Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise from the ends of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, you islands, and all who live in them. – Isaiah 42:10

Today's Scripture Reading (October 21, 2026): Isaiah 42

The church seems to be stuck in its ways. I am not speaking of certain doctrines that we have seemed to allow to creep into the church that are more traditional than biblical; admittedly, we do have some sacred cows inside the Christian Church that are crying out to be made into Holy Hamburgers. Even in our non-biblical traditions, we are in a rut. I remember attending an Advent Chapel at an educational institution and left with the firm idea that they thought the traditional Christmas Carols, most of which were written within the last 500 years, were way too contemporary. So they searched and found carols that were even older, or newer and written in a style that made them seem like they were straight out of the 12^th Century.

Maybe we need to remember that new music has never had an easy time in the church. Isaac Watts, who wrote "Joy to the World" and many other hymns in our current hymnbooks, was criticized throughout his life for his songs, which were seen as too secular and as spending too much time and effort on a "pretty tune" rather than "theological lyrical content." May I humbly suggest that we might need both the old and the new in our lives.

Maybe we need to be reminded that in 1952 a mainline Christian denomination took steps to ban a song that they considered to be both "artistically and morally bankrupt." The song was starting to be sung in denominational churches, and leadership decided to nip the practice in the bud by publicly banning it, thereby protecting the people sitting in the pews from being influenced by this ungodly song. The song in question was "How Great Thou Art," which had been released to English congregations in 1949. Today, most of us are glad the protectors of the music lost the battle and that "How Great Thou Art" won and is still sung in churches, including the one I lead today.

Part of the problem is that the new and the old seem to approach God differently. I often hear about the good theology of the hymns versus the non-existent theology in today's Contemporary Christian music. However, the argument is wrong. First, not all old hymns are examples of great theology. Often, we're drawn to them for familiarity, not great theological content. For example, "The First Noel" has the shepherds following the Bethlehem star to Jesus. Second, it's not true that contemporary music lacks good theology (though I readily admit that some contemporary songs sung in our churches have really bad theology); it is just that contemporary music attacks theology in a different way. What made sense and was part of the experience three hundred years ago (or even forty years ago for my Gaither fans) is not how the writers view their experience today. These songs are written out of the writers' personal experience with God, and that is what makes any song of praise worthy of God. They intend to express what God has done in me and my life.

That is the point Isaiah (as well as many of the Psalms) is trying to make. How can you experience the living God and not let it shape what you sing? For some, that means writing a new song from the heart, an expression of how you are experiencing God in your life. For others, it means finding the song that most clearly expresses your experience with God, and when you find it, it shouldn't matter whether the song is old or new.   

Isaiah issues this imperative: find the song. If God is impacting your life, sing the song with every fiber that God has placed inside of you. It has never been about the tune; the song you sing is your expression of the life God has placed inside you, and that will always be what truly makes the song special. So, go ahead: sing that song!

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Isaiah 43