 Clarksville

Sing to the Lord a new song. I know what some of you are saying - “What’s wrong with the old ones?!” Well, nothing is wrong with the old ones, but the call in Psalm 96 is to sing a new song, which reminds me of a very interesting new song I heard this week. It was written by 62 year old “General” Larry Platt and he sang it on an audition for American Idol. It goes something like this: “Pants on the ground, pants on the ground, looking like a fool with your pants on the ground! Hat turned sideways, call yourself a cool cat, looking like a fool with your pants on the ground!”
Like every other song, before it was ever notes on a page, it was an experience in life. Songs are like that. They are expressions of human experience set to music that come from what we see and feel, from heartache and humor, life and death, love and loss, trust and betrayal. Before songs are songs they are experiences of faith and fear, fun and frustration, tragedy and triumph. New songs emerge from the deep soil of suffering, and soar from the heights of celebration. They ease from days of leisure, and are wrenched from the long, dark night of the soul.

There is a story behind every song because before they are ever notes on a page they are experiences in life, new experiences that give birth to new songs. David sang in
Psalm 40:1-3. Read it.

There is a story behind every song and the story behind Psalm 96 is found in I Chronicles 16. The scene is the streets of Jerusalem and the tone is festive. It’s a celebration, a time to rejoice because the Ark of the Covenant, the physical representation of God’s presence, is being returned. The Ark contained the sacred symbols of Israel. There were the tablets upon which the 10 commandments were inscribed when Moses met with God on the mountain. There was a jar of manna, the bread that was given to sustain the lives of the Israelites throughout their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. It was a reminder that God provides. The ark also contained Aaron’s staff. In Numbers 17 God caused that staff to bud and produce almonds over night. God wanted to put a stop to the people’s grumbling and complaining and this is how he did it. The Ark said “God is with us - the God who gave us the gift of the Law, who provided for us in the wilderness, and who doesn’t like it when we complain.” As the Ark was being carried into the city in a procession of praise, Asaph led the worship choir and they sang the words of Psalm 96. “Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy in his dwelling place. Ascribe to the Lord, O families of nations, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength, ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name. Bring an offering and come before him; worship him in the splendor of his holiness.” This joyous time was an opportunity for the people of Israel to celebrate not only the marvelous deeds God had done in the past, but to give a fresh expression of praise about what God was doing right now as the Ark was ushered into Jerusalem.

Within this song is a call to keep singing new songs, and not just any songs, but songs birthed from new experiences of God’s redemption, salvation, deliverance. There is a story behind every song and the songs we sing as people of God are songs that give voice to the ways we have experienced God and His salvation. In the words of the poet Sally Morganthaler, these new songs are “salvation actualized in sound… the soundtrack to life.”

I think one of the reasons the Psalmist encourages us to sing a new song is because there is an expectation that we have something new to sing about. New songs emerge from new experiences, be they triumphs or tragedies. I have been reminded in dramatic fashion even this week of just how true it is that the same God who sustained and saved Israel throughout her wilderness wanderings and seasons of suffering is the God who continues to do the same for us. As most of you know, I went back to WV this week to attend the funeral of a 17 year old girl named Natalie Smith. Her death was sudden, the result of a blood clot that went to her lung. Her parents, triplet brothers, sister, classmates and church family found themselves in a place they never anticipated. When I stood by her casket Monday morning, her mother said to me, “I have come to know more than ever the peace that passes understanding.” This new and devastating experience where God was made real to people in their suffering is the kind of place where new songs are born. Songs of salvation and faithfulness, songs of redemption that create the soundtrack of our lives.

There is a story behind every song because before they are ever notes on a page they are experiences in life, new experiences that give birth to new songs. That’s why I suspect that there will be some new songs springing from the dust of destroyed buildings in Haiti. Our brothers and sisters in Christ there will be having new experiences of the strength and love of God that they have never lived before. They will be singing new songs born from their experiences.

There is a story behind every song because before they are ever notes on a page they are experiences in life, new experiences that give birth to new songs. Some of those songs come from triumph. A couple weeks ago on a Wedensday night one of the young men in our youth group (Sam Mirando) accepted Jesus Christ as the forgiver of his sins and Leader of His life. This was a brand new experience for him because unlike many of us, he’s the only one in his family who even goes to church. While he may never compose a musical score or write a song like David did in Psalm 40, he now has a new song to sing. It’s a song that is at the same time like and unlike every other salvation song that has been sung. While the themes may be the same the contour of each verse, the crescendo of each chorus takes a slightly different turn not because the progression of the notes are different, but because every experience gives birth to a brand new song.

When is the last time you had a reason to sing a new song? It’s really just another way of asking how long has it been since you had a fresh experience with God that caused you to offer him a new expression of praise? How long has it been since there was a heightened awareness or appreciation for God’s work in your life? Is it new and fresh every morning or are you singing a warmed up, micro-waved version of yesterday’s experience, or worse yet, only singing the songs of that have been born of someone else’s experience with God? When David calls us to sing a new song, it’s really not about the music. So when is the last time you had a reason to sing a new song/?

Communion - I don’t guess there has been a single event that has been the spark for more songs that what Jesus did for our salvation. Songs like when I Survey, O the Wonderful Cross, at Calvary, we return to an old story that is still evoking new songs because it is still creating new experiences for people. Fresh, new experiences of forgiveness and grace that cause us to sing new songs.

Benediction: Ps. 96:1-4a