This psalm is about God delivering the Israelites from the throes of Egypt. But today, as recipients of the gospel of Jesus, we know that this salvation is much greater than that of deliverance from Egypt. It takes on a much bigger meaning for us now as we know that God, in Christ, has truly worked to bring salvation to the nations, and that includes us. So how much more can we sing, as children on this side of the promise?
As people who are well acquainted with the message of the gospel, this was probably an obvious application as you first read this psalm. “Salvation is ours in Jesus, so we can sing!”—sounds simple, right? Well speak for yourself, but most days I don’t wake up with a song of thanks or praise on my lips (literally or metaphorically). I recently heard someone describe their struggle with life and faith in this way: “It’s as if daily life is in full color, and God and his kingdom are in black and white.” I resonated with this deeply—the idea that mundane life and everything that comes with that can seem so loud and in our face, and the reality of God and his kingdom just don’t seem to take the forefront. If I’m honest, my daily tendency isn’t to be awake to God, alert to him, or attentive to him -- much less singing to him. Instead, I find myself very awake and alert to my struggles and the suffering in and around me as well as my endless list of things I need to do -- or do better, for that matter.
When God reveals these tendencies in me, it’s easy to become discouraged and disheartened. I can quickly spiral downward and forget the basics: “even in this, salvation is mine in Christ, and he invites me back to him again to sing”. Yes, even in my rebellion and attempts to do life in my own strength and apart from God, and even when I regularly trade the life and peace he wants to give me for my own agenda that leaves me restless and empty…I find him there, inviting me back to a restful dependence on him. Over and over again, bearing with me in patience and love and not an ounce of contempt, he welcomes me back.
One of the implications of my salvation in Jesus is that God never grows weary of inviting me back to himself. Salvation: the Son of God dying in my place so that I would never see the back of God’s head, but always be invited to enjoy his fatherly care again. And that’s why I can sing! Because even in my struggle to sing, even in my failing to sing, I’m invited back to sing again and he accepts my song because of his Son (Philippians 3:9). So I can confidently say with the Psalmist and to my soul:
“Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right and his holy arm have worked salvation” (verse 1)
-- Leslie Friday