Sermons

Rejoice: Sing a New Song

BY THERESA MCCONNELL | OCTOBER 29, 2006
Psalm 33

Scholars tell us this psalm/song is written after the Hebrew people return from the Exile in Babylon. They were people in captivity. That means they were ridiculed, longing for God’s help. The Psalms or Songs reflect their life together. Sometimes they were those whose “parched lips longed for the water of life” or they felt God had deserted them (Ps 22) …“why have you forsaken me?” Some Psalm’s reflect their deliverance from an unexpected source – Cyrus, King of Persia.

Whatever their circumstance, these people never ceased to worship. They sang praise, called out in prayer and thanksgiving, prayed for others and for themselves. Today we hear the Psalm of a people returned from captivity.

They sing this song before God: Psalm 33 begins with a Call to Worship (v 1-3).

Sing a new song (v3) - song of praise not only for deliverance but because of God’s STEADFAST LOVE.

We see reference to God’s “steadfast love” several times in this psalm. The Greek version of the bible translates " hesed", "steadfast love" as "mercy". Mercy is not an attitude of “feeling sorry for” us; it is an attitude of deep compassion and love that reaches beyond what we “deserve” and provides what we “need”.

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/sermons_that_work_7574_ENG_HTM.htm

(Rev. William S. Bennett has served churches in California, Long Island, and New York City. He is presently on the staff of St. John's in the Village, New York City. )

What do songs do? Songs change OUR tunes… they change us from the inside out. You ever get a song stuck in your mind? I’ve done that before…sometimes it is irritating…”Little rabbit in the woods…” a childhood tune. Can’t get it out of my mind all day long. It sets the tone for my day! On the other hand David, my spouse, not knowing the sermon’s topic for the day – tells me on the way to church that he awoke early this morning and could not get back to sleep. He had a song stuck in his mind… “He Lives”! You know it: “He lives, he lives, Christ Jesus lives today. He walks with me, he talks with me, along life’s narrow way. He lives, he lives, salvation to impart! You ask me how I know he lives. He lives within my heart”.

Or how about this tune: “God is so good…God is so good…. “. They set a tone that’s different from “Little rabbit…”. This new song in my heart changes me from within. Sing a new song!

Sing not the woes and difficulties… but a new song… “There’s within my heart a melody, Jesus whispers sweet and low…fear not I am with thee…”. We might wonder what this new song – hesed, mercy - looks like?

So did Jeff Smith, the Frugal Gourmet on PBS and the Faith and Values channel. He’s also a Methodist minister. He tells this story. He was driving one day in rural Washington state and stopped to allow a herd of sheep to cross the road. As he watched, the phrase "Lamb of God" drifted through his mind. Unable to contain himself, he jumped from the car and asked the shepherd, "What does 'Lamb of God' mean to you?"

Although probably startled to be greeted by such a query from a complete stranger, the shepherd answered without missing a beat. "I know exactly what 'Lamb of God' means," he said. "Each year at lambing time, there are lambs and ewes who do not make it. Inevitably, on one side of the field is a ewe whose lamb has died. The ewe is filled with milk but will not nourish any lamb she does not recognize as her own. Just as inevitably, on the other side of the field is a lamb whose mother has died. That lamb will starve because no ewe will accept and feed it. Working quickly, the shepherd takes the dead lamb and skins it and places the still warm and bloody fleece of the dead lamb over the living lamb. Recognizing the scent of her own lamb now covering the stranger, the ewe will nurse and save the orphaned lamb. She adopts it as her own as if it had always been her own. Through the gift of the lamb who has died, the living lamb is recognized and restored to the fold, nourished, and saved. That is the 'Lamb of God'."

So it is with us. That is why we have a new song in our hearts.

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