Sermon, 24 Januari 2022 Pslm 96:1

Sermon: Pslm 96:1

Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth

Theme: Lift up your Voice. “Angkatlah Pujian Bagi Tuhan”

Singing is one of the gifts in life that is taken for granted. Good singing is a gift from God.

Singing can comfort a troubled heart and can motivate us to live for Christ, and through singing we can lift our hearts in praise to God. In the life of a believer, it may be said, without singing, it is like eating food without salt. Maybe almost everyone singing has become a necessity of life, more precisely to make life more colorful with the strains of its tones.

We can see this very clearly in this day and age. In the midst of daily lives, busyness with the many demands of life’s necessities, and the struggles of a person, he/her feels that his life is so tired. In such circumstances many people today seek entertainment to release their fatigue by singing alone or with friends. By Karaoke is singing everywhere: at home with family, in places to chat with friends. The goal is to release fatigue (tired) so that it become fresh and healthy or this is referred to as a refreshing.

In our sermon today, we tell that the psalmist “sings a new song to the Lord”. The new song is an expression of the psalmist’s personal experience or encounter with God in his daily life where God has been with him and bestowed God’s blessings on him every day. We as theology students already know who this psalmist is with all his struggles, but his relationship with God has never been broken. The psalmist is a person who truly knows God and has truly experienced God’s works in his life since he was a cattle herder who always lived in the middle of the forest among wild animals, until he was appointed King in the midst of the people of God and occupy the throne of the kingdom. He does not praise God carelessly or at will; He did not praise God only during worship together or during prayer meetings; He does not praise God only when experiencing things that please him, but he sings and praises, glorifying God in all circumstances (in happy and in trouble), whenever and wherever. In Psalm 119:164. it says: “Seven times a day I praise You, because of Your righteous laws”. So from here we see that knowing God properly, knowing God’s blessings and works properly will encourage someone, and we too will sing a new song for God.

The psalmist is a figure we should emulate in terms of praising and glorifying God’s name, because almost the entire contents of the Psalms contain praises for God.

We people who believe in Jesus Christ know and experience the love of Jesus Christ who has loved us and redeemed us from our sins, even giving us the opportunity to live to know and experience His blessings, we should continue to praise Him by singing new songs. to Him Jesus Christ our Savior.

Singing new songs is not me singing new worldly songs. If we look at this era when karaoke is everywhere (in cafes, in kedei-kei tuak, in private homes), with today’s sophisticated equipment, many homes already have bluetooth speakers where people can karaoke anytime, even always showing it with life streaming so everyone can see it. With joy until sometimes late at night, the songs continue to be heard with the voices of the Tenor Soprano and Bass, and so memorized that the lyrics are only worldly songs. And it is rare to hear songs that are spiritual in nature that glorify the goodness, greatness, and glory of the name of the Lord Jesus. Including STB students, right?

Our sermon this morning emphasizes to us, that we always sing a new song to our Lord Jesus Christ. In the song that we sing is reflected an expression or expression of conscience and thoughts as it is written in I Corinthians 14:15b, (I will sing and praise with my spirit, but I will also sing and praise with my mind). So if we sing a hymn we should sing it with all our sincere life, whole mind, spirit and soul. Why? Because God’s blessings are always new in our lives day after day. God’s miracles are always new and never too late, because what they do is beyond our ability, beyond human ability.

We have actually experienced it ourselves, where God has led us from 2021 to 2022. From odd semesters to even semesters. We are here and we are able to pass through the years not because of our efforts, but only because of the steadfast love of God the Father in Jesus Christ. Therefore, dear fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters, let us always sing praises, glorify God’s name from a right and sincere heart attitude. Because singing praises to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ from a true and sincere heart will greatly please God.

“So I will praise You all my life and lift up my hands in Your name.” Psalm 63:5. Amen.

Bvr. Roslinda Sihoming, S.Pd., M.Si.