A New Song

While in college, I was privileged to be on a quartet that traveled around to represent the college. We took an extended tour during the summer of my sophomore to junior year, 1967. Whenever we introduced ourselves, we also gave a short testimony.

I always started with Psalm 40:2 and 3 (NKJV–notice. We used that back then, so....)
He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, Out of the miry clay, And set my feet upon a rock, And established my steps.
3 He has put a new song in my mouth—Praise to our God; Many will see it and fear, And will trust in the Lord.

The first verse is my personal story. Out of the miry clay. Have you ever worked around clay? I had some dirt brought in to back fill around the foundation of my house and a significant portion of the fill dirt was clay. I had it dumped next to the wall in the back yard, intending to distribute it to the appropriate location. And of course it rained.

So I was walking around digging up the dirt, putting it into a wheel barrow to move to where I wanted it, and dumping it. Did I mention that it rained? Well, every step into the wet clay came up with an inch or so clay clinging to my shoes. And if you keep walking, it builds up. I was probably 3 inches taller when I took a break to clean it off.

You cannot just “scrape or scuff” your feet to remove clay. It just slides along. In fact it might have packed tighter. And when you put your foot on the shovel to push it down for another shovelful, the clay slips off and a tumble ensues if you are not nimble. No falls today.

Did I mention that it had rained? So every “full” shovel of dirt that came out of the pile, clung to the shovel as it its life depended on it. I could not shake it or wiggle it off. If I slammed the handle of the shovel down on the side of the wheel barrow, it might slip a little bit off.

But you can see the problem. First, you are denting the top rim of the barrow, which will lead to other difficulties later on. And enough whacks on that shovel handle and it will splinter. At least you get some time off, then.

So miry clay is bad stuff. An aside. On Christmas day, my 20 month old grandsons came out to celebrate Jesus’ birthday with us. It was a nice day and we went out into the back yard to play. You got it. I was convulsed with laughter when one of the boys walked out from behind the deck with one foot coated with about a inch of clay. But I digress.

When the Psalmist talked about being “bogged down” in miry clay he knew whereof he spoketh. And it is extremely difficult to get that stuff off. (I did not help clean it off the boys’ shoes either. Grampa Prerogative) So being lifted up and placed upon a rock is a great relief.

And an “established step” implies that the gooey stuff has been removed. If you walk with it still adhering to your sole (no pun intended) you will slip and this can be a metaphor (pun intended) for our soul life.

Verse 3 was the prophesy for our tour. We had a new song. Actually about 50 total that we sang. That was a fun summer. The “song” was praise to our God. Our prayer was that our lives would be a song of praise.

And our reward? (Did I mention that we did not get paid? We did get a partial scholarship, but no cashola. Mom and Dad had to keep sending me money all summer so that I could keep my cell phone and download a couple of netflicks. In ‘67, get it?)

But the reward was far beyond any monetary financial consideration. “Many will see it and fear.” They actually would fear staying in the pit in which they found themselves. “And will trust in the Lord.” There is a way out!

This is not anything that we did, Lord knows. But we did have people come forward at the end of our concerts to either get saved or rededicate their lives to the Lord. Recently a second member of our group went home and I am sure that the two of them are rejoicing at all the results that they can see from our summer 50 years ago.

One of our songs had these words, “If you get to heaven before I do, tell all my friends that I’m a comin’ too.” Dennis is updating Dave, and probably vice versa today. The rest of us are not “anxious” to go, but we are ready and waiting. And, in a college vein, we are working to complete our GFS degree. (Good and Faithful Servant.)

He brought me up, set my feet, established my step. Now I sing a new song of praise and encouragement. See and sing along.