A New Song

“Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth.”  (Psalm 96:1)

This verse came to mind at worship today when I heard the missionary from Guatemala sing the familiar tunes of Christian singer/song writer Matt Redman in Spanish.

I have to say that The Lord has profoundly transformed me during the last decade; and I believe that His most useful tool to reach my disheveled heart has been praise and worship music.  Ever since the first time I became acquainted with the genre, God began to work in me, to change me.  I remember the night I came face to face with Christian music.  It was at an Alive Festival in the bowels of the Ohio farmlands about 8 years ago.  The Lord used the melancholic rock tunes of Third Day to pull at the strings of my heart with an intensity that permanently marked my soul.

He sure has never let go ever since.

I listen to praise and worship music exclusively now.  Bible verses flow freely in my car, out of my IPod and in my home all day long.  The melodious voices of all the popular contemporary Christian singers teach me the Word in song every time I listen to them, and for that I praise the Lord with all my soul.

Songs like “You Never Let Go” and “Blessed be the Name of the Lord,” by Matt Redman have been among my favorites right from the beginning.  I consider them “classics” in my repertoire.  But today, at worship, they became a “new song” to sing to the Most High as I heard them sang in my native language Spanish for the very first time.  

I never imagined the impact hearing those songs in Spanish would have in me.  But they truly became a “new song” skillfully performed by the Guatemalan missionary visiting our church, and for that I am most grateful.  The familiar words became fresh with the sounds of long ago.  The Lord turned the songs into living waters for my thirsty soul.

He sure put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to Him, our God. (Psalm 40:3)

Blessed be the name of the Lord…Blessed be His glorious name for He never lets us go.