No Words, but a New Song

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Oh, sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth!

Sing to the LORD, bless His name; tell of His salvation from day to day.

Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous works among all the peoples!

For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised;
He is to be feared above all gods.

Psalm 96:1-4

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I’m writing this blogpost from a heart that has been totally torn apart, opened up, and overwhelmed by God.

And as I try to form words to explain the marvelous things I have witnessed in the last few weeks, the only words I can think of to rightly express my soul’s current state are the following: “I have no idea.”

I have no idea how to grasp or comprehend the overflow of God’s abundant work…let alone how to express or explain it!

I have no idea.

But I know this: my heart is full. I have a reason to sing. So, although I have no words, my soul is singing a new song.

A New Song for the God Who Sees and Saves

This month, I have seen the God who sees and saves.

Over the summer, I was blessed with the opportunity to join my youth group for a conference focused on equipping teenagers to know and share the gospel. I attended a similar event last year and learned so much from it! This year, however, God showed up.

When I say God showed up what I really mean is that there was a certain understanding and awareness of His presence at every moment of the day, and it completely shook those of us who went on the trip.

The most beautiful part is that we all experienced the same God in different parts of our life.

One friend had past hurt from the church, another friend hated God, another friend was struggling with the grip of self-doubt and rejection, others – like myself – were struggling with self-righteousness and not allowing the Holy Spirit to break us down to build us up. Every single person came with different heartaches, pasts, sins, and struggles.

But you know what happened?

We all left having experienced Jesus.

1) Experiencing Jesus in Fellowship:

My friend with hurt from the church was met by friendship and fellowship of fellow believers on the trip and she found a home in the church. Because of her experience with Jesus, the girl who was avoiding church is now stepping up to lead teens in the youth group and creating a sense of community where she once felt lonely.

2) Experiencing Jesus in Inescapable Love:

My friend who hated God was overwhelmed by His presence and fell completely in love with Him. Because of her experience with Jesus, the girl who rejected God and lived for self is now a totally new creation who is seeking His guidance alone, is daily surrendering her life to Him, and is already encouraging others to do the same.

3) Experiencing Jesus through His People:

The friend who was struggling with self-doubt and rejection ended the week saying, “I have never felt so accepted and loved anywhere in my life.” Because of his experience, the guy who felt afraid and alone is now encouraging teens in our youth group daily through letters, text messages, and kindly spoken words.

4) Experiencing Jesus through a Broken Spirit:

And myself? I came expecting to be encouraging others, helping them experience God (what a joke, right? God doesn’t need my help with something He has been doing for thousands of years!), and to see God moving. I got the last part right, at least! I have never felt so out of control and overwhelmed by God in my life! He completely tore down the walls in my heart which allowed me to humbly fall at His feet and see His perfect Spirit flow through my broken spirit. It was beautiful.

And how did we all experience Jesus in such intimate and beautiful ways?

Because God sees…and saves.

He sees the deepest corners of our soul and knows the wounds we have hidden for no one else to see. He touches us in the farthest crevice of our heartache and draws out the broken spirit hidden there.

God knows where to find us – the part of us that is buried and unknown to the world. And He knows how to heal us. Because He sees us. And where He sees us…there He saves us.

May we raise a new song to the God who sees and saves.

A New Song for the God Who Sends

One of the most exhilarating things I have witnessed in life is the beautiful song of salvation I saw teeming in the lives of those who were changed during the last couple of weeks.

Out of love and awe and passion for the God who sees and saves, those who were touched by Christ also experienced a deep and pressing desire to go forth and share His love.

People who previously scoffed at talk of God were teeming with words of Him! And friends who shied away from sharing Him in conversations were burdened to embrace their fears and deem souls more important than anxieties. The salvation of God was enough to spur complete abandon to self and a willingness to do hard things for God’s glory.

How breathtaking and beautiful! It was convicting in my own heart as I was burdened to consider whether I truly lived only out of love for Him.

I think Paul expressed this best in his second letter to the church of Corinth:

“But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.”

– 2 Corinthians 2:14-17.

We do not serve a God who sees and saves alone…but a God who sends. And what a beautiful truth that is. For, He sends us to the uttermost, to the weary souls, to the broken places, to the hardened hearts…that all the world may also experience the God who sees and saves.

My heart is full of a new song for the God who sees and saves…and sends.

A New Song for the God Who Sustains

While all these things – which are really just the sum of God’s holy hands at work in this dying world – are beautiful indeed, they are not the end goal. The end goal is not a mountaintop experience of Jesus. The hope is not to feel something marvelous in our spirits with every moment of the day. Though, such things are indeed wonderful and beautiful gifts of God.

The goal is to embrace life with God, which starts now and lasts forever.

All these things, the new creation, the desire to proclaim His glory from the rooftops, the fragrance of the knowledge of Him, are testimonies of our life with Him. He is life. And this is what His life looks like. Beautiful. Abundant. Overwhelming. Free.

And while all the exciting feelings and sensational moments will pass from season to season…the God who sees and saves and sends will stay. Because along with all these things, He is the God who sustains.

Before Jesus was crucified, He prayed a beautiful prayer for His disciples and all believers. As He spoke to His Father, He said, “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in Me through [the disciples’] word, that they may all be one, just as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that You have sent Me.”

– John 17:20-21

Jesus prayed for you and me. Because He knew the only way our hearts would stay tied to the God who sees and saves and sends was if He was also a God who sustains. And He is faithful to sustain, indeed. He is faithful to be the vinedresser we need so that, no matter the season – whether full of miraculous glory or mundane obedience – we would have reason to abide in Him.

God sees…He saves…He sends…and He sustains.

We have every reason to sing a new song!

What is Your New Song?

I have a new song to sing.

My soul is teeming with song for Him…though my mind cannot form the words, my spirit knows the tune.

And while the song is overwhelming and ever grander than the capacity my heart can bear – while I feel totally out of control within my heart and mind – I am okay with this humble state. Because here in the daze of utter amazement and gratitude, I am met by the God who sees me, who saves me, who sends me, and who sustains me.

And His delight is to do the same for every human soul.

So, what is your song?

If you don’t know…maybe, it’s time to ask Him?

Because if there is one thing I have learned this month it is this: I do not write the song…God does. I simply bear the song He has put in my heart with utmost joy and peace and awe.

Singing a new song requires surrendering the song you are comfortable singing. It requires letting go and leaning into the eternal Source of all good things. But don’t be afraid of the humility it requires…

Because the earthly humility leads to an eternity of kingdom harmonies.

It is time to sing a new song.

Will you sing it too?