Do you like things that are new? For me, it depends on what it is. Something new often means that something has changed, which could be good or bad. Getting a new car is great, but it could lack features that you enjoyed in your previous vehicle. A product being “new and improved” may mean that the manufacturer has changed something you really liked, and the new one might just not be as good. Often, something new happens because something old is no longer sufficient for its task.
Today’s psalm, Psalm 98, starts by saying, “Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things.” Interestingly, this is one of 6 psalms that talk about singing a new song to God (Psalms 33, 40, 96, 144, and 149 are the others in case you were curious). But what’s wrong with our old song that we need to sing a new one? Do we need to constantly be coming up with new songs to praise God appropriately?
Think about your favorite musical artist. Do you stop liking their previous music when they release a new album? Generally not; I’ve been a big fan of the band Need to Breathe for years, and I still enjoy listening to all their music, even songs I’ve listened to for over 10 years now. But there is something uplifting and exciting about finding a new song that you enjoy.
That’s how it is with our praise to God. We can sing the same songs over and over again and they are still great for praising Him. But sometimes it takes a new song to give us a new perspective, or a new song can help us remember what God has done for us at a particular time in our lives. For example, whenever I hear How Great Is Our God, it takes me back to the first time I heard it - at a church leadership convention I attended with a former pastor (and good friend) back in early 2006. That was a new song to me at the time, and it helps me remember what God was doing in my life at that time. Now it’s more of an old song to me, but it’s still a great way to praise God.
The other day I happened upon this video through a social media post, where a talented singer goes through popular hymns and songs used to praise God for the last 1500 years. I’m familiar with even the oldest songs he chose, and they still work well to help me connect to God and worship Him. All of the psalms are really old songs, though we no longer have their original tunes available (plus they would have been sung in the original Hebrew). It’s likely the psalms were written over a period of a few centuries then compiled sometime around 537 B.C., so at this point, all of the psalms are well over 2500 years old!
Psalm 98 is one of joyful celebration to God. Verses 1-3 talk about praising Him for ways He has delivered His people in the past, verses 4-6 are worship of God because of who He is as the great King, and verses 7-9 praise Him in anticipation of His coming to His people:
“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. The Lord has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations. He has remembered his love and his faithfulness to Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music; make music to the Lord with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing, with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn — shout for joy before the Lord, the King.
Let the sea resound, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy; 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.”
While I’m guessing you won’t be picking up a ram’s horn to make music to the Lord anytime soon, the idea is that we should be praising God in whatever way we can do so best for all the things He has done for us and will do in the future, whether that’s an “old” song or a new one.
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