More than Just Tradition
1 Oh 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.
3 Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous works among all the peoples!
[ESV]
What a powerful passage! Sing to the Lord – we’re alive, we rejoice in His provision, bless His name, for He is great! The Israelites wrote many Psalms – or songs – to chronicle how great God was to them – to thank Him for His deliverance from Egypt, and generally for just being so awesome. This particular one – – was likely written by David as he was restoring the Ark of the Covenant, but the idea of singing a new song to the Lord is nothing new – it’s also mentioned in , , , and just to name a few. One thing is for sure – Israel was not afraid of singing new songs!
There is absolutely something to be said for remembering the old (, ), we are to reflect on the good things that God has done, and praise His name for salvation, deliverance, grace and mercy. We are to remember what His promises are, who He is, but that does not mean that we have to simply repeat the same songs that were sung in the past! Or God is a God of creativity! He gives us ways to express the work that He has done in us, through us, and throughout history! It’s important to be able to speak to a new generation – and coming up with new ways to speak to the current generation can glorify Him immensely.
If we hold on to the old songs, if we sing only the Psalms, then we are worshiping our God, yes. But we also run into the risk of doing things out of rote repetition, out of a sense of tradition. An argument could be made that rigidly holding onto a tradition’s whose very words contradict itself could fall more into a gospel of works than a gospel of Grace.
Rejoice, and Sing a new song to the Lord!
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96:1 Oh sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all the earth! (ESV)
96:1 Oh 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.
3 Declare 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 feared above all gods.
5 For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.
6 Splendor 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 the splendor of holiness;
tremble before him, all the earth!
10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!
Yes, the world is 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;
12 let the field exult, and everything in it!
Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
13 before the Lord, for he comes,
for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness,
and the peoples in his faithfulness. (ESV)
3 Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts. (ESV)
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
and put their trust in the Lord. (ESV)
98:1 Oh 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. (ESV)
149:1 Praise the Lord!
Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise in the assembly of the godly! (ESV)
7 Remember the days of old;
consider the years of many generations;
ask your father, and he will show you,
your elders, and they will tell you. (ESV)
9 remember the former things of old;
for I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me, (ESV)