If you attend a church for any amount of time, you will eventually be asked to learn a new song. For some this is an exciting thing. For others it is not. Perhaps you wonder why we choose to do new songs. By doing new songs, are we saying that the old songs are bad or no longer useful? Not at all. The song selection for a worshipping community does not need to be either new or old, but can be both.
Some may say that we should do new songs because the Bible tells us to. They will point to Scriptures such as those found in Psalm 96:1, which says “Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth;” or Psalm 149:1, which says “Praise the LORD. Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise to the assembly of the saints.” However, most scholars believe that the meaning of these verses, and others like them, has little to do with an actual song, and more to do with what happens in our hearts as God renews us through the Holy Spirit and we see and understand the amazing grace extended to us through Jesus Christ. As our hearts are reborn, then what is expressed is a new song of praise to the King of kings instead of the old song of sin and selfishness. It is the redemption through Jesus Christ within our lives.
After all, think about it. All that is created comes from God. He is the author of all things. How could it be possible to come up with a song, either in content or style, which would be new to Him? As Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 1:9, “there is nothing new under the sun.”
So, why do new songs together? There actually are a number of good reasons. One is to give expression to the artists of each generation that the Lord raises up to lead the people. The Bible has repeated examples of newly composed songs being developed and offered to the Lord by His people in response to something He has done or revealed about Himself. These may not have been new concepts, but for that community at that time, it was a significant thing. These new expressions were added into the repertoire of songs that already existed.
Think of it this way. We all have favorite sermons from various seasons of our life, but we each want to hear a new and fresh sermon as we gather on a Sunday. The new message does not diminish the validity or truth of prior messages. In fact, we may have some recordings of sermons that have been meaningful to us that we listen to again, but we don’t expect that the preacher will give the same message again week after week after week.
Perhaps one of my favorite reasons for doing new songs is something I heard a while back. The exercise of learning a new song together is a unifying thing for a church. As new people come and join a church, instead of always expecting that they will learn all the old songs in order to fit in, the practice of learning new songs together fosters a fresh sense of community as the community changes and grows.
At the church I served at during 2009 we learned a number of new songs together that became expressions for us as we continued to walk with Christ and see God work in our midst. These songs included: Mighty to Save, Revelation Song, Show Us Who You Are, Exalted, Praise the Father, Praise the Son, Unashamed Love, Jesus Only, and Because of Your Love. Each of these songs had a message and truth that resonated with the congregation.
What about in your church community? Have you learned new songs together in this past year? What were they, and what did they mean to you?
May the mysterious and glorious God that we love and serve be honored as His church worships Him together.
Image courtesy of sraburton at stock.xchang
