A New Song Series

It is easy for us to do what the psalmist urges us to do, "Sing to the Lord a new song." The number

of new songs to sing today is enormous. Back in 1891 Dr. Julian in his famous Dictionary of

Hymnology examined four hundred thousand hymns, and he did not cover them all. There are, no

doubt, over a million hymns in the world today.

But the path to this abundance of new songs was not easy. It might be hard to believe, but the

singing of hymns in church, now so popular, was once opposed. In the middle of the 18th century,

a church in Aberdeen, Scotland hired a soldier they heard singing hymns with some troops to come

and teach them how to do it. He was a great success, and so the church got him discharged from the

army to be their song master. Students from the university flocked to the church to join in this novel

practice of singing a new song.

As might be expected, it was too good to be true that such enthusiasm would go unopposed.

Many felt that the church should stick to the psalms, and put an end to these new songs. They hired

Gideon Duncan and two of his friends to sing very loud and out of tune. They succeeded in disrupting

the service, but Duncan was hauled before the magistrate and fined 50 pounds, and

imprisoned until it was paid. Many of us can be thankful not everyone who sings poorly in church is

arrested. Just imagine, only two centuries ago hymns in public worship were such a novelty they

were the center of violent dispute.

Benjamin Keach, the Baptist pastor, was the first man to introduce a hymnbook into a English

congregation. It was a book of 300 hymns. 22 angry Baptists walked out of his church never to

return. They felt that the Psalms were the only songs Christians should sing. The opposition held

back the practice for years, but their delaying tactics could not stop the strong inner desire of men to

sing unto the Lord a new song.

This longing for novelty in song is not a part of man's fallen nature, but is a part of his awareness

that God is infinite, and therefore, only infinite creativity is worthy of Him, and adequate to glorify

His name. It is also essential to keep joy alive in the worshipper. Variety is the spice of life, and a

new song is like a tonic that lifts and enables us to feel afresh the love that is always there, but which

needs rekindled.

Music is basic to worship, for music is a mover of emotions, and especially the emotion of joy.

Out of joy comes praise, and this is a key element in worship. In Psalm 33:1-3 we read, "Sing

joyfully to the Lord, you righteous, it is fitting for the upright to praise Him. Praise the Lord with

the harp; make music to Him on the ten-stringed lyre. Sing to Him a new song; play skillfully, and

shout for joy." By means of voices and instruments we praise God and establish the atmosphere of

worship. Note, that the new song is emphasized again. The new song is the testimony that God is

alive and is working now, and not just in the past.

In Psalm 40:3 we read, "He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many

will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord." Here the new song is the key to evangelism for it is

a testimony that will have an impact on others.

But the new song is not just for out reach, it is for up reach, for God is delighted with a new song

from His children, just as you would be from your children. In Psalm 144:9 we read, "I will sing a

new song to you, O God; on the ten-stringed lyre I will make music to you." It may sound strange

to think of singing and making music to God, but the fact is, all levels of love are enhanced and

expressed through music.

Our love for, and praise of God will be connected with music for all eternity. The book of

Revelation makes it clear that both vocal and instrumental music are to be a part of everlasting joy.

In Rev. 5 we hear the harps, and in verse 9 there is a new song of praise to the Lamb, and in verse 12

the millions of angels sing His praise in a loud voice; then in verse 13 we come to the climax of this

heavenly hallelujah chorus and we read, "Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and

under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: To Him that sits on the throne and to