Sing to the Lord a New Song 2

I'd like to begin by reading three verses from Psalm number 40. I guess, I don't know, I like to read the Psalms in King James. I guess it's because when you memorize Scripture, it's hard to keep changing translations.

And there's a lot of advantage to reading newer translations. But in the Psalms, it's often really refreshing to... Anyway, I'm going to read from King James whenever I'm reading Psalms today. 40, 1, 2, and 3. And he hath put a new song in my mouth.

As we read the Scriptures, we come across that new song again and again. Psalm 96, sing a new song unto the Lord. Psalm 98, sing a new song unto the Lord.

Isaiah 42, sing unto the Lord a new song. All the way back into the book of Revelation, we're still hearing about this new song. From Revelation 5, verse 6. And between the throne and the four living creatures, and among the elders, I saw a lamb standing as though it had been slain, with seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God, sent into all the earth.

And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the lamb, each holding a harp, and with golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, Worthy art thou to take the scroll and to open its seals, for thou wast slain, and by thy blood didst ransom men for God from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.

And thou hast made them a kingdom of priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth. In each case, something wonderful had come to them from God. And they responded to this wonderful goodness of God by offering back to Him in thanksgiving an utterance from their mouths, from their heart through their mouths, an utterance which was completely new, different from any utterance they had ever given before.

They began to sing a new song. And this new song was an expression of a new attitude. It's the evidence that we have seen and have received and truly appreciate God's goodness to us in Jesus.

And when we begin to sing this new song, we don't stop after going for about five minutes. We keep singing this new song over and over all the time. Everywhere we go, in all the things we do, we sing that new song.

He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock and established my goings. And He hath put a new song in my mouth. Not only has God opened my eyes so that I can see the reality of Jesus, not only has He filled me with His life and enabled me to break loose from my past and become a new person, but He has also put in my mouth a new song, and as I sing that new song, my vision of the Lord increases.

The life of God in me begins to expand and grow as I sing. Many of us sang the new song for a while, and then we quit. Maybe we just slowly tapered off.

However it was, when we stopped singing the new song, soon after that, our mouths began to give utterance to things that took us away from God instead of toward Him. What comes out of our mouths? Everything that comes from our mouth either brings us closer to God or drives us farther from Him because what comes out of the mouth reinforces what's going on in the heart. I'm sure most of us will agree that one of the greatest needs we have in our flock is to lay aside our inhibitions.

And our preoccupation with ourselves and our frequent complaining and criticizing of God and man and to begin to sing the new song which God put in our mouths when we entered His kingdom. Philippians 4.4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say rejoice.

Let all men know your forbearance. The Lord is at hand. Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Rejoice in the Lord always. And again I will say rejoice.

Let all men know your forbearance. That's the new song in a nutshell. It has two parts.

Part one, praise to God. Part two, forbearance toward all men. What a difference we will experience in our Christmas this year and in the new year and the days that follow in the new year if we truly begin to sing the new song.

First, praise to God. Rejoice in the Lord always. And again I will say rejoice.

How else can we rejoice in the Lord but to express to Him thanksgiving, praise, with our mouths and with our hearts all the time to indicate to Him how we feel, to say it and to sing it. Now many of us here tend to be a little bit shy. And, as is usually the case, a little impatient with those who aren't quite so shy.

And really the Lord doesn't hold it against us that we're a little shy. No doubt the angels look at us in a puzzled way and scratch their heads and wonder and say to us, if we could but hear them, how can you be so cold in the presence of such a glorious God? But even though we are, most of us here, somewhat shy and self-conscious and reserved and a little bit nervous sometimes and we want to be aware of how other people feel, even though all that is so, the Spirit of the Lord is urging us to begin to sing the new song that we were given. In other words, to begin to approach the Father with a new and fresh attitude.

To lay aside the garment of heaviness and put on the garment of praise. And that comes down to such specific things as when we get up in the morning. To rejoice in the Lord.

And to rejoice in the Lord with our heart, but also with our mouth. To thank Him, praise Him, and all through the day, whatever we're doing, to continue to rejoice in the Lord in our hearts, but to sing, to speak, to say it, to tell Him. And when we come together like this, to come together with the new song in our hearts, and to express it, to sing it, to praise Him and thank Him, because He alone is worthy.

