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May 15, 2019

365 Days of the Great Names of God, Day 166: His Name Is Our Song


His Name Is Our Song

"Sing praises to God and to his name! Sing loud praises to him who rides the clouds. His name is the LORD—rejoice in his presence!" (Psalm 68:4 NLT)

One of my favorite moments as a mom is when my younger daughter and I are riding in the car and she says to me, "I have a new song I want you to hear."


My daughter is a fan of good worship music, so I usually love the songs she plays for me. 

(I do feel, however, that it is only honest to mention that more of our car rides feature conversations on such topics as her killer online Spanish III class, whether or not she should stay in marching band, and the maddening complexities of teenage-girl skincare. All of which makes me appreciate the "new song" moments even more.)

"New" is a big theme in God's story, so it should come as no surprise that when we trust Him for a changed life, He also changes our song: “I waited patiently for the Lord; He turned to me and heard my cry…He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God" (Psalm 40:1,3a).

The song of the saved is not new because it’s unfamiliar; it's new because it's unlike the songs we sang before. Think of how we say that someone is "whistling a different tune." When we come to know the One who rides the clouds, our hearts are tuned to sing His grace—and so we sing a different song.

Once in a while, though, we get stuck singing the old songs—songs of regret or guilt or shame. To be sure, there is a time for songs of lament and repentance. But when God calls us to give up a song, it’s because it’s time to sing a new one.

Here, as in so many places we have to go in faith, we sometimes have to do before we feel. Sometimes, we have to sing a new song with our minds, lips, and voices even though our hearts aren’t in it yet. But when, in the singing, our hearts catch up, we find it is not only our song that’s new.

Oh God, Your name is our song. Help me to make it known.


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Song suggestion: "Come Thou Fount;" Page CXVI; original words by Robert Robinson; original tune Traditional American melody; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_HGdRnQ3ro.

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I'd love to hear from you! Feel free to tell me what you really think. Years ago, I explained to my then-two-year-old that my appointment with a counselor was "sort of like going to a doctor who will help me be a better mommy." Without blinking, she replied, "You'd better go every day." All of which is just to say I've spent some time in the school of brutal honesty!