Saturday, April 4, 2009

Conference Highlights, pt.4

There are so many songs that we sang at the conference that I love. Ya know, 119X, O God Beyond All Praising, etc. But, I wanted to give you one more highlight hymn/psalm-wise. This is my favorite song, ever. I love singing this psalm in worship, at home, at the piano, in the car...everywhere. If I ever want to get another song out of my head I sing this psalm. And my description of singing it at the conference will not even come close to doing it justice. I mean, just read the words and imagine 500 people who love being at the conference and singing God's word together, singing 98A:

(if you've never sung it before, the chorus is a round so all the men come in first and you just get this overwhelming feeling of "what great things the Lord has done." At least I do...)

O Sing A New Song to the Lord

O sing a new song to the Lord
For wonders He has done,

For wonders He has done;

His right hand and His holy arm

The victory have won,

The victory have won,

The victory have won.


The great salvation wrought by Him
Jehovah has made known.

Jehovah has made known.
His justice in the nations' sight

He openly has shown,

He openly has shown,

He openly has shown.


He mindful of His truth and grace

To
Isr'el's house has been.
To
Isr'el's house has been.
The great salvation of our God

All ends of earth have seen,

All ends of earth have seen,

All ends of earth have seen.

O all the earth, sing to the Lord

And make a joyful sound.

And make a joyful sound.
Lift up your voice aloud to Him;

Sing psalms! Let joy resound!

Sing psalms! Let joy resound!

Sing psalms! Let joy resound!


With harp make music to the Lord

With harp a psalm O sing!

With hard a psalm O sing!

With horn and trumpet raise a shout

Before the LORD, the King,

Before the LORD, the King,

Before the LORD, the King.


Let seas in all their vastness roar,

The world, it's living hoard.
The world it's living hoard.

Let rivers clap, let mountains sing

Their joy before the Lord!

Their joy before the Lord!

Their joy before the Lord!


Because He comes, He surely comes,

The judge of earth to be!

The judge of earth to be!

With justice He will judge the world,

All men with equity,
All men with equity,

All men with equity.


Oh, it makes me teary just reading the words. Maybe I'm just moody.

This psalm actually has a conference story attached to it. Lily and I and the Girards (who I went to the conference with) had all be looking so forward to 98A. I mean, I really built it up for them (good thing it disappoint ;). That's one of the main reasons for going to the conference...singin' that psalm. So on Tuesday night (first night of the conference, right?) Dr. Pipa was speaking on Calvin the Preacher. We hadn't sung 98A all day and of course they had to sing it at night (when there are more people) and right before Dr. Pipa. Well, our dinner was late gettin' on the table so we were late getting back to the conference so we missed the singing. They did sing it....and we totally missed it. I was so thankful that we didn't miss any of the lecture, though. They usually sing it at least twice per conference. But we didn't sing it all day Wednesday. So Wednesday night the guys all go out together and just hang. So Lily and I got Pastor Dodds and Mr. Freeman to talk to Dr. Pipa and ask him if we could please sing it on Thursday. He said we could. We're still not sure if he said "yes" because we asked, or if it had already been planned that way. But either way, we sang it on Thursday morning right before one of the best lectures of the conference (Pastor Ian Hamilton on Calvin the Sacramentalist). It was awesome!

Some thoughts as we were singing: I get to spend eternity with all of these guys singin' around the throne of our great King and this isn't even close to 1% of all the saints that will dwell with Him forever. And if we think this is rockin' what is it gonna be like in heaven? I mean, if there are tears streaming down faces now, in this fallen world, where we don't understand Him fully and our hearts are so clouded by sin, what will it be like when we are before His face singing, "O sing to the Lord a new song, For wonders He has done!"

May the Lord take you into His day rejoicing in the great wonders He has done.

3 comments:

FLJenn said...

Sarah Blair! How providential; we sang this song tonight at the Bible study Mr. Larson teaches here, and we ended with a hearty, "Amen," just like they do it in Greenville. We sing it almost every time we meet. it is such a wonderful Psalm.

Unknown said...

Hi Sarah, it has been a long time since I have caught up on your blog or commented, but I just read this post and was reminded of the times I'd enjoyed that Psalm at the Greenville conference. When I hum it to myself as I work in my home, it is always with the memory of so many believers singing it heartily to the Lord at the conference. Definitely a tiny foretaste of the delights we will experience eternally one day!!

-Anita H.

Sarah said...

Mrs. Larson~ I'm always so happy to see your comments on the blog. I think everyone that's really sung 98A can't help but love it!

Anita~ I'm so glad you've rediscovered Talk Time. I loved your like-minded comment. Won't it be wonderful to be in our Father's house with ALL. THOSE. SAINTS. and so many more besides singing all His praises...perfectly! Sweet things to think upon as we go through our days "overwhelmingly conquering through Him who loved us."

Miss Blair