What a wonderful difference it will make for us when we come together and have that new song in our mouths. So that we come together, not only as sponges to absorb, which we need to do. Sponges that often absorb, and then if they're in the mood, and we pick the right hymn, we'll sing a little bit.

But now, after the sponge absorbs, or as it absorbs, it also gives forth. And we begin to join the angels. Therefore, with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven, we laud and magnify Thy glorious name ever more praisingly.

We say it every Sunday. Let's do it. With our hearts, with our mouths, with our lives, do it.

Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I will say, rejoice. Let all men know your forbearance. First part of the new song, praise to God.

Continuous praise, an attitude of constant praise. Part two. An attitude of forbearance to all men.

All men, all women, all people. An attitude, in other words, of kindness, generosity, forgiveness, patience toward all people. Christmas is getting close.

And almost always, when Christmas starts getting close, people start getting nervous. There's so much to be done yet. We didn't take care of that.

We've got some more shopping to do. This isn't done, and that isn't done. Oh, how am I going to take care of it all? And as we start getting a little tense, we also get a little irritable, a little edgy.

People who ordinarily annoy us a little bit, really annoy us now. And our resentments, and our bitterness, and our little paranoid suspicions start becoming swollen and sore. And in some situations, we find that we can't even function.

Oh, I can't stand him. He's impossible. If only she would take off and go to Florida for the winter.

Get out of my hair. Now, whoever was thinking of going to Florida, don't take it seriously. Don't take it personally.

I saw something. It wasn't even Freudian. But is it true? Can we expect that all will be taken care of and changed merely by singing the new song? And the answer is, absolutely.

Absolutely. Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I will say rejoice. Let all men, all people, know your forbearance.

So now, we sing the new song to the man we can't stand, to the woman who's been driving us up the wall. In other words, we approach this person with a new, fresh, God-given, spirit-quickened attitude of forbearance. And now, instead of avoiding them, we draw near to them.

Instead of averting our eye, and as soon as they look, we look down. We look at them, and we open our hearts to them as we look at them. And we desire them good.

We want to touch them with God's love. Now, it may well be that in my heart, if God knows it, I'm developing an attitude of resentment toward a particular person, but I wouldn't for the world want them to know it. See, but now, God is calling through the spirit to make known to this person something quite different.

To make known to this person my forbearance. Now, how am I going to do that? The only way I can do that, the only way I can sing the new song to this person, is to, in fact, draw near to them and speak. I mean, how can I sing the new song to this person if I don't at least say, hello, or Merry Christmas, or how are you doing, or God bless you, or give them a hug, or a smile, or a handshake, or a box of cookies, or something? They say, oh, those are very superficial things.

They don't carry any meaning. That depends on what's in our heart. But if we have forbearance in our heart, there has to be some way of expressing it.

We have to express that to them in some way. And this forbearance has to extend out beyond our own fellowship and our own circle of friends or enemies to the whole world. Let all people know your forbearance.

And this means that cushy lady in the cashier line at Sears, or that madman who just cut you off on the freeway with his big four-wheel drive thing, parking lot guard, the meter man who just gave you a ticket, the mailman, the paper boy. Psalm 96 goes like this. Oh, sing unto the Lord a new song.

Sing unto the Lord all the earth. Sing unto the Lord. Bless his name.

Show forth his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people. He puts a new song in our mouth.

It has two parts. Praise to God. Forbearance to all people.

And we have to sing both parts. If I sing part one only, praise to God, but show no forbearance toward all people, at least I show forbearance to most people, but then there's my wife or my husband or my child or this guy I have to work with. If I fail to show forbearance while I sing praise to God, my praise is empty.

On the other hand, if I try to show forbearance to people without also praising God, my forbearance wears out very quickly. I burn out. But if I sing praise to God and show forbearance toward my brother and sister and all people, then I can go on singing that new song for 50 years and never wear out.

And as we sing, we are changed into the likeness of the God we worship and the lives around us are touched by His grace. He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay and set my feet upon a rock and established my goings and yet put a new song in my mouth even praise unto our God. Many shall see it and fear and trust in the Lord.

He's given us a new song, a song of praise, a song of forbearance. Let's sing it.