Singing is reserved for more than just the talented vocalists. While you may not want to display your vocal prowess on a microphone for all to hear, human existence requires a song occasionally. It might be that tune you sing in the shower, that chant you belt in the stadium, or that jam that comes on the radio.
Sometimes, we connect with something so much that simple words will no longer do. We can’t talk about it; we’ve got to sing about it.
10 Sing a new song to the Lord;
sing his praise from the ends of the earth,
you who go down to the sea with all that fills it,
you coasts and islands with your inhabitants.
11 Let the desert and its cities shout,
the settlements where Kedar dwells cry aloud.
Let the inhabitants of Sela sing for joy;
let them cry out from the mountaintops.
12 Let them give glory to the Lord
and declare his praise in the coasts and islands.Isaiah 42:10-12
The Prophet Isaiah encouraged God’s people to sing a new song to Him (Isa. 42:10). Why wouldn’t the old ones do at that time? There’s nothing wrong with the songs of our past, but when God provides a present deliverance, a new song is required.
The remarkable thing about Isaiah’s instruction was that God’s people probably didn’t feel like singing then. They were in the midst of unpacking the consequences of their actions.
They had failed to listen to warnings and were experiencing their deserving punishment. That’s not a time to sing! We want to sing when we feel like it. But if we don’t learn to sing even when we don’t feel motivated to do so, we may not endure through those difficult times.
The people were confused, scattered, and hopeless, yet they were expected to sing. For even in their punishment, God has not given up on them! In the first 39 chapters of Isaiah, he warned about judgment. But once the Father’s discipline came, Isaiah 40 turned a corner to declare that even though God’s people walked away from Him, He never walked away from them!
That is a reason to sing! Isaiah then begins to command people to sing down at the coast (Isa. 42:10) or even from the mountaintops (Isa. 42:11). He highlights many different geographical markers to indicate that you have reason to praise regardless of where you are. No matter if you are where you want to be right now, you have a song to sing because you aren’t where you could be. Give glory to the LORD (Isa. 42:12), for no matter where you are, He is there with you.
Music is God’s gift for us to express our deepest convictions and emotions in a fitting way. No matter what is going on in your life, there’s always a reason (and a need) to sing.
Travis Agnew serves as the Lead Pastor of Rocky Creek Church in Greenville, SC. His most recent book is Just (About) Married.