Are We Ready To Sing A New Song?
Good Morning Friends,
In our thirties my wife and I began raising our children and as a new family attended and participated in the music program at Moorings Presbyterian Church. We have been honored as parents that both our children sing, make music and worship with us. It has become a lifelong tradition. But last night we had our last evening choir practice with Dick Crofts who has been our minister of music at the Moorings for 32 years. He and his wife Martha are retiring. The journey with him and our choirs has been amazing and has lasted through many many ministers. The experience reminds me that becoming a Christian requires us to learn about harmony and timing. It requires us to know our part, practice the true notes, changing our tone to measure up as we prepare ourselves, as we follow the conductor, singing to the Lord with praise. With that in mind as we pray for one of our greatest patrons of music who is in intensive care following a car crash we encourage each other even as we ask… Are We Ready To Sing A New Song?
Scripture: 1O sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. 2 Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day. 3Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples. 4 For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be revered above all gods.5 For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens.6 Honor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. 7 Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.8 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts.9 Worship the Lord in holy splendor; tremble before him, all the earth. 10Say among the nations, ‘The Lord is king! The world is firmly established; it shall never be moved. He will judge the peoples with equity.’ 11 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it; 12let the field exult, and everything in it. Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy 13before the Lord; for he is coming, for he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with his truth.
Psalm 96:1-13 (NRSV)
Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty firmament!*2 Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his surpassing greatness! 3Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp!4 Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! 5Praise him with clanging cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals! 6 Let everything that breathes praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!
Psalm 150 (NRSV)
Teach them to your children, talking about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise.
Deuteronomy 11:19 (NRSV)
Message: A life with Jesus is a new song… it is a cascade of vibrations. It is a life of true worship, never boring…ever changing in response to a God that does not change. It is personal and prompts us to exalt the Lord…extending us in service… expressing our belief with emotion and expecting Jesus to join us in praise in the joy of something fresh and alive and new. Friends, Spirit-filled people sing with joy because they sing with God. Singing is for believers. Jesus sang. Mary sang. The Angels sang. We too need to sing a new song for our new life and its new creation. On this journey we are to sing our story like we mean it… we are to praise God for the full range of human emotions as we worship with a passion for praise of a God who ultimately delivers us into His arms. Sure there is a challenge in being part of the body of Christ. Each of us has an assigned role. We try to make music but if we fail to recognize the real leader, we can fall short of making beautiful music. Sometimes we will not always process all the information necessary to sing the right note at the right time. Sometimes we have to act in faith that it is the time. Ultimately we must be transformed by the music. We must surrender our will to the conductor Jesus. We must commit ourselves to others. We must engage in practice of our faith. We must receive blessings when we do it right so we remember for the next time. We must use the gifts we have been given to glorify God to sing and to play new songs.
Pray that we sing …we sow…we serve… Pray that the song of our hearts be lived out in our lives as we meditate on the words of scripture each day singing with the revival of God’s Spirit in us to Jesus who died on the cross. Pray that we sing to the creator… the sustainer as well as the redeemer of our very souls with expectation of the Glory to come even as we now experience His grace and express our gratitude in song.
Pray that our prayers become a daily practice that moves us closer to God, opening up our experience of Him in the music of our life and movements of our community. Pray that we wake up to experience the joy of music. Pray that we praise Him with music from generation to generation.
Pray that someday we will all reflect on what God has done in our lives and praise Him for His absolute faithfulness. Pray that we make a joyful noise to the Lord with gladness and gratitude…that we make music that tells the story of our hearts. Pray that we realize that we are dependent on His direction…His score and music so that we might find our place in God’s choir. Pray that our song of testimony to others generates music in our very soul that heals us.
Pray that someday we will all reflect on what God has done in our lives and praise Him for His absolute faithfulness. Pray that we will make a joyful noise to the Lord with gladness and gratitude…that we continue to make music that tells the story of our hearts.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 