I will sing a NEW song


 

“I will sing a NEW song.”

I got this forever inked on my forearm a while back, and those that have seen it might think it is a nod to lyrics from my favorite band, U2. To an extent it is, I did exhaustively search through handwritten lyrics to have that line scribbled there in Bono font. The lyrics to U2’s song go:

“I waited patiently for the Lord, He inclined and heard my cry, He brought me up out of the pit, out of the mire and clay, I will sing, sing a new song.”

While those are great lyrics, to a great song, by a great band, they are really the words written by King David in Psalm 40.

Last summer, our church was planning a series entitled, “A Summer of Psalms.” I was asked if I might give one of the messages in that series, and I was excited to oblige. Of course I would speak on Psalm 40, how could I not?  As I prepared to give that message, I could never have fathomed how important and deeply meaningful to me that Psalm 40 would become.

A year ago, on July 4, 2023, a bright, shining light to all of us was called home to be with her Father in Heaven. A senseless act of violence resulted in Maddie being taken from this fallen world to be made new in Christ, and to dwell eternally with Him.  Amid the heartbreak of losing Maddie, I was continuing to prepare for my upcoming message, and Psalm 40 was ever present in my mind.

On Friday evening, July 7th, we learned from our dear friends, Laura and Todd, that the next morning, Maddie would be taken to surgery to remove her organs to transplant and save the lives of others. On Saturday morning, I set out for a long run. As I do, I had a random, Spotify smart playlist going. I was well down the trail running, listening to music in the background, and praying for the Goldsmith’s. At a certain point, I looked down at my phone to see how far I had gone, and what my pace was. I was at 4.1 miles at 9:02am. At that exact moment I had a vision strike me. Over the years I would say that my relationship with God has been more cerebral than emotional. That said, there have been a handful of times that I have felt, no, I have known, that the Holy Spirit was speaking to me, almost audibly. This was one of those times. I was struck with this image of an operating room, with multiple doctors surrounding Maddie. The doctors were very calmly and lovingly removing these life-giving pieces of her body. The room was filled with light, but it wasn’t the harsh operating room lights, it was an incredible light, a warm light. It was a light that I have thought about more and more. I would describe the light as peace, and grace, and hope, and love. As I ran down the trail, I started sobbing involuntarily; I was weeping. I was crying tears of sadness, but also tears of knowing there is hope in the Living God. I sobbed for several minutes as I ran. As I wept and ran, to this day I have no idea what song was playing in the background. However, as the song that had been playing faded out, the very next song to play randomly on my iPhone was U2’s “40”. Out of thousands of songs that could have played, Psalm 40 played at that moment.

“I waited patiently for the Lord, He inclined and heard my cry, He brought me up out of the pit, out of the mire and clay, I will sing, sing a new song. I will sing, sing a new song!”

As I heard that, I felt overwhelming joy. It was not happiness, but JOY. I felt the JOY of the Lord being my strength. I don’t know why I had decided to look at my watch and mark that time right then, but when I spoke to Todd, Laura, and Katie a few days later, I learned from Laura that it was right at that time that the wonderful doctors were at work on Maddie. I am absolutely convinced that the Holy Spirit placed me in that room with Maddie on that Saturday morning at the precise moment she was giving everything she had from this earth, and when she was being given a new, glorious body in Christ. I believe with every fiber of my being that the Spirit was speaking to me directly through Psalm 40 when it happened to play right at that moment.

At times in my life, I have questioned whether God is real, or whether He is truly there. After this profound encounter with the Holy Spirit, I am here to proclaim that He is real, and He is tangible to me. God's not dead, HE IS ALIVE! I will sing, sing a new song!

So, I have that phrase scratched into my arm for that reason. I have that permanently inked to forever remind me that God is real, and to constantly sing His new song of salvation. My fervent hope is that everyone will know that joy of Lord, and we will all sing that new song.

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