PASSAGE FOR THE DAY:
1 Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous;
it is
fitting for the upright to praise him.
2 Praise the LORD with the harp;
make music
to him on the ten-stringed lyre.
3 Sing to him a new song;
play
skillfully, and shout for joy.
4 For the word of the LORD is right and
true;
he is
faithful in all he does.
5 The LORD loves righteousness and justice;
the earth
is full of his unfailing love.
6 By the word of the LORD the heavens were
made,
their
starry host by the breath of his mouth.
7 He gathers the waters of the sea into
jars;
he puts the
deep into storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear the LORD;
let all the
people of the world revere him.
9 For he spoke, and it came to be;
he
commanded, and it stood firm.
10 The LORD foils the plans of the nations;
he thwarts
the purposes of the peoples.
11 But the plans of the LORD stand firm
forever,
the
purposes of his heart through all generations.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people
he chose for his inheritance.
13 From heaven the LORD looks down
and sees
all mankind;
14 from his dwelling place he watches
all who
live on earth—
15 he who forms the hearts of all,
who
considers everything they do.
16 No king is saved by the size of his army;
no warrior
escapes by his great strength.
17 A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
despite all
its great strength it cannot save.
18 But the eyes of the LORD are on those who
fear him,
on those
whose hope is in his unfailing love,
19 to deliver them from death
and keep
them alive in famine.
20 We wait in hope for the LORD;
he is our
help and our shield.
21 In him our hearts rejoice,
for we
trust in his holy name.
22 May your unfailing love be with us, LORD,
even as we
put our hope in you. (Psalm 33, NIV)
REFLECTIONS:
“Sing joyfully to the LORD… Praise the LORD… Sing to him a
new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy” (verses 1-3). Have you ever
made up a new song to sing to the Lord? I know I have. On a few occasions when I've
been in some secluded place, seeking intimacy with God, I've found myself so
struck by God's beauty or awesomeness or abounding love that I've broken into a
spontaneous song of praise. There was nothing special about those songs. No
beautiful tune. No captivating rhythm. No inspired words. But those songs came
from my heart. It's as if my heart was so full of God that it burst forth in
praise. And the only way I've known to express that praise is in song. So how
about you? Have you had similar experiences? Have you sung a new song to the
Lord lately?
Worship should have a freshness to it. Worship should have
vitality to it. Worship should spring forth from our hearts. And it should do
so primarily because it's inspired by
and directed towards the living God.
But sometimes in our worship we sing the same ol’ songs in the same ol’ way—we
go through the motions without ever really engaging our heart. When we do so,
we demonstrate that we have lost sight of the reality of God’s presence in our
life. When this happens, where do we go to find a new song? And how can we best
express it?
We get a new song from several sources. We can get a new
song from God’s word. “For the word of the LORD is right and true” (verse 4).
When I read my Bible, I ask God to show me new things. And what’s cool is that
God almost always reveals new insights from his word—and that's true, no matter
how many times I've read a particular passage. God's word truly is “alive and
active” (Hebrews 4:12). The psalmist offers us a model prayer: “Open my eyes
that I may see wonderful things in your law” (Psalm 119:18). When we sincerely
ask God to help us see new things, true things, wonderful things in his word,
we can be assured that he will answer our prayer. He delights to give us new
insights from his Spirit-breathed word… and that insight and revelation
inspires us to sing a new song.
We can also get a new song from God’s works. “For the word
of the LORD is right and true; he is faithful in all he does. The LORD loves
righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love” (verses
4–5). When we look around, we may see sadness, but the psalmist saw goodness.
We may see unrighteousness and injustice, but the psalmist saw God’s
righteousness and justice. Despite the prevalence of darkness in our world,
God’s light is indeed pushing back the darkness. God's kingdom is expanding.
God's goodness is filling the earth. Because God's ways are different than our
ways, we are often blind to some of the incredible things he's doing. But if we
could but open our eyes and see the world with a God-inspired vision, we would
notice the wonderful things that God is doing. So, today open your eyes and
look around you. See the hand of God at work. And be inspired to sing a new
song to the one who is “faithful in all he does.”
We can also get a new song from our walk with the Lord. When
we go through new experiences and new challenges, God gives us new victories,
new insights into his faithfulness, new encounters with his grace. When we experience
God in this new way we have a new song to sing.
I don't know about you, but I want to have freshness in my
worship. I want fervor and freshness in my witness for the Lord. I want him to
do something new in my life. And I want to sing a new song to the One who is
worthy. Do you?
POINT TO PONDER:
God wants you and me to walk closely with him, so he may
lead us into new experiences and challenges. If we’re singing an old song, it
could mean that we need to renew our walk with the Lord. Today, let's feed on
the word of God and look at what he is doing in our life. Let's sincerely ask him
to give us a new song.
I am Tres Sansom, and I'm quite gifted at making up dorky
songs about random things. You should probably be thankful that you don't live
at our house. If you did, there's a good chance that you would be serenaded on
a daily basis by a balding crippled guy singing slightly off key. Kate and the
kids used to be amused by my singing, but now when I break into song they
usually roll their eyes and leave the room.
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