God’s people sing. That is one of the distinguishing marks of Christians all over the world and has been a mark of followers of Jesus since our Lord commissioned His church and ascended to heaven. There is a simple reason why God’s people sing – they have a reason to sing! Believers in Jesus have been delivered from the domain of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son (Colossians 1:15), so they sing.

O SING TO THE LORD A NEW SONG!

And what do they sing? They sing to the LORD a new song (Psalm 96:1). It is entirely appropriate that those who have been made new would sing a new song. Note that this is a new song. It is not like all the old songs which they sang when they were without Christ. Now the emptiness and the hopelessness and the worldliness have been replaced with a peace that passes understanding. And so we sing an entirely new song that tells the world of the One who has given us a new heart which compels us to sing.   

The new song is the song of the redeemed, the song of the twice-born. The new song is the song of those who have been raised to new life in Christ (Romans 6:4). The new song is the song of those invited to the King’s table to enjoy the marriage supper of the Lamb. Oh, now we sing a new song!

There is only one new song, although that new song is sung with myriad different voices. The one new song is the song of all those who are new creatures in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17). It is the spontaneous outpouring in song from the joyful heart of the redeemed.

PRACTICE, THEN PERFECT

During this life, we get to practice singing our new song in the fellowship of our local church. Each Lord’s day we can join with God’s people in our local church and raise our voices in praise and adoration and worship to King Jesus, singing “the excellencies of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9).” With joy and vigor and zeal and force we song His praises, but in eternity we will sing our new song forever in heaven in the full company of all of God’s redeemed. There in heaven will be endless praise for endless days. There our faith will be sight, and there all our practice in singing our new song here will reach its ultimate consummation.

What is the theme of our new song? The theme of our new song is the praise of the One who “put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God (Psalm 40:3).” The theme of our new song is praise to the Lord Jesus Christ, the One who has given us a reason to sing.

WHERE IN THE BIBLE IS “NEW SONG?”

Besides the two places that we have already mentioned, in Psalm 40:3 and in Psalm 96:1, there are several other times that new song appears in the Bible.

Psalm 33:3 Sing to Him a new song with a shout of joy.  

Psalm 98:1 Sing to the LORD a new song, for He has done wonderful things.

Psalm 149:1 Sing to the LORD a new song. Be glad in your Maker.

Isaiah 42:10

⁹ “Behold, the former things have come to pass,
Now I declare new things;
Before they spring forth, I proclaim them to you.”

¹⁰ Sing to the Lord a new song,
Sing His praise from the end of the earth! – Isaiah 42:9-10

Notice that when the LORD declares new things (42:9), then He gives His people a new song (42:10) so that “His praise may rise from the end of the earth.” This is exactly what He has done in Christ, making His people new so that they can “Sing to the LORD a new song.”

Therefore, all who are in Christ have been given a new song, and all who are in Christ are to sing to the LORD a new song as long as they have breath.

SDG                 rmb                 4/15/2021