A New Song

One of my all time favorite portions in the book of Psalms is found in Psalms 40:1-3.  Those particular verses have ministered to me a lot over the years.  They conclude by saying, “He placed a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God.  Many will see this and worship.  They will trust the Lord.”  (Psalm 40:3 God’s Word ©)  I wrote a song using those words as the majority of the lyrics.  In fact, I even wrote a play with that song as the theme.  It’s kind of funny now, as I think back about that first performance that we did for our church at the YMCA back in the late 1980’s.  After the cast had taken their bows, I motioned to my wife, who was at the piano, and we led the congregation in one of the songs that she had written that was in the play:

“Praise, praise, praise,

 Praise the Lord.

 Praise, praise, praise,

 Praise the Lord.

 Praise, praise, praise,

 I will praise the Lord.

 Praise – the – Lord!”

When we got to the last line, the Pastor was so excited that he just bellowed out the words “Praise – the – Lord” an octave or two louder than anyone else!  Although it was funny, and everyone had a hearty laugh, I really don’t think that he was just caught up in the excitement of the moment.  He was exclaiming his heartfelt thanksgiving and praise to God.  He had gone through some very difficult times in his life and after a long absence, the Lord had recently led him to us and back into the ministry as the Pastor of our church.  The large room that night was filled with people and the anointing was strong.  I believe that he was overcome with the goodness of God in his life and just had to proclaim the new song of praise that was in his heart.  And all of us present in the main activity room at the YMCA that night heard it!

That’s another effect or benefit of PRAISE.  It blesses others around us.  I’m convinced that as Christians, we never do anything just for ourselves.  There is always something or someone who is influenced by our actions.  In speaking of our new song of PRAISE to our God, the Message Bible puts it this way: “More and more people are seeing this: They enter the mystery, abandoning themselves to God.”  (Psalm 40:3)

Our joyful, heartfelt thanksgiving and PRAISE to God acts as a light in a dark world.  People are grasping for something to hold onto.  Something onto which they can place their expectations for good things to happen in their lives.  The Greek translation of the Hebrew word “trust” in our verse of scripture is the word for “expectation.”  So therefore David was telling us that our lifestyle of PRAISE will lead others to the One who will give them the solid foundation of great expectations that they are desperately searching for!

Wow!  What an exciting thought.  Your PRAISE may be just what someone else needs today!  So, let go of the “Grumps” and let out the PRAISE!  Let Him have His way with you today and ooze over everyone you come into contact with! 

♫   “Praise, praise, praise,

      Praise the Lord…”   ♫

Have a GREAT day.  Stay in tune to His Word and keep asking yourself… “What (or whom) am I expecting to bless today?”