Sing a New Song (and Lots of Old Favorites)!
Our next Fifth Sunday Singing is scheduled for March 30 at 5 PM. You need to be there!
Churches of Christ are known for good singing. I’ve heard of school chorus directors who get excited to have a student from our fellowship join their choir, because they know there’s a good chance they’ll already know how to read music and have a decent voice.
Want some proof of that? Listen to our youth group sing sometime. They’ll blow you away!
We all have our favorite Christian songs and hymns, and many of us can sing hundreds from memory. Those good old songs have the power to inspire and motivate us.
God didn’t need to command us to sing old songs; that’s something we do naturally. But he did tell us to sing new songs. Psalms 96, 98, and 149 start with the words “Sing to the Lord a new song.” That command is also in Isaiah 42:10, Psalm 33:3, and Psalm 144:9.
Why does God tell us to sing new songs? Psalm 40 gives us a clue.
The psalmist had “waited patiently for the Lord” for some deliverance. God heard him and rescued him, and one of the things he did for him in the deliverance was this: “He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God.” (Psalm 40:3)
As long as God continues to be gracious toward us, as long as he keeps showing us his power and wowing us with his works, it is fitting that we not just sing old songs inspired by his past grace, but also sing new songs about his never-ending grace.
So… we like to get together once every three months, whenever a fifth Sunday rolls around, and sing for an hour at 5 PM. We mostly sing your favorites—songs you request. But we almost always try to learn at least one new song in an effort to expand our repertoire of songs we can use to praise God and encourage each other.
Not a fan of learning new songs? Don’t forget: At one time, each of your old favorites was a new song!