New song

I went to Catalyst last week in Duluth, GA. And for two days I and 13,000 other next gen leaders listened to preachers and communicators inspire us to make our mark and to do something great for Jesus' kingdom.
But preaching wasn't the only thing that was on the Catalyst menu for those two days. A big part of the Catalyst Conference was the amazing and dynamic worship that we experienced.
We sang along with Steve Fee and Aaron Keyes among other gifted and anointed worship leaders and bands. And many of the songs were songs that I've known for years, but there were others that were entirely new to me. And as we, the crowd turned choir, lifted up our voices, I realized something about singing, and more specifically about singing a new song.
I realized that when I sing a new song, replete with fresh & sacred (not a paradox) language and lyrics, that my concept of God is expanded. Conversely, when I get stuck in singing the same songs (praying the same prayers, reading the same books, etc.) the parameters around my concept of the greatness of God become frozen.
6 times the Bible instructs us to "sing a new song" to God. Why is that? I think it's because when we robotically (via human nature) sing an old song (that was new at one point in time), passion and perspective can't help but bleed. We can sing an old song with fresh passion and perspective, but it's hard. When you sing a new song, passion and perspective come more easily because it forces you to think about God in ways you haven't previously thought about Him. When you use words that you hadn't previously used to describe God, your evaluation of his greatness actually expands in real time.
So, are you singing a new song?

Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth. (Psalm 96:1)

Comments

[James Turner]

Good stuff!

[Andrew Wilson]

Thanks James. It's a principle that I'm learning applies in just about every arena of my life. When I challenge myself to pray and worship with new and un-stale language, I grow. When I don't, I don't.