A new song!

Walking in Truth during the 12 Days of Christmas

First, a correction. In my SAT 12/26 devotional I mistakenly referred to Jan. 5 as the 12th Day of Christmas AND Epiphany. January 5 might be the 12th Day of Christmas, but it is NOT Epiphany. We celebrate Epiphany on Jan. 6. Sorry for the confusion.

Today's scriptural thoughts

"Sing to the Lord a new song . . . Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous deeds among all peoples . . . "  Psalm 96:1, 3

"Sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done marvelous things; His right hand & His holy arm have worked salvation for Him. The Lord has made His salvation known & revealed His righteousness to the nations . . . "  Psalm 98:1-2

"Praise the Lord. Sing to the Lord a new song . . . Let them praise His name with dancing & make music to Him with timbrel & harp . . . "  Psalm 149:1a, 3

"Sing to the Lord a new song, His praise from the ends of the earth, you who go down the sea, & all that is in it, you islands, & all who live in them . . . "  Isaiah 42:10

Today's devotional thoughts

Hark the herald angels sing! Betcha a dollar you sang this favorite hymn at a Christmas Eve or Christmas Day service. Here's the rub. If you read the familiar account of Jesus' birth in Luke 2:1-20, carefully, carefully read & re-read the part where the angels announce the birth of Christ in Bethlehem. 

They announce the birth for sure. It doesn't say anything about singing. But I digress. And it has nothing to do with the point of my devotion anyway.

"Sing to the Lord a new song!" We read & heard these familiar words during Advent, as we prepared to celebrate the birth of our Savior. Chances are you may have read or heard them again during a Christmas Eve or Christmas Day service. 

Singing Christmas music is such a special part of the Christmas celebration that it hardly seems necessary for the psalmists & prophet to remind us to "praise the Lord" & "sing." But we're not told to sing just any song. We're told to "Sing to the Lord a new song." [WARNING! This may require some metaphorical thinking!]

And why would that be worth noting? It would be worth noting because:

• On that very first Christmas Eve or Day a new song was sung.
• It was a new song because after hundreds of years of silence--God's last Old Testament prophet Malachi had spoken over 400 years earlier--the long awaited Messiah was born . . . a new song!
• A new song, because He was born after hundreds, thousands of years of testimony, dating back to the Garden of Eden [See Genesis 3:15.], a Savior had been promised. That's an old prophecy!
• And God's people had waited . . . and waited . . . and waited . . . How many old men & women had died with their dreams of seeing the Messiah in person left unfulfilled? 
• A new dawn broke upon the earth on that first Christmas morning, & while the angels may not have sung a new song, I can't help but think that the shepherds sang a new song of praise as they returned to their flocks, having witnessed the miracle of the Messiah, come to earth as a little baby boy.
• We, too, are able to sing a new song, because this little baby boy was born to grow up, live the holy life that you & I could never live, die the bloody death that you & I should have died, took the punishment that you & I deserved--death on the cross-- then conquered death when He rose on the 3rd day.
• "Sing to the Lord a new song!" Truly a song unlike any other 

Today's prayer thoughts

I choose stanza 7 from one of my favorite hymns, "Earth & All Stars," (LW #438):
Children of God, dying & rising,
Sing to the Lord a new song!
Heaven and earth, hosts everlasting,
Sing to the Lord a new song!
He has done marvelous things.
I too will praise Him with a new song!