‘The New Song’
The most
popular, and most quoted reference utilizing ‘new song ‘ is found in
Psalm 40:3 where David describes one of the results of the Lord’s working in
his life after he was delivered from the depths of sin when he was saved:
‘I waited patiently for the Lord, and He inclined unto
me and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an 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 even praise unto our God, many shall
see it and fear and shall trust in the Lord.’ (Psalm 40:1-3).
Five more ‘new
song’ occurrences are found in the Psalms with the first Bible occurrence
in Psalm 33:3-
’Sing unto Him a new song; play
skillfully with a loud noise.’ Here
the righteous are commanded to not only sing a new song and play skillfully
unto the Lord, but in the previous verses three other commands to worship are
also given: ‘Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for
the upright. Praise the LORD with harp: sing unto Him with the psaltery and an
instrument of ten strings. (v.1, 2)
However,
this Psalm also includes the harp, which is the national instrument of Israel,
and the instrument of choice in the New Testament worship/songbook of the
Revelation where the Day of the Lord is vividly described in chapters 8, 9,
16-20. And as we will see later in this message, the new song is also a key
term in the book of the Revelation.
The reason
for these commands to worship is found in (v.4)-‘For the Word of the LORD is
right; and all His works are done in truth.’ This powerful call to worship
the LORD is based in the Psalmist’s appreciation for the written living and
powerful Word of God.
Psalm 96:1 ‘O
sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, all the earth’
is the next new song reference and this command to worship is followed by a
dozen more imperative calls to worship the LORD with the end of the Psalm
indicating the ultimate reason for this panoply of praise:
‘For He comes, for He comes to judge the earth: He
shall judge the world [Gentiles] with righteousness, and the people [Jews] with
His truth. (v.13).
Here the
Psalmist looks forward to the great and terrible Day of the Lord when God will
indeed punish the Gentile and Jew alike which will also have a purifying effect
on those Jews who will be saved as a nation in a day! Then, right close in
proximity, Psalm 98:1 echoes the same refrain:
‘O sing unto the LORD a new song; for He
has done marvelous things: His right hand, and His holy arm, has gotten Him the
victory.’
The Psalm
continues this victory theme underscoring His salvation, His righteousness and
with a prophetic view looks to the day when ‘He comes to judge the earth;
with righteousness shall He judge the world [Gentiles] and the people [Jews]
with equity.’ Here again the harp is
utilized in (v.5) showing the importance of this instrument in the worship of
the Lord
In Psalm
144:9 David promises to utilize ‘a new song’ in order to
praise God for His working in the midst of the battle against ‘strange
children’ who were afflicting him. He also includes other musical
instruments of worship, the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings to
accompany this praiseful singing.
The last
Psalm reference is in Psalm 149:1:
‘Praise ye the LORD, Sing unto the LORD a new
song, and His praise in the congregation of saints.’ The first six verses ring with praise, with the
closing verses focusing on a future time of judgment much like Psalm 96 &
98 which could well be an additional reference to the end of the age Day of the
Lord which is also called the Wrath of God (Isaiah 13:9, 13; Zephaniah 1:15).
‘Sing unto
the LORD a new song, and His praise from the end of the earth’
(Isaiah 42:10) is also in the midst
of two prophetic passages the first (v.1-9) describing the ministry of the
Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ during His Incarnation and the second (v.13-17)
describes the Day of the Lord, God’s Wrath which occurs after the end of this
age.
The two
references in the New Testament carry with them prophetic significance also
because they are both found in the book of the Revelation of the Lord Jesus
Christ. The first is in chapter five, where the Lord Jesus is introduced. He is
called the Lion of the Tribe of Judah the Root of David the One Who is able to
open the scroll containing God’s Day of the Lord program for the end of the
age. He appears in form as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
This great
work of redemption He accomplished on the Cross brings forth singing at the
Throne of God by the Four Beasts and the Twenty-Four Elders as these beautiful
lyrics of praise testify:
‘And they sung a new song, saying: Thou
art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof: for Thou was slain
and hast redeemed men to God by Thy Blood out of every kindred, and tongue and
people and nation: And hast made them unto our God kings and priests and they
shall reign on the earth.’(Revelation 5:9, 10) The chapter concludes with one of the most powerful
praise scenes in the Word of God with all of creation giving glory to the
Father and to the Lamb!
But, the
last reference using ‘A new song’ is also one of the most intense and
glorious demonstrations of worship to the Lord and the Lamb because of the
presence of this choice group of saints, the 144 Thousand Hebrew men who make
up half of this antiphonal choir singing the “new song” on earth and ‘the harpers’ in heaven making up
the other half by resounding this majestic praise song:
‘And I heard a Voice from heaven, as the Voice of many
waters, and as the Voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of
harpers harping with their harps: And they sung as it were a new
song before the Throne, and before the four beasts and the elders: and
no man could learn that song but the hundred forty four thousand, which were
redeemed from the earth.’(Revelation 14:2,3)
This scene
depicts the LORD setting ‘His King [The Lord Jesus Christ/Lamb] upon My holy
hill of Zion’ (Psalm 2:6). Yes, He is about to make:
‘Thine [The Lord Jesus Christ/Lamb] enemies Thy
footstool’ (Psalm 110:1), and this
magnificent music-filled worship scene with the choir of heavenly harpers and
the earthly choir of these 144 Thousand select sons of Israel has been
organized to celebrate this long-awaited moment!
While we
cannot be dogmatic about the identity of these heavenly harpers, it would seem
likely that the redeemed saints of the Lord in heaven would be the ones
supplying the heavenly music thereby teaching their earthly counterparts, to
whom they have ‘Passed the Torch’ earlier just before the rapture, the lovely
lyrics of this coronation song of the King of kings and LORD of lords!
Although
this ‘New song’ passage does not reveal it’s lyrics one might imagine
the beauty of the multi-faceted harmonies that will be sung by this great
multitude of heavenly harpers, as this united choir of perfection, representing
the Old and New Covenant, will undoubtedly sing on that glorious day to come.
O worship the King all
glorious above,
O gratefully sing His power
and His love;
Our Shield and Defender, the
Ancient of Days,
Pavilioned in splendor, and
girded with praise. [‘O Worship the
King’-Robert Grant, c. 1779-1838]
That’s it…Yes…Well, it surely
seems to fit the moment does it not? But, these words also match the occasion!
“Lift up your heads O ye
gates, and be ye lift up ye everlasting doors
And the King of glory shall
come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The Lord strong and mighty
in battle.
Lift up your heads, O ye
gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors;
And the King of glory
shall come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The Lord of Hosts, He is
the King of glory. Selah.” [Psalm
24:7-10-David, King of Israel]
However,
there are some most significant words being proclaimed from heaven at this
point in history:
‘And the seventh angel sounded, and there were great
voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of
our Lord and of His Christ; and He shall reign forever and ever.’(Revelation
11:15)
The Seventh
Trumpet has sounded ending the 70th Week of Daniel which is when the
above scene on Mt. Zion takes place in Revelation 14:1 for the Lord Jesus
Christ, at this point in history, is literally being made King of Israel by the
twelve tribes, and the kingdoms of this world become His at this very same
time. Therefore, the words from these ‘Great voices in heaven’ proclaiming
this magnificent event may well be the words of this last ‘New song’
in the Word of God!
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