“Oh sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth! Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day.” Psalm 96:1-2 ESV
Reflection: why is it important to sing to the Lord?
On our Lyft drive home from the airport yesterday, our driver just couldn’t stop talking about the Lord. She was literally “bubbling over” with the joy of the Lord, telling us about all the marvelous things He is doing in her life. And, what was so inspiring to listen to was how she saw and heard God in everything; even in every interaction and conversation. But there was one thing she mentioned that really struck me, especially in light of psalm 96. She told us about her 3-year granddaughter, and how she turns basically everything into a new song, even down to the basics of hygiene and taking care of her body, like brushing her teeth.
Taking care of the temple that God created, and has given each of us to care for. How beautiful.
The psalmist starts out this psalm by instructing “all the earth” to “Oh sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth!” Psalm 96:1 ESV. For many of us, that probably means to turn on some worship music in the background, and try to hum along. And, I think that is absolutely correct. Whatever genre of music you like, as long as it is truly praising our God, blessing his name as the psalmist calls for. Well, how do we do that, you might wonder. Notice the psalmist tells us how. We bless the Lord by talking about, singing about the work He is doing in our lives. We are to
“tell of his salvation from day to day.” Psalm 96:2 ESV
Day to day means clearly that this is not just something we do at church on Sunday morning. No, it is daily. Which means we need to look for it. We do need to see that God is involved with us all the time. Let’s read on, to get some additional ideas on how we can “create and sing a new song” to the Lord. “Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth! Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns! Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity.” Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it! Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord, for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in his faithfulness.” Psalm 96:9-13 ESV
There is something so very powerful about music; perhaps even more with words to music. While we might not fully understand why and how that works, we all know this instinctively. Evil knows it too. We can sense spiritually that evil must flee when we worship God. We are filled in our hearts, our souls with joy when we hear “good” music that worship and honor God. We also know that music can be very destructive, when created and intended for “evil”. Music is a creative and a destructive force.
The psalmist points out that even nature sings of joy, it roars, exults and rejoices in the Lord. So, as the final masterpiece of His creation, created in His image, as His sons and daughters, why are we holding back? We should also be singing praises to Him, and “Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!” Psalm 96:3 ESV. So, let’s learn a lesson from our sister who drives people around with a purpose to share her love for our God. Find something you are thankful for today, that the Lord has done for you. And create for the Lord a new song from your heart, and start singing His praises.