Sing to the LORD a new song;
Sing to the LORD, all the earth.
Sing to the LORD, bless His name;
Proclaim good tidings of His salvation
from day to day.
Tell of His glory among the nations,
His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.
For great is the LORD,
and greatly to be praised;
He is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
But the LORD made the heavens.
Splendor and majesty are before Him,
Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.
— PSALM 96:1-6 (NASB)
For this issue of Inscribed, we asked our faculty to reflect on these opening words from Psalm 96. We are eager to see how the Lord will use YTI and our new property to sing God’s “new song” in our community and around the world. As we look ahead, we remember the ways God’s “new song” has been sung through the history of the church—including in our own lives—as the Lord builds us together on the foundation of Christ Himself.
“Salt of the Earth,” “Light of the World,” “Light in the Darkness,” Merciful, Loving, and Peacemakers. These are some of the words used to describe Jesus’s disciples in the gospels. This is who we are to be, who we are to grow into as the children of God, and how our world should see and understand us. We sing a different song; we sing a new song. Our lives are different, and our presence in the world is a new song in comparison to the hackneyed, predictable, and often offensive songs in our world. The songs in our world reflect the brokenness, greed, anger, and lust so prevalent in the lives of many. Our song is definitively new and refreshing. It is not demeaning. It is life giving and redemptive. It is filled with grace, mercy, and love. To hear it, and to sing it, is to be healed by it.
I think about the opportunity that this new facility gives to the Institute. It is a loudspeaker for our “new song.” People will come from all over to this place to learn the song of life that Jesus teaches. They will then take this song out into the world and teach others to sing. Let me encourage you to sing the new song of Jesus. Become the “light of the world,” “the salt of the earth,” and the “love of God” to our world—a world suffering from the pain and delusion of greed, lust, and power. 2023 is a new year. Learn to sing “the new song.”