Sing A New Song

Sing a new song of praise to him.

He has given me a new song to sing,
a hymn of praise to our God.

Sing a new song to the Lord!

Sing a new song to the Lord.

I will sing a new song to you, O God!

-Psalm 33:3a, 40:3, 96:1a, 98:1a, 144:9a (NLT)

I've had this song on my mind:

Sing to the Lord with all of your heart,
Sing to Him a new song. Sing to Him a new song.
Sing to the Lord with all of your heart.
Sing to Him a new song.
Sing to Him a new song.

Lift your voice, let your praises ring.
Let every tongue glorify our King.
Let's become the generation Who will passionately praise Him,
Trusting in the greatness of our God.

Sing to the Lord with all of your heart,
Sing to Him a new song,
Sing to Him a new song.

Have you sung a new song?  We tend to sing old songs, the songs we know and are familiar with.  But, then there is a new song.  Think about new and newness.  God renews us.  God gives us fresh new bread.

God refreshes us and we sing new songs.  When we are renewed or refreshed, we sing new songs.  In heaven, nothing is old or decayed or tired.  Everything is fresh and new

On earth, things get worn out; even our minds.  But, God sends renewal and refreshing.  God also sends revival and awakening.  Revival is when the dead come back to life and awakening is when sleepers awake.  I believe we need another great awakening in America and that God is sending it.

I was reading about the Second Great Awakening and the Cane Ridge Revival, yesterday.  Then, I remembered Charles Finney's testimony:

“As I turned and was about to take a seat by the fire, I received a mighty baptism of the Holy Ghost. Without any expectation of it, without ever having the thought in my mind that there was any such thing for me, without any recollection that I had ever heard the thing mentioned by any person in the world, the Holy Spirit descended upon me in a manner that seemed to go through me, body and soul. I could feel the impression, like a wave of electricity, going through and through me. Indeed it seemed to come in waves and waves of liquid love for I could not express it in any other way. It seemed like the very breath of God. I can recollect distinctly that it seemed to fan me, like immense wings.

No words can express the wonderful love that was shed abroad in my heart. I wept aloud with joy and love; and I do not know but I should say, I literally bellowed out the unutterable gushings of my heart. These waves came over me, and over me, and over me, one after the other, until I recollect I cried out, “I shall die if these waves continue to pass over me. I said, “Lord, I cannot bear any more; yet I had no fear of death. 

How long I continued in this state, with this baptism continuing to roll over me and go through me, I do not know. But I know it was late in the evening when a member of my choir for I was the leader of the choir came into the office to see me. He was a member of the church. He found me in this state of loud weeping, and said to me, “Mr. Finney, what ails you? I could make him no answer for some time. He then said, “Are you in pain? I gathered myself up as best I could, and replied, “No, but so happy that I cannot live. 

He turned and left the office, and in a few minutes returned with one of the elders of the church, whose shop was nearly across the way from our office. This elder was a very serious man; and in my presence had been very watchful, and I had scarcely ever seen him laugh. When he came in, I was very much in the state in which I was when the young man went out to call him. He asked me how I felt, and I began to tell him. Instead of saying anything, he fell into a most spasmodic laughter. It seemed as if it was impossible for him to keep from laughing from the very bottom of his heart." (Finney, Memoirs, pp. 21-2)

You will find Finney's testimony quoted in many books about the baptism of the Holy Spirit or revival.  I read stories just like Finney's in Joy Unspeakable, by Martyn Llyod-Jones, which is a super good book by a brilliant, conservative preacher.  If you have trouble relating to Finney's testimony, this book by Jones might be great for you.

Finney is said to be the father of "modern revivalism", but some of the things that are done today, in revivalistic churches or meetings are not exactly the way Finney did it.  This article, by Jim Stewart, is an answer to some of the questions/critiques about Finney's ministry.

When you are baptized in the Holy Spirit, by Jesus, there is power in your life, to witness and you become new and sing new songs.  My long quote of Finney is here for those who have never read this kind of testimony or have not had this kind of experience from God in their life.

Revival can also be called a move of God.  Moves of God are when people get saved, outside and inside the church.  People's lives change for the better.  The result of moves of God, revivals, or awakenings are that people want to return to a pure and simple walk with God, and we rediscover things that are right there in the scripture, that our eyes stopped seeing.

And that's the new song.  It might be new for the first time or made new.  When I am in the new, I am thanking God in my present space and time.  I am not in bondage to the past nor the future.  Someone serving time in prison can sing a new song, because it is connected to God in eternity and reflects hope for today and faith for tomorrow.

When we proclaim that we are singing a new song, we are exclaiming the fact that God is making me new.  He is renewing me.  He is giving me new life and new hope.  That's the new song.  It permeates our whole heart and results in worship of Jesus.

We entered the new year in the Jewish calender, a couple weeks ago.  A new season.  Can you feel it?  The past is history, the future is ahead, and the new is here, if you have God, or rather, if God has you.

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The art above is by Chris