Sing a New Song

Words to ponder … Sing a New Song … Morrow Mirror, September 8, 2013

The song of the humpback whale is one of the strangest in nature. It is a weird combination of high- and low-pitched groaning. Those who have studied the humpback whale say their songs are noteworthy because these giants of the deep are continually changing them. New patterns are added and old ones eliminated so that over a period of time the whale actually sings a whole new song.[1]  



Throughout history each new generation of Christians composed new songs of praise around the fresh mercies of God, often against the wishes of other Christians; traditionalists who believe new songs ignore the fundamentals of their faith.  Intellectually we know every song began anew in the heart of the composer.  Charles Wesley, for example, was shunned for his hymns because many of them were written to familiar ‘bar tunes’.  Many of the Christians in Wesley’s day, like many of our traditionalists today, believed the new songs were sacrilegious.  Today, many of Wesley’s songs are the traditional hymns we grew up on and for many of us they are a sacred part of our past. 

The psalmist says, “the works of God's deliverance in the lives of his people are many and give us reason to express our praise to him in new ways. His works are more than we can count” (Psalm 40:5). 

 So in the words of Martin R. De Haan “why is our testimony of God's saving grace expressed in the same rote way year after year?”[2]   De Haan believed our hearts and minds should be continually filled with new songs that express the mercies of the cross and of Christ's resurrection power. 

Humanity continues to be created anew with each new generation; the ways of praising God may change, but our ways of praising do not change the gospel story. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1-2). And [then] the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen the glory, glory as the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). Let us sing a new song of God’s saving grace and to God be the glory.

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[1] Martin R. De Haan, New Songs, Our Daily Bread (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Radio Bible Class), 5 December 1992.

[2] Ibid.