By Pastor Babatunde Adedibu
Bible Text: Psalm 40:3 “And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: Many shall see it and fear, and shall trust in Jehovah.” The sermon started with songs of worship: “When I think of the goodness of Jesus and all He has done for me, my very Soul shall shout Halleluiah; Praise God for saving me…” Psalmist says in Psalm 89:1 “I will sing of the mercies of the Lord with my mouth will I make known thy Faithfulness to all generations”. This teaching is a continuous message of what it means not to remember the former things in order to “sing a new song”. I pray that the Lord will give you a new Song in Jesus name. Psalm 40: 3 “And he hath put a new song in my mouth…” Before now I looked at the topic, “remember ye not the former things” one of the things that God does when you do not remember the former things is that He gives you a new dawn. And a new dawn often times is heralded by a change of song. In Isaiah 43:18-21, Isaiah prophesied to the Israelites that God will bring about a new dawn even in their captivity. Eventually, God brought about their liberation. Critically examining the scripture, there are factors that are responsible for where you are and you singing a new song. Many of us care so much about what people say, but it’s not what people say that matters but who says it. Who do you listen to? Is he/she a person of authority over your life or not? Listen to the God who controls Heaven and Earth? Many are in captive of what is said by men but the most important thing is what God is saying concerning you and what God has said concerning you based on His promises? Psalm 68:11 “The Lord giveth the word: the women that publish the tidings are a great host”. Psalm24:1 “The earth is Jehovah’s and the fullness thereof; the world and they that dwell therein”. There is nothing created by God that God cannot use to glorify Him. Yesterday, I looked at the promise of God with respect to the words He has spoken. The promise of God gives you a glimpse of the future so when you are going through the stormy times, the promises of God concerning you keeps you on track. Also when focusing on God and His promises have a reward in view; In the case of David when He fought Goliath, He had a reward in view. You need to change your focus to God in order to sing a new song meaning every other thing is immaterial but God. A man that lacks focus falls for everything. God does a new thing when you “remember not the former things” and gives you a “New Song”. Like in the case of the Israelites; they were in captivity, they were in bondage but God gave them a new song so much so that the horse and its riders were buried unceremoniously. The word Horse and its rider it’s a metaphor. The horse here symbolizes a form of strength to the people oppressing them, the rider here is the iron hand that the Egyptian used over them. I pray that whatsoever must have dominated your journey, whosoever might be oppressing you, as you begin to celebrate they shall go down in Jesus name. Another is in Samuel Chapter 1. Peninah provoked Hannah and made Hannah sang a new song at last. It does not matter who started first because we are not running a rat race, do not be moved by what men do, be moved by the timing of God. Whatsoever success someone attains, you should not be threatened; because when your time comes the Bible says the Lord makes everything beautiful in His time. The first house is not necessary the most beautiful house, the first house on my street was the most beautiful at one time but when I built mine theirs became obsolete and mine became the most beautiful, when my neighbour built his, it became the newest and most beautiful. May your Sun not go down in Jesus name. Life is about transition, have you ever seen someone who sits in an office forever? No, the office sees the end of that man. There is reason and understanding to believe that time and season is in the hands of God. Peninah said Hannah has no child and began to do all that she could do but when the time came Hannah sang a new song. 1 Samuel 2: 2 represents the song that Hannah stood for. Irrespective of the past, God can change your song. No matter what someone has said concerning you God has the final say, I pray for you today when men say you are crawling they will begin to see you move into greater heights. A lady once told me how her prayer partner blanked her out throughout her marriage storm for 5 years, she could not believe it, she called and called and tried to reach her but all to no avail, she was desolate but continued her journey with God, only for her to realize after 5 years that her prayer partner took offence for something she did; but God in His infinite mercies would not leave us, you don’t need a phone to reach him. God lifted this lady and transformed her marriage, I do not know who you are waiting on, but waiting on God will definitely bring you a new song. A typical example is the only battle David fought and did not win. The battle of Bathsheba, but David repented and sought God, then he sang Psalm 52 “create in me a new heart oh Lord and renew a spirit within me, cast me not away from your presence oh Lord….” David sang a new song, The Lord restored him. Songs are descriptive of our emotional and psychological states; it tells us who we are at the point in time. For instance if you hear at the middle of the night a man singing “arise oh Lord and thy enemies be scattered…. Psalm 68:1, such a man is entering into warfare seeking God’s intervention. It is a song you sing for divine breakthrough or you hear a man singing from Psalm 25:2 “ Unto thee oh Lord do I lift up my soul, oh