Oh sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth! Sing to the LORD, bless His name; tell of His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous works among all the peoples!
Psalm 96:1-3
My daughter and I sat in the upper deck at Williams-Brice Stadium on October 9, 2010, with absolutely no hope of beating the number 1 Alabama Crimson Tide as they came rolling into Columbia. Like most, I was there to watch Alabama dismantle another unfairly matched foe. It was a perfect fall day for football. As the game progressed, we began to see a glimmer of hope that we could give Alabama a good match. South Carolina had never beaten a number 1 team in football…EVER. So this was a pretty special day.
You would not have believed the sounds of excitement and cheering as the fourth quarter began. And when it was all said and done, no time left on the clock, we had beaten Alabama 35-21. My daughter looked over at me, and I had tears in my eyes. I can remember sitting in those stands and watching our team go through 21 consecutive losses in 1998 and 1999. Yes. I was a grown man shedding tears. The stadium blew up with excitement over the win. It was something to experience.
We need a fresh song of praise
What a spectacular invitation to the whole earth. There is a freshness of God’s grace, mercy, and love for us each morning. The chorus to one of the church’s great hymns goes like this:
Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided-
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!
That is a new song. That is a song of praise. That is a song that should capture our every morning’s thoughts. Regardless of our situation in life, God provides new mercies each morning for us to enjoy. I don’t know what it is for you, but it is beautiful. Perhaps it is another morning’s breath. Maybe it’s the sunrise or a beautifully painted sunset. Whatever it is, lift your voice and sing a song of thanks to God who provides all you need.
God invites the whole earth to join in this great choir of praise. We should boast over His mercy towards us. Can you think of ways God provided mercy for you this morning?
We need to tell the world of our salvation
This next section encourages us to praise His name and tell everyone about his salvation from day to day. This section reminds us not only to cheer from the stands but also to tell His story to everyone we meet. Are you going through a difficult time? God knows about that and is there to provide for you. Can you see the progression? We first invite the whole earth to sing and shout praises to the Lord because He is faithful. Now we are to tell the world about His salvation.
The word “tell” is where we get our concept to evangelize. That’s a churchy word that means we tell others what God has done for us through our salvation. It is our responsibility to tell the world our story about how God, through Christ, changed our lives, perspective, and outlook on life. What He did for you, He can do for others.
We need to introduce our God to the nations
Declare means to make known, announce, or tell. It is our responsibility to tell about God’s glory and marvelous works. When we see them, we must share them. But sometimes we fail to see God’s marvelous works when we’re dealing with our issues. It could be health issues or financial issues or any other kind of problem. Regardless, God doesn’t give us room to wiggle out of telling everyone we see about His great love for us and His marvelous works among us. The idea of a marvelous work is something supernatural or out of the ordinary course of what man can do.
If God’s faithfulness is new and His mercy is new each day, we should do all we can to declare that with a shout of praise and a song of joy to our friends and those God has placed in our lives.
I’m not going to lie. Following God in tough times is not easy, but it is necessary. Maybe today is when you put aside your difficulty and despair over things you can’t control and give God praise because of his marvelous works. Sing that new song before your friends today. Encourage others because the God you serve is an excellent God who is intimately involved in your life. He desires to hear that new song every day.
And when it’s all said and done, you sit back as I did in 2010 with a tear running down my face in excitement and joy because we did something I never thought we could do. We beat a number 1 team in the nation.
Here’s what I know. We need a fresh encounter with God today. Are you ready? Go to Him and seek Him. He is waiting for your response to his newly given mercy and grace to you.