Psalm 96:1-13 Sing A New Song

Our psalmist calls out for us to continually praise our God for his splendor. Don’t just sing the old songs, let His love inspire you to sing a new song. God Is Great!

There are so many of the psalms that were put to music and sung in my lifetime. I LOVE coming upon them in our reading. I can’t help but break out and sing them once again. This is one of those psalms. “Sing unto the Lord a new song” is one of my long remembered songs. When I started singing it today though my husband states he had never heard it before. That may be true but it may also be a result of his poor memory.

I would LOVE to be a song writer. Sometimes I wish I could put music to my poems but that’s not where my talents lie. My dad will just burst into a melody and start pouring out his heart in music and words that pop into his spirit. I don’t believe he has ever written them down or planned them out. It’s just how he praises his God. I burst into song too but it is songs that others have penned. I change some of them to be more personal to me but that is my extent of creating a “new song.”

But this psalm doesn’t mean to sing a “brand new song” of your own making. It means to let the ‘music’ that He has placed in you spill forth in praise to Him; no matter what that form is. Be it singing, writing, painting, dancing, signing, or ANY other creative form of expression. When it is done to praise and lift Him up, it is your song! It is your praise to the Father.

I was wondering about the word “ascribe” earlier. I think the Spirit just answered my question. I looked up the meaning of the word and I didn’t see how it fit. Ascribe is defined as: attribute something to (a cause). To ascribe to the Lord praise, to me, means to let His character inspire your praise. Dwell on His character, His love, His majesty and let it birth in you praise that you then pour out to Him. “Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength! Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name; bring an offering, and come into His courts!” (verses 7-8).

That offering is our praise. Coming into His courts is the personal relationship that we build when we choose to praise Him and focus our hearts on Him. I know I have felt the presence of the Lord when I pour my heart into praising Him. I feel His presence when I sit down to write too. I KNOW that is where the insight into His word comes from because it is NOT from me! He pours into me when I pour out my heart to Him.

THANK YOU Father for pouring into my life through Your Holy Spirit! Thank You for bringing me into Your presence; into Your courts where I can rest and receive refreshing. It has been quite a while since You spoke to me through poetry. I miss that expression. But I am content to wait and “ascribe” to You Your due in other forms for now. THANK YOU for the music You have placed in me. Let it be a blessing to You when I sing, even if it is not technically “a new song.”

So many things pull my attention away. Don’t let me lose focus on You throughout my day. Help me have at LEAST an undercurrent of praise and prayer running through my heart each day.