Exercising a New Song...

For as long as I remember, I have always had a close connection with music.  It probably couldn’t have been helped since my mom was very musical.  I have fond memories of our big Silvertone Hi-Fi console radio/turntable sounding throughout the house with tunes and news from her favorite local radio station (KSRO) as well as records… both 33 rpm LP’s or 78 rpms from her old 1940’s big band and Frank Sinatra record collection (which I inherited).  She also loved to sing and play the piano, having been part of a popular girl’s trio in High School and a founding member of the St Eugene’s Cathedral Choir.

My dad also loved to sing but… as some would say… “couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket!”  But that didn’t stop him from singing his heart out at church or around the piano during the holidays when my mom would play our family’s Christmas Carol favorites.

She tried for years to teach me the piano, only except I was more interested in singing the words of the song than learning the notes to play.  But I did learn to become somewhat proficient in playing the guitar in Jr High and started a band with my talented brother and a couple of my friends that I kept together in various forms throughout High School.

And speaking of High School, I fell in love with a cute and talented gal who could play just about anything she picked up… but her real passion was the piano.  She was classically trained from her early elementary years and continued through High School and Jr College.  She also, like my mom, loved to sit down at her piano and play.  Piper though, was much more proficient in her piano training and would easily play different styles of music, ranging from rock and roll tunes when she sang with my band a few times, to funny kid’s songs, to both the old hymns and the contemporary praise and worship songs of the church, and of course, the classical masterpieces, that she would occasionally learn just for me as personal gifts to me!

Music therefore became a major part of who Piper and I were in our homelife and ministry.  As an adult I have wonderful memories of standing and holding one of the church Hymnals and singing in the service at Piper’s Baptist church that we attended for many years before moving and actively participating in the Charismatic/Pentecostal realm of Christianity. 

In these churches, I have a multitude of personal experiences where the Holy Spirit moved during the praise and worship part of the service.  In the midst of these moves I have seen phenomenal signs, wonders and miracles happening throughout the congregation.  It was during some of these times when I received many of my most meaningful revelations from the Lord, directions for life and personal healings and restoration.

I firmly believe that those wonderful times in singing and worshipping the Lord are exactly the type of events that David wrote of in Psalm 40:3 where he stated from personal experience that,

“A new song for a new day rises up in me every time I think about how He breaks through for me! Ecstatic praise pours out of my mouth until everyone hears how God has set me free, and many will see His miracles; and they’ll stand in awe of God and fall in love with Him!” (TPT) 

I have also come to learn that these mountain-moving and extraordinary times of the touch of the Holy Spirit are not limited to community church gatherings, where all the participants are flowing in one accord, as they did in the upper room on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2:1-41.  They are also available to individuals who take the time in personal acts and words of praise and worship in thanksgiving unto God for His miraculous interventions in their lives.

The Apostolic Bible Polyglot Interlineal Greek Old and New Testament Bible translates Psalm 40:3 into English as,

“And He put a new song into my mouth, a hymn to our God, and many shall see and shall fear (be in awe of and revere) and shall hope (or rather: put their expectations) upon the Lord.”

It is interesting to note, that the word “SONG” is defined as “a leather bag used as a bottle or container in which water and wine was kept.”  Water and wine in the Bible are many times associated with the Holy Spirit in both the Old and New Testaments.  Therefore this “New Song” David talked about from his personal experience, is seen as a vessel through which the Holy Spirit is present and then honored and worshipped as an act of thanksgiving to God for specific interventions in our lives.

Albert Barnes in his Notes on the Bible explains that “The idea (of the New Song) is, that God had given a new or fresh OCCASION (or vessel) for praise… for an act of surpassing intervention on the part of God that the language used on former OCCASIONS and which were adapted to express the mercies then received, WOULD NOT be sufficient to convey the sense of gratitude felt for the present deliverance (or miracle-filled, wonder-filled events in your life).

“…And So…” as one of Piper’s and my Sociology professors would say at the beginning of every lecture… Just how do we do this… or achieve this level of high praise where the Holy Spirit is drawn into our presence?  Well… the answer, once again, is also found in the definition of the base word from which our word “SONG” is taken from… meaning, “to exercise one’s self” or “to attempt something by exerting effort.”

Therefore, by putting the two definitions together you could say that “The New Song” is a vessel or occasion from which to exert energy in giving our whole self in praise and worship… with thanksgiving, to God for His joyfully miraculous interventions into our lives.”   So… Yes Folks!  It takes effort and commitment to spend the time necessary to achieve this place in your worship to God! 

But you know?  It is worth the time, the effort and the whole-hearted yielding of ourselves to Him!  I would also venture to say… at least as far and Piper’s and my experiences went… It was very rewarding as well as quite fun and enjoyable!

You will NEVER catch me saying that my Christian Walk is dull and boring!  Just the OPPOSITE to be sure!

We’ll be discussing many more exciting aspects of this Psalm in the weeks to come!  So, stay with me and keep your seatbelts cinched up tight!

Have a terrific weekend.  It’s getting cold around these parts with another Arctic Blast presenting itself over the next few days.  Fiver and I just came back from our afternoon walk… and while Fiver enjoyed it… my face felt like shards of ice were hitting it with the freezing cold northern winds!  Whew!  Stay warm my friends…