Morning Prayer: New Song
From Morning Prayer: “Sing a new song unto the Lord.” (Psalm 98:1)
Morning Prayer begins with praise. Before petitions, before reflection, before the day’s demands — the Church sings.
"Sing a new song" a line that appears often in Scripture — in Psalms 33, 96, 98, 149, and in Isaiah’s vision of renewal. Each time, it signals something more than novelty. The “new” song is not new because it’s never been sung before. It’s new because God has done something new, and the world itself is being remade.
What Makes the Song New
In Hebrew poetry, “new” does not mean “recent.” It means renewed — fresh with gratitude, alive with grace. When the psalmist calls for a new song, it’s a summons to awaken the heart to what God has just done: deliverance, mercy, creation itself reborn.
Morning Prayer, or Lauds, is the hour of resurrection. It greets the dawn not as repetition but as revelation. Every sunrise is a new creation. Every breath is a new song.
The Church places this psalm at Lauds because morning is the hour when the world itself sings again. The birds begin before we do. The light returns. The silence breaks. The psalmist’s call becomes literal: creation joins the chorus.
The History of the “New Song”
The phrase “new song” runs through salvation history:
Moses and Miriam sang a new song after crossing the Red Sea — the first canticle of deliverance.
David sang a new song when God lifted him from the pit.
Isaiah foresaw a new song rising from the ends of the earth when God’s justice would shine.
The Book of Revelation closes the circle: the saints around the throne sing a new song that only the redeemed can learn.
Each moment of redemption calls forth a new song — not because the melody changes, but because the singer has changed.
Why It Belongs to Lauds
Morning Prayer is the Church’s daily resurrection. It remembers that Christ rose “while it was still dark,” and that every dawn is a small echo of Easter. To sing a new song at Lauds is to proclaim that the night has not won.
The psalm’s joy is not naïve. It is defiant. It sings in the face of fatigue, sorrow, and repetition. It insists that grace is still new — even when life feels old.
In the End
To sing a new song unto the Lord is not to forget the old one. It is to let the old song be renewed by the morning light.
Every day, the Church begins again. Every day, the psalmist’s words become ours:
“Sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done marvelous things.”
And so we do — not because the world is perfect, but because the dawn is proof that God is not finished.
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Read more Morning Prayer posts.
Morning Prayer posts inspired by Being Catholic in Troubled Times (Dennis Ortman)
Book Description:
These are times that try our souls. This book is addressed to all, not just Catholics, who search for deeper meaning in tough times. Our age is marked by division and alienation. We long for some message that will bring peace to our world and our hearts.
This book suggests that the Catholic faith can provide strength in these troubled times. The word "catholic" means "all-embracing, universal." Nothing is excluded in the catholic mind. The truth that sets us free can be found everywhere, especially in unexpected places. It is often hidden in plain sight. In our darkest moments, we find new light and life. When we are most despairing, a ray of hope shines through.
Dr. Dennis Ortman, former priest and current psychologist, is the author of Anger Anonymous, Anxiety Anonymous, Depression Anonymous, Being Catholic in Troubled Times, and Life, Liberty, and COVID-19.
For more posts by and about Dennis and his award-winning books, click HERE.
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