A New Song – Devotion 124 – SEEING THE EXTRAORDINARY

I love music. I have my favorite genres, but I appreciate most all music. There is just something about the movement that invokes emotion like nothing else. It can be a song of our heart or just a melody that gets us moving. I love to sing and just enjoy. It doesn’t mean I can sing well, it just means I love to sing. Every once in a while, songs get stuck in my head and they play on a loop. I hear them over and over and over. I catch myself humming the tune even when I am doing something else. It is enough to drive me crazy. It isn’t that I dislike the song – it is actually catchy. It is the song on repeat that is the problem. I end up trying to listen to another tune to offset the one in my head. Sometimes it works and sometimes not so much.

I recently found a song that is my current “get my up and going” song. If I want a little motivation, I just play the song. I can’t sit still when I play it. It’s enjoyable to me. You may see me riding down the road looking like I have an affliction – just know it’s my business and I will be alright. I’m sure we all have those songs that move us and help to motivate us.

That’s great when we have the motivation for us to move – but what about the times when songs of hurt or pain or struggle play in our minds? What about the times when we are captured in the loop of depression, anxiety, grief, or sadness? Those songs not only suck the life out of us, but don’t allow us to even hear there is something more. There is a time and place for all music, but not to play on loop so much that they begin to eat away at our core. We can feel trapped by our current situation and not see a different way. We can become so overwhelmed that the songs in our head all remind us of failure rather than possibility. And it isn’t as easy as changing the station.

Today’s Psalm speaks life to me in these situations. The Psalmist is in a rough place (we all get there sometimes). We all find ourselves trapped in the pit like the Psalmist at some point. But what does God do? He hears, he protects, he secures…and then he does something that is often missed. He gives the Psalmist a new song. This is a song of trust and strength and renewal. It is a song that others notice has changed the Psalmist. God takes the old song off the loop and gives a new song.

I don’t know what you are going through today, but if you find yourself in a loop of anxiety, depression, grief, sadness or just general overwhelming feelings – I pray God gives you a new song. I pray he gives you something to sing about that is joyful and hopeful and full of his amazing love. I pray he changes the station and fills you will life. Sing a new song, God…sing a new song over us.

Focus Scripture:

Psalm 40:1-3

¹I waited patiently for the Lord;
    he inclined to me and heard my cry.
²He drew me up from the desolate pit,^[a]
    out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
    making my steps secure.
³He put a new song in my mouth,
    a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
    and put their trust in the Lord.