Missiology Through Scripture: Sing to the Lord a New Song

“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!”
– Psalm 96:1-3

This is a proclamation toward the praise of God. It declares to all the nations to look forward to the gospel of Christ. All earthly inhabitants are called to praise God. The passage calls for a singing of a new song. If the song is the story of our lives, the new song is the creation of a new story in each of us. The discovery of this new song results in praise for God.

Our missionaries are to go into all the world with the knowledge Yahweh controls lands and leaders. Missionaries are not to fear man but obey God. The foundation of our Church, at the heart of our Scriptures, is the sending out of our best and brightest to reach the lost in all the nations. Duane Garrett said, “The Lord God of Israel rules over all the earth, and all its peoples must bow to Him. This is the great missionary song of the Bible.” Disciples of Christ go into the nations and declare and teach the meaning of Scripture knowing the result will be the spreading of His joy.

Take note the order in which the actions take place in this passage. Followers of the Lord are called to sing and praise the Lord. This results in a blessing of his name and an expansion of His glory. When we love the Lord we daily tell others of what He has done for us and feel burdened to go out and declare His saving message to the lost. The passage, as well as our lives, begins with a God-centered relationship where we learn to thank Him for all. This results in an outward compulsion to interact with other humans. There is a direct correlation between the depth of our love for Christ and the irrepressible passion to share Him with others.

Mike Pettengill is a veteran MTW missionary and the director of MTW West Coast.