Psalm 40:3 – God will give me a new song when I make praise the habit of my heart and mouth. “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” (NIV).
According to the Psalmist, the consequences of making praise the habit of my heart and mouth is that God will give me a new song. Making songs would hence become an easy task to do… this verse is not just for the music creators but for every human being because we all have been called to praise the Lord. Praising the Lord should come from our hearts and it should be our utmost desire to praise the Lord at all times – in good times and in bad times. Sometimes it is not easy but as children of God we have been called to do exactly that; that is to praise the Lord when the sun sets and when the sun goes down. Literally, it is to praise him at all times not just some certain moments.
Someone might ask me, how one can make praise the habit of their lives when they don’t feel like or when things are not going on well with them. My answer would be what Luke says in Luke 6:45 that “a good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” If you, as an individual has good things stored in your heart then your mouth can speak out praise. You can extol the Lord for whatever he has done for you and others. If you see other people having something that you don’t have and you wish you had it yourself, you would not be jealous of them but you would praise the Lord with them and you would congratulate them for what they have achieved or accomplished. That means you have already taken your position of lifting others up and when you form this habit then others will always be lifting you up when you are up or down.
Let’s all make a habit of storing and giving praise from our hearts at all times so that kind words can come out of our mouths. Think about it – how lovely it would be, if the entire population in the world were to make praise a habit of their heart and mouth. God would be pleased seeing his children doing the right thing and this would result in having many people who fear and trust in the Lord God Almighty. Each one of us has a role to play and we should make it our habit to sing hymns of praise to our God. Anyone and everyone, has an ability to create or make a new song because God has said it very clearly that he will give us a new song when we make praise the habit of our hearts and mouths.
There are many examples we have been given by the Psalmist on how and why we should praise the Lord. It is my hope and prayer that I can have a “new song” each and every single day because of making it a habit to praise God. A new song is a testimony and an expression about God’s awesomeness. Again, the Psalmist advises us to make praise a habit. I know as human beings there are so many habits we have developed such that, even other people know us for how we do things. For instance; you know that person that everybody describes; as a drunk, a smoker, a fighter, a gossiper, a fearless, a whiner, a manipulator, a joker, a workaholic, an achiever, a go-getter, a maniac, etc. These descriptions are formed from the noticeable habits. We develop habits and then we become what we are becoming due to our behavioral habits. How lovely it would be; to be described by others a “praiser” because of having a habit of praising God. Let other people who are watching us share our testimonies for being known to praising the Lord. Many people would be drawn to a person who has made praises the habit of his/her heart and mouth. Most of us, myself included may not be known for doing that because we always fall into temptation of saying negative things that do not praise the Lord. Let us all make it a habit that every word that comes forth from our hearts and mouths is positive and of praise to the Almighty God. Dear ones let’s all form a habit of praising God.
Keep on praising and never give up praising the Lord. Keep your eyes to the prize – of being given a new song!