As I was getting ready after my shower this morning, I reached in my cabinet and pulled out a new stick of deodorant. It’s always nice to have a fresh, new stick when the fragrance is the strongest and it just smells good. After applying my deodorant, I then reached for my toothbrush. It was time for a new one of those, so I pulled out a new one with good, straight bristles. Then I reached for, yes, you guessed it, a new tube of toothpaste. I had squeezed the very last speck from the old one yesterday. I got to thinking about all the new things I was using today. It’s nice to have new things. When something is new, it is in its best, most presentable condition. A new shirt always looks the best when put on for the very first time, before it is worn and washed and maybe fades a little bit. A new car always looks the best before small scratches start showing up from normal driving wear and tear. A new loaf of bread always tastes the best and most fresh when those first pieces are pulled out.
Now, older things aren’t bad. Just because we have them for a while doesn’t make them unwanted. A pair of jeans always feels better once you’ve worn them and washed them several times to break them in. A new pillow feels better once it has conformed to the shape of your head and neck. And even deodorant and toothpaste still work well after using them for several days. But everything reaches a limit. There’s only so much toothpaste in one tube. A loaf of bread only contains a limited number of slices. And material will only last so long before it wears out and your shirt has a tear in it or you have a hole in your sock. That’s what makes getting something new so nice. It’s new. It’s different. It’s fresh.
There are several psalms that say to sing to the Lord a new song (Ps. 33:3; 40:3; 42:10; 96:1; 98:1; 144:9; 149:1). And even in Revelation we find that there will be new songs sung to the Lord in heaven (5:9; 14:3). Several other places we find the Word telling us to sing to the Lord, but in these passages, we find the distinction of singing new songs. As a singer, musician, and a minister of music, I’ve thought about this quite a lot. Of course God wants to hear us sing, but He also wants to hear new songs. It’s not that the old songs are bad or worthless now that they’re old, they are still good. Yet, He wants to hear new songs sung to Him. Too many times we can sing the old songs and just sing them by rote and not really think about what we are saying as we sing. It’s like just going through the motions. With a new song, we are finding fresh ways to praise and worship our God. We are thinking about the ways God has blessed us and finding new ways to thank Him for those blessings. As we sing or even write new songs, we are growing in the ways we express our praise and worship to God. The old songs can be good to sing to the Lord, as long as we are really singing them from our hearts. But don’t be afraid to sing new songs to Him and find new ways to express your love and gratitude to Him. “The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23) If we are getting new blessings from the Lord every morning, then we have plenty of new things for which to praise Him and plenty of new material with which to write new songs. God’s greatness is limitless. Find new ways and new words to express your praise to Him.
Next time you open something new, think about a new song you can sing to the Lord.
“O sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done wonderful things.” Psalm 98:1a
Bro. Paul Reed
Tuesday, February 23, 2021