I enjoy reading and hearing the stories behind the hymns and songs in the church’s hymnal and the songs newly written and shared on the radio. Whether it is the story of Horatio Spafford who wrote It is Well with My Soul or Anne Wilson’s song My Jesus, the depth of emotion and need for trusting God amid disaster is brought to reality in the lyrics.
In Psalm 40, the psalmist, after expressing how God lifted him out of the miry pit, states, “He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God” (verse 3a). The salvation of the Lord transforms the psalmist’s present condition, and the Lord places a song into the heart of the psalmist to be proclaimed. This new song is not told to us. Yet, we know the song is a testimony to God’s faithfulness and God’s salvation for the second part of the verse states, “Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him” (Verse 3b).
As a child singing did not come easy for me. I could not find the right pitch and I was off key. Someone who knew me as a child commented on this reality recently. She said, “It did not matter to Matt that he was off-key; he would still belt it out.”
Notice the psalmist does not say, “I sang the song in tune. Or, I sang that song in the right pitch.” The psalmist states the song came directly from his heart and the people who heard the song would “see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him.” The Lord placed this song in his heart and the words proclaim the importance of God’s salvation in his life.
What song do you have in your heart? Is it a song written and proclaimed in churches on Sunday? Or are there words to a song placed in your heart during difficult times of life that remind you of God’s faithfulness? Our God is a singing God. Our God speaks in the words spoken, and in the words we sing. Our God places songs in our heart and does not require we sing them in-tune. He asks us to sing them out of our experience so other people can put their trust in the Lord.
Prayer: Thank you for the songs you place in my heart. Some of those songs come out of my experience of difficult times, while others come out of celebration. No matter the conditions that brought forth the song, give me the confidence to proclaim these songs that others might know you, Lord. In Jesus’ name. Amen.