The New Song – Emily's Snippets

As I write these words, the whispers of a new season of Spring surround me. The new growth of tulips and the buds on the forsythia beckon me to the newness and all that a new life in Jesus Christ means. The Song of Spring sings in my heart…and I remember my Grandfather Suderman. He grew up in a house of music in an unlikely location in the middle of Kansas on a farm.

I often think of him guiding his horses, pulling a plow making furrows in the deep, black rich soil. He walked, step by step, guiding the plow. What was he thinking as he looked up in the skies that spanned his view? Did he praise God in the field as he worked to provide for his family?

My Mother tells me about the pitch pipe he blew to get the pitch to learn a new song, sitting in a wooden kitchen chair. His melodious tenor voice sang the do-re-mi’s of the key and note-by-note he sang. He learned all four parts, soprano, alto, tenor, and bass, to teach the Ebenfeld Mennonite Church choir.

One day, his intense concentration was broken when the chair tipped too far. He fell in the middle of directing a song to the floor. His children could not hold back their laughter. Grandpa loved new songs that proclaimed God’s glory. His rhythm was impeccable. I played the piano for him as a child and felt his hand on my shoulder patting the rhythm.

Musicians look for THE new song. A Christian faith is a singing faith. Have you ever felt discouraged with life when it becomes more than you can bear? This is the time to begin praising God, singing a hymn or praise song that brings life to our hearts. A new song of praise renews the heart.

God is all about ‘New’. The scripture speaks of a NEW creation, song, commandment, body, life, heart, mercies, covenant and Jerusalem. God is not about being a ‘fixer-upper’ but in the newness of our hearts and minds. These new things can’t be bought. They can only come from God and following His Son, Jesus.

Songs underline each celebration in life’s important events – Happy Birthday, Silent Night, Twinkle Little Star, Lullabies, and Graduation. Each moment of celebration needs a song to make it complete. For years, after a baptism into God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit, we sang this chorus as an affirmation, “Now I belong to Jesus, Jesus belongs to me, Not for the years of time alone, But for eternity.”

What does singing praise to God do for us? First of all, the oxygen we take in which is a breath from God in our lungs is expelled in a melody of praise. Each time I visit my dear husband, I am amazed how the old hymns are his joy. He snaps his figures, claps, and waves his arms and comments. Once he said, I wish I could sing!” He doesn’t remember often, but he remembers hymns of faith.

For a time I enjoyed playing the piano and singing. Old age arrived with a vibrato knocking me off key. There are others more talented who play the piano. Suddenly the lyrics on the screen became vivid and the songs I have long heard – take on a deeper meaning. With every change in life, I find comfort, hope and a new breath of God’s love in the lyrics. A way of worship made new through God- inspired lyrics is now mine.

Then I find this verse telling me Our Lord God sings. Zephaniah 3:17- For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty Savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.”

There is nothing more exciting to me, than the anticipation of learning and singing praise to God, face-to-face in Heaven. As the years pass by and my loved ones who become absent from the body and present with the Lord, I remember this verse. Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5:8.

Worshipping God becomes rejoicing with laughter and song and tears falling as the immensity of our Lord God becomes to us. He comforts us with His words of His Holy Bible.

A week ago, I posted a scriptural Snippet with this verse… They had rowed three or four miles when suddenly they saw Jesus walking on the water toward the boat. They were terrified, but he called out to them, “Don’t be afraid, I am here!” John 6:19-20. After a phone call, I learned that my little brother was absent from his body. The verse I chose 5 days before suddenly gave me comfort, “Don’t be afraid, I am here!” I praised God that day through tears for His timely comfort.

This great choir sang a wonderful new song in front of the throne of God and before the four living beings and the twenty-four elders. No one could learn this song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. Revelation 14:3

This verse paints a vivid word picture. I want to know this wonderful new song in Heaven and sing before the throne of God. My prayer is to be faithful to Him and be among the redeemed by the way I live on this earth.

I will sing of the Lord’s unfailing love forever! Young and old will hear of your faithfulness. Your unfailing love will last forever. Your faithfulness is as enduring as the heavens. Psalm 89:1-2

Praise the Lord with melodies on the lyre; make music for him on the ten-stringed harp. Sing a new song of praise to him; play skillfully on the harp, and sing with joy.For the word of the Lord holds true, and we can trust everything he does. Psalm 33:2-4

He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord. Psalm 40:3

Sing a new song to the Lord, for he has done wonderful deeds. His right hand has won a mighty victory; his holy arm has shown his saving power! The Lord has announced his victory and has revealed his righteousness to every nation! He has remembered his promise to love and be faithful to Israel. The ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God. Psalm 98:1-3

Sing a new song to the Lord! Sing his praises from the ends of the earth!
Sing, all you who sail the seas; all you who live in distant coastlands. Join in the chorus, you desert towns; let the villages of Kedar rejoice! Let the people of Sela sing for joy; shout praises from the mountaintops! Isaiah 42:10-11

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