“Oh sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.” (Psalm 98:1)

Where does the reader of the psalm get a new song to sing to the Lord? A new hymn book perhaps? Try a different church service? Go to a Christian music concert? Those might work but hardly what the writer of this psalm had in mind. I believe he is thinking about the various people of old, including the psalmists, who brought forth new words and melodies because of what they witnessed.

When you crossed the Sea safely and saw the Egyptians destroyed that was enough to make you sing a song never sung before. Certain things were so marvelous that old songs could not express the feelings of the singers. When Mary finally really understood what was happening to her she broke out in a new song. We still sing it today, but it is her song, not ours.

God continues to do marvelous things. His right hand and holy arm are still at work in the world and in your life if you are His child. Think for a minute. Has God done anything for you so marvelous that you needed new words to express what happened? Our church hymnals are full of songs that came to writers out of God’s marvelous works. We enjoy singing them because they are similar to how we feel. Where is our new song?

Task for Today: Take a sheet of paper and pen and list some things God has done for you already in your life. Any of those things especially marvelous? Has God overwhelmed you with His love or mercy or grace? Write down the words that come to mind, the expressions of thanksgiving, of relief, of joy. Put the words into sentences. Put the sentences into your heart and then let them come out in a new song. You can do it. The psalmist writing for God said you could.