Psalm 96

Psalm 96 :1-3  "Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, praise His name; proclaim His salvation day after day. Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous deeds among all peoples."

This opening phrase, 'sing to the Lord a new song' is used many times in the Psalms and I think for a good reason. We indeed should sing, all of us, everyone. Not only sing but praise His name, proclaim His salvation and declare His glory and marvelous deeds to everybody. So, why a NEW song?  It must be NEW because His mercies are renewed every morning and God wants to do something fresh in all of us.

God is all about NEWNESS. So much of our lives are caught up in the "samo" stuff that we always do. Same routine, same rut, same limitations and same "yada yada yada" song. Sure we are thankful, grateful and appreciative of His grace and mercy and we love Him, but the Psalmist challenges us to do something NEW, sing something NEW, say something NEW. If your spiritual experience is stale and your inspiration is 'old' maybe it is time for some refreshing.

Are your prayers cold? Are your dreams on hold? Have you parked your vision? Do you really not expect your life to change much? Life and the enemy have a way of ganging up on our attitudes and mindsets to keep us stuck and stalled. I'm afraid that most of us live the overwhelming part of our existence in spiritual neutral, having lost our drive and just trying to avoid reverse. What is up with that? That is not ok. It is definitely time for a tune up, maybe an overhaul.

How can that happen? Easy to say, but not very easy to do. The key is right here in the 3 verses from Psalms. Let's look at some concepts that we too easily lose sight of and tend to forget. Four words..... name, salvation, glory and deeds.

#1 Name.... Somebody say Jesus! Don't make it corny either. It would be so fresh if believers would talk about Jesus more often. Drop His name in conversations. Actually it is kinda fun. Don't be rude, just mention that you love Him or pray or need Him or appreciate what He does. If He is lifted up, He will draw people to Himself. We need to lift Him up, by name. We need to say Jesus often enough so that we don't feel weird saying His name. Try it.

#2 Salvation... Wow is this ever an awkward word. Shouldn't be, but it is. What I think would make the concept fresh is to make our conversation about it focused on the JOY of our salvation. Be happy, glad, blessed and touched by His grace and what it does for us (salvation) and share that joy in a fresh way. Allow yourself to be joyful. It is Ok to be up. I really need to do this too.

#3 Glory.... Wow, we so need to speak of His glory. His glory is the sum total of His character and attributes. What an overwhelming concept that is, but it needs to be developed into something we put into words. We each must sing, proclaim and declare His glory. Everything else man has done is being glorified in our culture right now. God deserves Glory, all the glory. When we glorify Him, He responds with His wonderfulness. Give God the credit for everything.

#4 Deeds ... Too easy these days to talk about what is not happening rather than what is happening. God is doing many amazing things. In the lives of people, here and around the world. It is not time to give up. It is time to speak of His marvelous deeds. His creation, His majesty, His salvation, glory and name.

I believe it is time for the tide to turn. A NEW song, a NEW hope, a NEW faith, a NEW love. We must speak life into this life. His life, His hope, His faith, His love. Do something NEW today. Watch what happens when you put the focus and attention on Him and not on your circumstance or situation. Those things change, but He doesn't. He deserves a NEW song. It is a NEW day. Sing a NEW song. Be NEW today. Accept His NEWNESS in your life.

What a fresh concept, Pastor Fred

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