Sing a New Song

June 8, 2016

Sing a New Song

Sing a new song of praise to him;

    play skillfully on the harp, and sing with joy.

Psalm 33:3

Please take a piece of paper and make two lists in parallel columns. First, take a few moments to remember the events and happenings in your life over the last few weeks. Now in the column on the left list the things that saddened you. Then in the column on your right, list the things that gladdened you. When you finish this little exercise come back and continue reading.

As you review the list of events or happenings that gladdened your heart, does your list include the joy of being able to pray, “Abba, I belong to you”? Does your list include the joy of being able to worship and study with a community of faith? Perhaps your list includes the time you spent alone with God and your Bible. Does your list include opportunities you had to serve God in a caring, compassionate ministry, or just being a kind and compassionate friend?

As you review the list of the things that saddened you, does your list include your concern that you don’t make enough quality time for prayer and devotional reading? Were there times of spiritual laziness and moral laxity that are grieving you? Jesus’ last commandment was for his followers to love others as he loved them. Were you saddened over your lack of fidelity to this command of Jesus?

As you process your responses to this exercise remember two things. First, “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). Secondly, what kinds of things did you include on your two lists? Was there joy over stuff and sadness over the lack of things, or were your feelings hurt by other people? If so, maybe you need to examine your life for the worship of idols.

When you finish pondering this little exercise, sing a new song of praise to your Abba, and sing with joy because first, last and always, you belong to Abba.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.