By: Paul Gandy
Over the past six months, I have examined the list of songs we currently sing in corporate worship, gathered new song suggestions from our pastors and members, and carefully narrowed these suggestions to six new songs to introduce to our church over time. I have prayed over these songs, mulled over the lyrics, and sung through them to ensure they’ll fit our church well. And let me tell you: I am really excited to add these songs to our church’s song bank, as they will help shape our church and how we think about Jesus.
Before I share with you which new songs we’re going to sing, let’s take advantage of this moment and think about why we should even consider adding new songs. As creatures of habit, we like the songs we always sing, the ones we already know. So why would we invest our time and energy to learn and sing new songs?
Here are three reasons why Liberty Baptist Church should sing new songs regularly.
Singing new songs is biblical.
Singing new songs is not only biblical, it is a clear command. Do you know how many times the Bible commands us specifically to sing new songs to God? Seven.[i] The Psalms are plastered with direct references to singing new songs. Isaiah says the same thing. There are also indirect references to the goodness of “new” things in Jesus Christ. Jesus himself declares in Revelation 21, “Look, I am making everything new.” Singing new songs can be a foreshadow of our worship to come in the new heavens and new earth with our loving king.[ii] Every moment of worship will feel new, fresh, and good. The Bible is clear: singing new songs worships God and edifies his people.
Singing new songs breathes fresh energy and life into the church's worship.
Think about how a friendship grows over time. Whether a marriage or an intimate sisterhood or brotherhood, imagine what a relationship would be like if two people only ever went to the same restaurant, ate the same meal, and talked about the same subject over and over. That sounds boring! Over time, the relationship would likely degrade and lose all sense of excitement. But imagine instead a friendship that explores new things together. New adventures, experiences, activities, and conversations breathe life into the relationship!
In a similar way, introducing new songs keeps the church’s worship gathering exciting and demonstrates implications of the gospel. The gospel is exciting! Being in a covenant community with other believers of Jesus and worshipping him together is the greatest of joys! While we should not seek out excitement for the purpose of attracting guests or putting on a show, a church should pursue vitality in its corporate worship because of its desire to enjoy Christ and fellowship with one another in a fresh, biblical way.
Singing new songs helps define and sharpen our church's theology.
Our theology is shaped in numerous ways when we gather to worship as a church. Our theology is shaped through the preaching of God’s Word, through the reading of God’s Word, through prayer, and through the songs we sing. The songs we sing greatly impact how we think about God. Singing new songs gives us the chance to fill in our theological gaps.
Imagine you have an empty room in your home, and you need to fill it. As you add a bookshelf here and a desk there, the room begins to fulfill its purpose. While you may have intended for it to become a library from day one, as you add to it, the room becomes more and more functional. Our theology is the same way, as we build on what we learn over time. We add shape and dimension to our theology through the truths we learn from the songs we sing.
For instance, we believe we are commanded to obey the Great Commission and take the gospel to the nations. We should sing songs that communicate this belief, but we often don’t sing any songs like that. To fill that theological gap, let’s sing, “Let the Nations Be Glad!” We also need to build our understanding of biblical lament, so let’s sing, “Lord From Sorrows Deep I Call.” Adding new songs further shapes and disciples us by helping us to better know God and the gospel of Jesus.
As we’ve just seen, it’s important that we sing new songs. So, here are six new songs that we will introduce in the coming months at LBC with a short explanation of why we’ll sing each one!
Lord From Sorrows Deep I Call (Psalm 42):
We as a church need to learn to lament well and call upon the Lord during seasons of suffering. We don’t sing enough songs like this. This song teaches us how to be sorrowful in tough seasons and how to look to the hope of Christ as our rock.
Yet Not I but Through Christ in Me:
This song is a pride-buster and will force our church to think more of Christ and how His grace is our only source of life. It also has an incredible melody that matches the lyrics really well. This song is the perfect song to sing during or directly following the confession in our corporate worship service.
We need to sing more songs explicitly about Jesus taking the wrath of God upon himself. While this is not the romantic picture of Christ that some churches choose to sing about, it is biblical and good to rehearse the truth that Jesus satisfied that wrath with His blood. Understanding God’s wrath makes the salvation found in the gospel so much sweeter.
This song is drawn from Psalm 67, and exhorts us to fulfill the Great Commission by taking the gospel to the nations. How many worship songs do you know that address both the church and missions? This is also a celebrative song, and we need more of those at LBC, too, as we desire to be a glad people, who sing joyously before our God.
Our union with Christ is a sweet gift, and we need more songs that remind us of this treasure. This song adores Christ as the Church’s bride without crossing into cheesy, overdone, lovesong lyrics. It reminds us that Christ is the reward of heaven as we journey through the ups and downs of the Christian life.
Christ Our Hope in Life and Death
The title explains the theme of this song well. Echoing a line from the Heidelberg Catechism, this song reminds us that Christ is our only hope in life and in death. It teaches us of Christ’s sovereignty over both our present life and our passing into eternity with him. What an incredible reminder of the joy that is to come! It’s hard to find accurate and significant songs about heaven. This is one of them.
**Bonus New Song: Jesus Strong and Kind**
We introduced this song while we were not meeting due to the coronavirus, but I want to recognize it here. Theologically-rich songs don’t have to be wordy! This one isn’t, and I hope the children in our congregation can pick this one--and its truths--up quickly. Sing this one often in your family devotions!
I hope you’ll take some time over the coming months to become familiar with each of these new songs. Listen to them, consider the lyrics, search out the truths taught in each one. And be encouraged by them. Share them with one another and encourage each other with them.
One of my favorite aspects of family life at LBC is that we sing. And I mean SING. On a Sunday, one of my favorite moments of our service is when the instruments cut out and only our voices ring out in praise. What a precious moment that is each week as we worship together. May we continue to use our songs, whether new or old, to glorify our Lord and Savior, Jesus.