O sing to the Lord a new song;
Sing to the Lord, all the earth!
Sing to the Lord, bless His name;
Proclaim good news of His salvation from day to day.
Declare His glory among the nations,
His marvelous works and wonderful deeds among all the peoples.
For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised. (Psalm 96:1-4 AMP)
Your progress will have no limits when you come along with me, and you will never stumble as you walk along the way. (Proverbs 4:12 TPT)
Last week I found myself searching up an old Vineyard worship song I hadn’t thought of in years. Having been in church music for decades, I have played and sung a variety of songs over time, many of which have formed a sort of sound track to the events of my life. I remember this person or event or emotion when I hear that song. Perhaps you’ve had the same experience – that a song can trigger a memory.
Many years ago one of my volunteers was leading devotions at a rehearsal from an article that mentioned the phenomenon of songs triggering memories. However, the spiritual application was to not let your faith be stuck in a past era. If your faith is still the same as when you first sang “Old Rugged Cross” or “Because He Lives” or “Shout to the Lord” or “10,000 Reasons” or…. you get the idea ….. then it’s probably time to allow God to move, change, and grow you beyond that faith of former days.
All the meaningful songs of the past are important parts of our faith development. They’ve spoken for us or to us, they’ve comforted us, they’ve expressed our worship, they have meant something valuable to us. Much like Moses set up altars and memorial stones to help the people remember, much like Jesus commanded us to remember him when we take the elements of communion, our songs help us remember God. But if we only remember, we miss what God is doing and will do in our lives.
Jesus told us that we can’t put new spiritual “wine” into old wineskins; the pressure of the fermenting new wine would expand and break the old skins. God can’t give us new visions, dreams, purposes, if we are stuck in the old. Repeatedly in the Bible we are told to “Sing a NEW song.” We must always be willing to let God create new spaces within us for what he wants to give us for our future. As we learn and grow, remembering the past, but not stuck in it, the new “wine” of the Spirit can fill us full to overflowing.
God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow, but we aren’t. We finite beings are always growing and developing – for better or worse. May the prayers we pray, the dreams we have, and songs we sing today and tomorrow reflect our growth in God.
God of Abundant Life,
We bless your name and declare your glory and abundant salvation to the world. You are great and greatly to be praised. Thank you for the wonderful songs, dreams, and visions you have given us for our lives. Thank you for continually calling us to grow in you. Help us remember what you have done in the past and your faithfulness to us. But help us not be stuck in the past, but be willing to grow and change and be pliable so that you can put the new “wine” of your Spirit within us. Give us new dreams, visions, and purposes that help further your Kingdom. Help us to sing older and new songs, hymns, and spiritual songs with joy and a full knowledge of who you are for us. May we celebrate your marvelous and wonderful works with all your people, we ask in Jesus’s name, AMEN.
“No one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the [fermenting] wine will [expand and] burst the skins, and the wine is lost as well as the wineskins. But new wine must be put into new wineskins.” – Jesus (Mark 2:22 AMP)
Let the Spirit fill your life. When you meet together, sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, as you praise the Lord with all your heart. Always use the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to thank God the Father for everything. (Ephesians 5:18-20 CEV)
Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He got up early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain. He set up twelve memorial stones for the twelve tribes of Israel. (Exodus 24:4 EHV)
Then Jesus took bread and spoke a prayer of thanksgiving. He broke the bread, gave it to them, and said, “This is my body, which is given up for you. Do this to remember me.” When supper was over, he did the same with the cup. He said, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new promise made with my blood.” (Luke 22:19-20 GW)
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:8 NKJV)