Welcome to Buoy, a Life in Deeper Water podcast.

Episode 83. I Sing to the Lord a New Song (wake up to His faithfulness)

Hello human.

Several Psalms talk about “singing to the Lord a new song”.

Psalm 96

1 Sing to the Lord a new song;

    sing to the Lord, all the earth.

2 Sing to the Lord, praise his name;

    proclaim his salvation day after day.

3 Declare his glory among the nations,

    his marvelous deeds among all peoples.

That’s a concise definition of bringing your witness to others. Express your joy to your Creator, praise and proclaim my salvation, and declare His glory, His divine work in your life. In my life.

What is my new song every day?

New songs of praise are what one writer called “fresh manifestations of grace.” I love this. Is not God’s graciousness being manifested in giving us a new dawn—feeding us, clothing us, answering conscious and subconscious prayers? Sustaining brain cells, pumping blood through our veins, giving us timely doses of spiritual sense, and common sense to navigate our relationships, and something as simple as having more than one person in the kitchen at a time.

And is not God faithful to us in a “Jenga” kind of day?  The justly placed blocks to create our tower of good intention for the day. When one wrong move throws you off balance, one unsteady hand brings down what you are working hard to keep securely together. Family. Work. Spiritual growth.

His grace brings us so many things. Joy, prosperity, solutions, revelations, relief, wisdom, patience… all the things that make us His light in a darkening world.

But we don’t hear the new song forming in our heart. Until it is something we are compelled to go to Him for. Something that often comes with a threat to our space.

Consider this:  When I have anxiety about a situation, I immediately want to create a buffer zone, a windfall, a safety net to prevent what I fear most from happening in that situation. This is an extravagant expenditure of time, mental calculations, and emotional strain that screams of my human nature taking over, and the compromised version of who God made me to be. And so inefficient. I often do this when it would be best to just give my fears to Him immediately and let Him carry me through the situation with the peace that comes from His wisdom.

I know I am not alone.  Because there is ample evidence of this in the lives I connect with around me.

We all do it.

Face Our God, Not Our Fears

But we don’t have to face our fears, we need to face our God. Tell Him what we are afraid of and give it to Him. This just happened to me, and it happens all the time. When I actually entered into the situation, I was so completely at peace, and God brought the assurance of others into play with a calming compassion.

I felt His presence, and love.

I felt like singing. I felt like singing about it.

This BUOY is not about fear, it is about waking up each morning face to face with a faithful God. And singing to Him throughout the day, beyond what seem like the bigger moments, those pregnant with fear, threats, destruction. every moment is an opportunity to trust Him, know Him more deeply, live within His faithfulness.  

And become transparent, something of a songbird to others about His movement in my life.

Psalm 40

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

1 I waited patiently for the Lord;

    he turned to me and heard my cry.

2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit,

    out of the mud and mire;

he set my feet on a rock

    and gave me a firm place to stand.

3 He put a new song in my mouth,

    a hymn of praise to our God.

Many will see and fear the Lord

    and put their trust in him.

David had been physically rescued by God. And not just that, a firm place, and he credits God with putting a new song in his mouth, that many will see. For us, the message is to make our daily life, our Jenga of moments about current renewing grace, and bear witness to that…

Waking Up to a Faithful God

We need to get good at this. Why?  Because God’s faithfulness is His nature and He will never stop inspiring awe in us—the breadth, depth, and stature of who He is. Eternity is about living in His glory, in His presence, and singing new song after new song.

Jeremiah talked about this in very tough times, when the Israelites were experiencing desolation and despair, following the destruction of Jerusalem. He acknowledges God’s steadfast love and faithfulness. Another word for steadfast love is mercy. His mercies are endless.

The obedient Israelites embraced the assurance that with each new day they would have a new experience with His faithfulness.

Jeremiah writes:

Lamentations 3:22-23

22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,

    for his compassions never fail.

23 They are new every morning;

    great is your faithfulness.

His Faithfulness Makes Us Want to Sing

I am reminded of lyrics by Matt Redman to the song, How Great Is Your Faithfulness

In part,

In brokenness and wandering

Through all my fear and unbelief

Your faithfulness appears to me again

Through mountain top and valley low

In every season, this I know

Your goodness, like the dawn, will break again

All Your mercies rising

In this heart again

And my soul begins to sing

They are new every morning

New every morning

Great is Your faithfulness

Your mercies are new every morning

New every morning

Great is your faithfulness

Every good and perfect gift

In Your endless grace You give

Flowing from the Father’s heart to mine (I love that line)

Beams of Heaven as I go

Through this wilderness below

The fullness of Your love for all of time

And he adds…

Great is Your faithfulness

All Your people sing

Great is Your faithfulness

Jesus, great is Your faithfulness

Turning our face toward God, toward Jesus, focusing on His faithfulness, is the best possible training for singing to Him. We are made in His image, so our faith comes from His faithfulness. When we look to Him for the lyrics to a new song every morning, and throughout our day, it comes when we acknowledge His faithfulness to each of us, and His presence and power in our lives.

It comes from getting good at naming new songs, new revelations of His renewing grace each day. Through Jesus, we stand alongside the chosen Jewish nation. Because it is God’s story.

And it started long before us, human.

Psalm 98

A psalm.

1 Sing to the Lord a new song,

    for he has done marvelous things;

his right hand and his holy arm

    have worked salvation for him.

2 The Lord has made his salvation known

    and revealed his righteousness to the nations.

3 He has remembered his love

    and his faithfulness to Israel;

all the ends of the earth have seen

    the salvation of our God.

4 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth,

    burst into jubilant song with music;

5 make music to the Lord with the harp,

    with the harp and the sound of singing,

6 with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn—

    shout for joy before the Lord, the King.

7 Let the sea resound, and everything in it,

    the world, and all who live in it.

8 Let the rivers clap their hands,

    let the mountains sing together for joy;

9 let them sing before the Lord,

    for he comes to judge the earth.

He will judge the world in righteousness

    and the peoples with equity.

With His chosen people, Israel, with His creation, everyone sings because He has remembered His love and faithfulness from the beginning.

So, we all share the same chorus of every new song. We share our hearts responding to His divine persuasion.

Let our voices sing! Because there are those who are listening.