New Year, New Song

I begin this post with a confession. Today, for the first time, I forgot to blog.

Now, to give myself a little grace, I've always said that if I can post by 11:59 pm Tuesday or Saturday, then I've hit my mark. But I usually wake up in the morning excited to spend an hour or two in "blogworld." Not so today. Nope, today it hit me at about 10 am that it was a blogging day.

I guess you can say that I'm a little preoccupied these days. "Preoccupied with what?" you're wondering. So glad you asked...

Continuing with our word study of the word "new" in the Bible, let's take a walk through Psalms today. It'll be a short walk, I promise. But I think you'll be glad you came along. Take my hand and go with me to Psalms.

I love the Psalms. They are so beautiful, so artistic, so poetic. And rightly so. The Psalms were originally songs set to music. When you read them, just imagine the music of a harp in the background, giving melody and rhythm to the words.

Sculpture of King David, Mount Zion in Jerusalem

I especially love the Psalms of David. They are pure and rich. They are honest and raw. And they take us through David's mountains and valleys of life. They express his love for God. They expose his struggle with sin. They reveal his fear of his enemies that sought to take his life. And they express the inner turmoil we all feel at times. Those times when we're our worst enemy. Which brings us to Psalm 40:1-3.
"I waited patiently for the LORD, he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD."
David rejoices over God's answer to his prayers to lift him out of the pit of his own mind. Can you relate? I sure can.

His response to the LORD lifting Him out? Praise! And not just any kind of praise, but singing. "A hymn of praise."

Earlier I alluded to being a bit preoccupied. Well, it's time to spill the beans. No, I'm not pregnant! Well, then again, I am pregnant -- pregnant with a dream, a burden, a mission.

This year, the Lord has revealed His desire for me to write a Bible study on the minor prophets of the Old Testament. In my last post I shared about my love affair with the minor prophets. I'm hoping to spur a love in others for the minor prophets too. For months I've been thirsty for the water of the Word. I'm hoping to create a thirst in others too.

I don't know how it will all pan out. I certainly can't do anything in others' hearts that God's not doing. But I sure hope He chooses to use me in the process. He's given me a new song. It's a song of grace, of love, of redemption. It's a song of His love for His people. It's a song of His jealousy for His people. It's a song that urges us to release the idols of our day: money, the media and fame at any cost.

It's the same song that Hosea and Micah and Zechariah sang about 2700 years ago.

Will you pray for me as I pen the lyrics of my new song?

Carla

Comments

  1. AnonymousJanuary 10, 2012 at 1:54 PM

    I certainly will pray with you Carla. Can't wait for the Bible studies on the minor prophets. Ma

    ReplyDelete
  2. carlaahendricksJanuary 10, 2012 at 8:37 PM

    Thanks Ma! I really appreciate your prayers!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Monique ZackeryJanuary 11, 2012 at 12:42 PM

    I Love psalm 40. Thanks for this encouragement, Carla.

    ReplyDelete
  4. carlaahendricksJanuary 11, 2012 at 9:33 PM

    You're welcome Monique. It is a beautiful psalm -- song...

    ReplyDelete
  5. Cecelia DowdyJanuary 14, 2012 at 8:23 PM

    The Psalms are so beautiful...David worshipping God with his harp! Truly amazing!
    ~Cecelia Dowdy~

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Ambassador: His Rise, Fall and Rise Again

Image
I recently began a Facebook Group called "A Pastor's Wife's Garden" with the goal of connecting hearts with other pastor's wives like myself. The idea for this group came totally from the Lord one day while I watched a recording of an interview on CBN. The topic of this interview: William Branch, also known as The Ambassador, also known as Duce, and his wife discussing the challenge of his emotional affair with another woman. To give a little backstory, Duce is a Christian hip hop artist that co-founded and led Cross Movement, a rap group that took the Christian world by storm in 1996. All original founding members, including Duce, grew up in Philadelphia. Having earned a Masters degree in Theology from Dallas Theological Seminary -- graduating with honors, by the way -- he began co-pastoring Epiphany Fellowship Church, a growing and vibrant multi-ethnic church in Philly. That is, until he fell into this emotional affair. At that point Duce was asked to leav
Read more

I'm not angry. I'm mad!

Image
I'll begin this post by explaining the title of this post. I'm a writer, so bear with my detailed way of doing that. :-) Many of us over age 35 grew up on the "Cosby Show." We loved watching this sitcom every Thursday evening, grateful for the positive image of an African American couple that loved each other and trained their children well. On one episode (which I'll have to relay from memory), Cliff Huxtable (played by Bill Cosby) corrects one of the kids for saying he was "mad." He goes on to say, "Dogs get mad . People get angry ." The children then go on to list fictitious accounts of activities they've partaken in, like sneaking out of the house to go to a party across town. After each story, the kids ask their father and mother (Clair, played by Phylicia Rashad), "So Mom and Dad, are you angry ?" Each time their parents state they aren't angry, but they would get serious about the offender's punishment. At t
Read more

Five Things Not to Say to Adoptive Parents

Image
The Hendricks Clan "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me."  Did you grow up hearing that adage? I don't think I reached age ten before I realized how false that saying is. The scars of sticks and stones heal with time. The scars of hurtful words? Many of us will take our share of those scars to our graves. If you have adopted, you've heard your share of ill-timed/insensitive questions and comments. Many will come from the lips of perfect strangers. This can be annoying, but in the end, feels rather harmless. Yet sometimes the offenses come from the people closest to us -- parents, grandparents, siblings, long-time friends. Some of those words have left scars on your soul. And maybe on the souls of your child. This post is not only for those of us that have adopted. This post is for our family members, our close friends, our fellow church and community members. This post is for our loved ones who may be very happy for us, b
Read more