my Lord I trust in thee, let me not be ashamed, let not my enemies triumph over me…”. One of the songs in the Bible is the song of fools, Ecc. 7:5, A song of a fool is a song that mocks God, a song that despises the greatness of God, Is a song that asks “where is thy God? A typical example is the song that the prophet of Baal sang in 1 Kings 18 where Elijah confronted the prophets of Baal and asked them to worship their gods to bring fire. There is also a song of Lamentation, this is a song that takes us to where we used to be, remembering the former things; a song of reflection. The same song was sung by the children of Israel in Psalm 137:2 “by the rivers of Babylon, there we sat, we wept, when we remembered Zion…how can we sing the Lord song in a strange land?” At this point the children of Israel remembered their freedom, but couldn’t sing the Lord song in a strange land? Yes, there was something phenomenal that happened to me, a place where I worked 14 years ago as a Cleaner I later went there to deliver a speech singing a new song, Men and women, paid to listen to me speak; it can only be the Lord’s doing. I pray for you today in the same place where nobody recognized you, people would pay to listen to you in Jesus name. There is no doubt that the Children of Israel sang the song of Lamentation but lo and behold they got their restoration, I say to you; there is no other place for a man that is down but to rise up and the one that is up should take heed lest he falls. Another song is the song of Thanksgiving, it is very common when God gives people a new dawn and they do not remember the former things. This is the song God gave Hannah, till today there is no history about the children of Peninah, when God gives you a new dawn your testimony will be told for eternal generation. Even the snail as slow as it is was able to enter into the Noah’s Ark. No matter how slow people think you are, when God is on your side you will reach your destination singing a new song of thanksgiving. Also is a song of Worship. In Psalm 42 “as the deer panteth for the waters so my soul longeth after you, you are Lord and my heart desire is to worship you…” This was the song of David expressing his thirst for the presence of God and surrendering all to God. Conclusively, Acts 3:1-10. The story of the lame man at the beautiful gate. 7 things were wrong with this man: 1. He had physical limitation. Yours might be immigration status; yours might be skills or disability. Many of us treat people with shame but I want you to know that sometimes it is in the hand of God 2. His destiny was changed 3. He was alive but could not fulfil his purpose 4. The man at the beautiful gate, his fate became his faith 5. He knew the place of prayer but did not sought the place of prayer 6. His problem obliterated his name 7. He depended on others for his livelihood His problems were solved when he came into contact with Christ. Maybe yours is all or you face just one of this. I tell you God can and wants to give you a new dawn and you will sing a new song. You can start by singing a new song in a strange land. Psalm 48:1 for ‘great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God in the mountain of His holiness; beautiful for situation and He is the joy of the whole earth..” The interesting thing is the man was asking for alms when he got his miracle and his song would have been Psalm 89:1..I will sing of the mercies of the lord forever..” if he was to sing a contemporary he would have sang “.. Come and see o, come and see what the Lord has done, for it is marvellous in my sight”. I pray today that you will sing the song of liberation in Jesus name. Another example of the challenges we face is the Widow at Nain, Luke 7:12-18, this woman’s only son died, the son was about to be buried. Certain things were wrong: 1. She had only one son and child, that is; the potential for the future was bleak 2. Her future was obliterated 3. No one to carry the family name anymore, implying all was lost. 4. She must have passed the child bearing age 5. She would live the rest of her life in pain Are you in that picture that you lost something and it seems irreplaceable in the sight of men … when God raised the child her song was, “I never see the kind of God before wonder wonder…” Luke 8: 26-37. Another example is the mad man of Gedarene 1. He was a mad man 2. He was a man perpetually tormented by demons, may be you are a Christian but not living an overcoming life 3. His problem became his name When Jesus rescued him, His song would have been “what shall I say unto the lord all I have to say is thank you Lord”. Acts Chapter 9, also is the story of Saul when he had an encounter with God. The persecutor of Christ became an evangelist. I want you to know that if you have experienced the miracle of salvation, you have experienced the mercies of God on your past and your song should be “Blessed Assurance Jesus is mine; praising my Saviour on that day long… this is my story this is my song praising my Saviour all that day long” Lastly, there are four things you need to do to sing a new song 1. Continually be a student of the word (2 Timothy 2:15. Joshua 1:8) 2. You must have absolute faith in God 3. You must continually testify of what God has done for you 4. Continually endeavour to live a life of accountability. Who do you account to? Live a life of holiness. Prayer 1. Father whatsoever has made me not to sing a new song father deal with it today in Jesus name 2. Father let my appointed time come Lord A sermon preached by Pastor Babatunde ADEDIBU at the 8th Annual Conference of RCCG Everlasting Father’s Assembly, Leeds on July 6th, 2014.