Sing a New Song

5.13.12

Psalm 98

Singing a New Song

It’s Mother’s Day-- and I hope you’ve made a habit of praising God for all the women who have mothered you throughout your years.  I hope you pause each year to remember the qualities the women have that make you a better person.   I was thinking about my mama and about all the things she’s taught me, not only with her words, but with her life. One of the things that’s amazing about my mama is the way that she is able to shower people with praise--which isn’t always easy.   Her kindergarteners have a lot to overcome.  Many are very poor, most come from less than ideal family situations.  Learning isn’t easy for them.  They have plenty of reasons to be angry and mean and sad, but every year I watch my mom transform them into joyful, hopeful, excited kindergartners.  Because, even if they don’t hear it anywhere else in their lives, they are going to hear it from my mom.  “You are doing a great job!” or “What a great example you are!” are some of her favorite expressions.  She knows how powerful genuine praise is.  

I can’t help but admire her for that.  Because I know how much easier it seems to be to speak a negative word. Think about that for a second.  When presented with a situation-- what do you tend to notice?  For most of us, we notice what isn’t right or what hasn’t gone the way we’d like it to long before we could see what was better than expected.  And if we’re going to offer up any comment, our first instinct is to offer up a negative one. If you think I’m making it up, pay attention to what you say this week.  Pay attention to what other people say.  Keep a mental tally of how many positive comments you make and hear vs how many negative ones.

It’s one of our less than lovely qualities. But it’s human nature.  Sounds like it’s always been human nature. Think about Adam and Eve.  They are in the middle of a lovely story-- paradise even.  All the words that came out of their mouth should’ve been “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you, Lord!” Adam and Eve each get in a few words before the story takes an ugly turn.  But very quickly, Adam notes before God that he hadn’t yet found the clothing department.  Eve comments about what a foul creature the snake is because he made her hungry. It was no better with their children. Cain couldn’t see a partnership between him and Abel that represented the whole fruits of the land.  All he could see is that Abel had it better than he did.  And it goes on throughout the story of humanity. 

“Sing to the Lord a New Song!” is the Psalmist’s bold imperative to us this morning.  I like this Psalmist--he’s radiating an uncontainable energy that makes me want to radiate energy too.  He’s ready to shout from the rooftops about the great things  his God is up to.