A New Song

Singing a new song is mentioned nine times in the Bible.

Have you ever wondered what these new songs are?

When Scripture says “sing a new song,” I don't believe it's talking about abandoning the old songs or adopting a new musical style. I believe new songs are about something new that God has done—and the praise that springs from it.

Let’s look at three of the Psalms that speak about singing a new song: Starting with Psalm 40

Psalm 40, verses one to three says this:

I waited patiently for the Lord;
And He inclined to me and heard my cry.
He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay,
And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.
He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;
Many will see and fear And will trust in the LORD.


-New songs are personal-

We should all have a song on our lips of what God has done in our lives that is fresh, and that will inspire others.

What has God done for you today, this week, this month, or this past year?

That is your new song.

Each of us are storytellers of the things God has done and is doing in our lives.  Just like the song, we can also say, “Stop, and let me tell you what the Lord has done for me!”

That is your new song.


The new song is not manufactured by us, but it comes from what God has done in our life.

And throughout our lives, God keeps giving us new reasons to praise him. New songs!



Psalm 96

Psalm 96, verses 1 through 3 says this:

Sing to the LORD a new song; Sing to the LORD, all the earth.
Sing to the Lord, bless His name;
Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.
Tell of His glory among the nations,
His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.


-New songs are shared outwardly-

This new song we sing is the song of the great commission.
Each Christian is called to take that song outward—to tell others the good news about Jesus Christ.
Christians are commanded by Christ to take the gospel out into the world and share it.

The gospel is not a new message every day.  It is the same good news of what God has done through Jesus Christ.  But that good news never grows old, because God's grace is continually experienced anew by every generation and by every believer.


Psalm 98

Psalm 98, verses 1 and 2 says this:

A Psalm.
O sing to the LORD a new song,
For He has done wonderful things,
His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him.
The Lord has made known His salvation;
He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations.

-New songs are about our God who saves-

The Bible is a single and continuous Salvation history, the story of God’s workings to save the human race from sin and death.  

God has always desired to save all of humanity.
God has always been working toward the salvation of the nations.

And God has been intervening in human history, in real time, since day one.

The coming of Christ was not God's beginning to care about the nations. But it was the climax of a plan in which God had been working toward saving the nations all along.

At the cross, God accomplished what He had been working toward throughout the story of Scripture—the salvation of humanity through His Son.

This is a new song because God’s saving work is current and active.

God is working in the world today.

Through Christ, what we love is changed.
What we trust is changed.
What we fear is changed.
How we speak is changed.
And how we treat other people is changed.

That is a new song.


We are new creatures in Christ.

And new songs come from the new things God does in new people.