A New Song
Notes
Transcript
Researchers Discover The Benefits of Music and Singing
But there’s another reason why we should sing.
Music changes us. It transforms us.
Singing isn’t just a declaration of our joy… it has the power to MAKE us joyful.
ILLUS: Back in 1998, researchers found that music stimulates the auditory nerves and creates brain messages that ripple through the body, influencing muscle tone equilibrium and joint flexibility.
The human heartbeat is especially attuned to sound. As music changes in tempo and volume, it acts as a natural pacemaker. Our breathing slows down or speeds up along with the music.
A study at Michigan State University found that just 15 minutes of listening to music increases levels of immune chemicals that are vital to protect us against disease.
The release of cortisol (the “stress hormone”) dropped by up to 25%.
(Don Campbell, founder of Institute for Music, Health and Education “Bottom Line –Tomorrow” Sept 1998 p. 9)
ILLUS: Then in 2001, scientists were amazed to find that music is able to help heal the body.
• Burn victims, encouraged to sing while having their dressing changed, experienced less pain.
• Cancer patients who listened to - and practiced with - musical instruments, saw their levels of stress hormones drop and their immune systems get stronger.
Professor Richard Fratianne observed: "By helping patients relax, music eases pain and may even speed recovery," (Peter Jaret Reader’s Digest 9/01)
From a sermon by Jeff Strite, B Joyful, 11/15/2009
For a while now the Lord has been leading me to study and preach on music and worship and its role in the New Testament Church. I have been discovering a mountain of stuff that God wants believers to know and practice. It would be reasonable to expect that 2021 will come with several different studies and sermon series’ on that subject.
I was just poking around, barely scratching the surface on this subject, and the phrase “New Song” jumped out at me. God the Holy Spirit used this phrase 9 different times in scriptures. God not only wants us to sing, but He also wants that song to be fresh and new, passionate and real. He does not want old dusty repetition with no connection. He wants genuine passionate worship. The kind of love that flows from a New Song.
A Song of Salvation
A Song of Salvation
O sing unto the Lord a new song: Sing unto the Lord, all the earth.
Sing unto the Lord, bless his name; Shew forth his salvation from day to day.
Declare his glory among the heathen, His wonders among all people.
For the Lord is great, and greatly to be praised: He is to be feared above all gods.
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.
Publicly declare His Salvation
Reach the lost with Song
Give your testimony with Song
See people get saved as a result of the Song
Ira F. Stanphill was born in Belview, New Mexico, in 1914. He has written more than 550 songs, the most popular of which are "Mansion over the Hilltop," "Room at the Cross," and, of course, "Happiness Is the Lord."
On any number of occasions the Lord has given a song to a songwriter when he or she least expected it. Such was the case of Ira Stanphill one afternoon in 1974 after he left the church office where he was pastor in Fort Worth, Texas.
The car radio was on, and as he rode along he listened to some commercial programs. Some were sponsored by establishments that advertised their "happy hour" and their alcoholic beverages. He also heard cigarettes being advertised in terms of how they bring happiness.
The word happiness was used several times in the ads. Ira related to me that he thought at the time that "happiness does not come with these things, but with knowing Christ." He continued, "As this thought really took over my mind I began to sing. I sang a new song, composing words and melody as I drove along. I sang it almost as it is published today."
Happiness is to know the Savior,
Living a life within His favor,
Having a change in my behavior
Happiness is the Lord.
— Lindsay Terry — (Encyclopedia of 15,000 Illustrations)
A Song of Redemption
A Song of Redemption
And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.
And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
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 and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.
A Song of Victory
A Song of Victory
O sing unto the Lord a new song; For he hath done marvellous things: His right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory.
Victory over death
Victory over sin
Victory over the flesh
Victory over addictions
Victory over anxiety
Victory over depression
Victory in Jesus!
A Song of Deliverance
A Song of Deliverance
Send thine hand from above; Rid me, and deliver me out of great waters, From the hand of strange children;
Whose mouth speaketh vanity, And their right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
I will sing a new song unto thee, O God: Upon a psaltery and an instrument of ten strings will I sing praises unto thee.
A Song of Praise
A Song of Praise
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.
Sing unto him a new song; Play skilfully with a loud noise.
LOUD NOISE...
It reminds me of an older lady, who had no affinity for contemporary worship, who was complaining about a particular song used in the worship service at her church. A fellow worshipper responded, "Why, that is not a new song -- it is a very old song! David sang that song to Saul." The older lady replied, "Well now, for the first time, I understand why Saul threw the javelin at him when he sang."
Praise ye the Lord. Sing unto the Lord a new song, And his praise in the congregation of saints.
Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.
Let them praise his name in the dance: Let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp.
Sing unto the Lord a new song, And his praise from the end of the earth, Ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; The isles, and the inhabitants thereof.
Boom! Boom! The two-fold pounding of the avalanche cannon awoke me from my slumber. No, we didn't get snow last night, I mused. But sure enough, God dumped nine inches of fresh snow onto the mountains above. Now, I love winter; it's great skiing on fresh powder. However, I must confess my lament: I'm ready for spring.
As my morning routine ended, I stepped from the comfort of our home to walk to work. The cold damp cut through my jacket strait into my bones. I strolled to my office, looking at the blanket of new snow upon the mountain cap. Just then, I heard my first echo of spring.
A chorus of birds was singing a new song to the morning dawn. Their song resonated with a distant memory of springs gone by. The grey of my heart and the lament formerly on my lips faded; for on that day I heard creation "sing a new song to the Lord" (Psalm 96:1).
This is a day to celebrate and to be filled with God's joy. My grieving quickly turned to joy; and there in my joy I found a newfound strength to champion the day. I again realized one of life's simplicity: my grief was merely an attitude of the heart. There's a lesson there for us all. Like the birds, I made a choice to sing a new song to God. I allowed the joy of the Lord to transform my thoughts, and usher in a mini revival of the heart. My friends, that's what I hope and pray for us all this morning as spring unfolds.
Music is not just an afterthought in the Bible. It is an integral part of our worship to God, just like praying. Bible study, witnessing and preaching is. We have been created to sing to Him. God has left us a witness that we are not to be mundane or careless with our worship in song. We need to offer to Him a New Song, fresh and passionate, dripping with genuine feelings of love and adoration toward Him. So sing songs of Salvation, songs of Redemption, Songs of Victory, Songs of Deliverance, and Songs of Praise with all your might! Sing a New Song!