This evening, we're saving our worship time until after the teaching. I think the reason will be self-explanatory after we jump into the three verses that we're covering tonight.
Isaiah has just been quoting the Lord regarding His ability to declare the future. Now, he breaks into an exhortation for us to worship.
Sing to the Lord a new song. You know, it's interesting to me how many of the popular worship songs aren't to the Lord. Sure, they're ABOUT Him, but I don't get the same feeling of connection in worship when I'm singing, "Our God is an awesome God, He reigns in heaven above," as I do when I'm singing, "Oh Lord, You're beautiful. Your face is all I seek."
Those songs about the Lord certainly have their place in Scripture, and they are an encouragement. But it's the difference between talking WITH the person you love, and talking ABOUT them to someone else. There's a completely different purpose.
What we are to sing to the Lord is "a new song." I think this is great encouragement for songwriters to continue producing worship music, and for the Body of Christ to keep learning new songs.
However, "new" here is the Hebrew word "khaw-DAWSH." It actually means "renewed" or "repaired." The idea is that even old songs are to be fresh in our hearts.
When King Asa heard Azariah the prophet speak to him about being strong in the Lord, Asa's heart was motivated to strengthen his commitment to God.
2Chr. 15:8 ...when Asa heard these words and the prophecy which Azariah the son of Oded the prophet spoke, he took courage and removed the abominable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities which he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. He then restored the altar of the LORD which was in front of the porch of the LORD.
The altar had been in use consistently for sixty years. But it needed restoration, renewal, an improvement. That's the same word as "new" song here.
Do the old worship songs need to be renewed in your heart tonight? Taking some time in God's presence along with a fresh look at the words of an old worship song usually does that for me. David wrote in Psalm 40,
Psa. 40:1-3 I waited patiently for the LORD; And He inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, and He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; Many will see and fear and will trust in the LORD.
No matter how down in the dumps you might be, waiting on the Lord can restore you, and songs will be renewed in your mouth, which then of course gives you even more reason to praise Him:
Psa. 98:1 O sing to the LORD a new song, for He has done wonderful (extraordinary) things...
The word "praise" is "teh-hil-LAW." It comes from the root "hawLAL," as in hallelujah. It literally means "to flash light on, to make boast of, to praise." When we praise the Lord, we're shining light on what he's done. It's like when we point out the great stuff that we think about people: "You're so smart. You're so talented. You're such a good dresser, or skilled craftsman, etc."
When we sing praise to the Lord, we're saying, "God, I love and worship You because you are powerful, merciful, loving, righteous, etc."
Notice the verbs used in these three verses:
- sing (v.10)
- lift up their voices (v.11)
- sing aloud (v.11)
- shout for joy (v.11)
- declare His praise (v.12)
All of these involve creating volume, don't they? Whether you are able to sing like Pavoratti, or simply shout like Garrett Morris ("our top story tonight..."), the exhortation is to make noise.
For some reason, guys especially are self-conscious about this. They might yell their heads off at a hockey game, but you get to church, and it becomes obvious during split-part songs that the women overpower the men. Brothers, this ought not to be!
Lastly, take a look at the command in verse 12: "give glory to the Lord." Glory in Hebrew is "kaw-BODE," which is from a word that means "to be heavy, weighty." When we give God glory, we are honoring Him, we're putting weight behind what He says. We're telling Him that Who He is is a heavy thing to us.
With these things in mind, let's spend some time worshipping the Lord...