Come, Sing A New Song

O sing to the Lord a new song, 

for he has done marvelous things. 

His right hand and his holy arm

 have gotten him victory.

(from Psalm 98)

When The Faith We Sing, a new songbook, was published I discovered there were several types of new songs.

Some of the new songs, such as "Down to the River to Pray", had been around for a long time, but singing it was a new experience to me.

Other songs, such as "Where Children Belong" were new because they were recently composed, so I had to learn them.

The oldest “new” song to me is the Song of Moses in Deuteronomy 32:1-42 because I hadn't realized it was a song.

Psalm 98 is an extremely important psalm anchoring the collection of “the LORD is king” enthronement psalms so it’s considered “the theological ‘heart’” of the Psalms.

The possible origin of Psalm 98 was a response to the exile crisis with the “marvelous things” referring to God leading the people out of Babylon in what amounts to a new exodus.

The message being, just as God’s presence was in the Exodus, so God’s presence is may be seen in the return from the Babylonian exile, so a new exodus that invites the singing of “a new song”.

The victory, it seems to me, is that God is present among us doing what God does: working toward salvation through justice.

This means I can sing a new song of hope in the crisis of our fractured world because God is present doing what God does.

I can also sing a new song of hope and healing for people living through a personal crisis because God is present doing what God does.

I discovered retirement is its own personal crisis because of a lifestyle change, but learned to sing a new song of retirement because God was present doing what God does: offering new life.