A New Song | Monday Invocation
“O sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things.”
Have you ever read something and immediately felt nope—I’m just not on that level?
This weekend’s lectionary reading includes the first five verses of Psalm 98, a passage in which the writer urges readers to praise God with a new song for the marvelous things God has done.
If you’re familiar with the Psalms, you know they cover a wide range of fairly extreme emotions: from joy to lament, thanksgiving to rage, adoration to scorn—these passages, when read from an incongruent headspace, can feel contrived.
This cognitive dissonance between the writing on the page and the feelings in our hearts is uncomfortable, isn’t it? Maybe you’ve had a tough start to your day. Maybe you’re in the midst of grief over a loved one or a situation beyond your control. Maybe you’re afraid, staring down a future filled with questions you simply cannot answer.
You’re not alone, beloved.
It can be easy to ascribe inauthenticity to the psalmists. After all, their words can feel so far removed from daily life. Were their lives really so exhilarating that their highs could be so high and their lows so low?
Yet, there’s some beauty to these words that seem to aspire towards a feeling, a posture that may better our spirits.
Perhaps there’s not a new song for you to sing—maybe there are new words for you to write, new breaths for you to breathe, new steps to take. There are so many ways in which your very being is an act of worship to your Creator. As one who bears God’s image, you are a unique reflection of God’s creativity, diversity, and joy.
May that new thing, whatever it may be, resonate through your authentic self, for God has done a marvelous thing in creating you.
Sing that new song.
Breathe that new breath.
Take that next step.
God is doing a marvelous thing.
