A New Song

2nd Sunday after Epiphany
Psalm 40
John 1:29-42

I waited patiently for the LORD; he inclined to me and heard my cry.

If you happen to be a fan of the Irish rock group U2, those words might sound familiar. On their 1983 album War they appear in the song 40, which is a recasting of Psalm 40.

I bought the album when it came out knowing nothing about the band beyond their video for the song New Year’s Day. So, when I came to this song at the end of the album, I was taken aback. What I didn’t know at the time was that three of the band members were devout Christians. I also didn’t know that their entire second album, October, was about God.

If you’ve heard War, you know it’s not a peaceful album, no pun intended. It deals with violence and its aftereffects. And it is loud – almost apocalyptic. And yet, it ends with this wonderfully gentle psalm of trust:

He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the LORD.

40 couldn’t appear anywhere else on the album. When you get to this final song, the comfort it offers feels earned. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve either read Psalm 40, or listened to U2’s version, when in the middle of some personal crisis.

The message of Psalm 40 is simple, but it isn’t trite. It doesn’t whitewash anything; it is honest about the problems we’ll face (‘the desolate pit, the miry bog’). But, no matter what we’re going through, the psalmist assures us that God is here. Let me say that again: God. Is. Here.

No matter how alone we may feel, how unworthy we may feel, no matter if we can’t see past all the bad stuff that’s happening in our lives, God is here.

When Jesus called his first disciples, he didn’t ask them what they believed; he didn’t ask them to recite a creed. He invited them to “come and see.” See what God is doing through me. The lame and the blind are healed. The good news is proclaimed. God is here.

The invitation to come and see what God is doing still stands. Even in a world scarred by violence and hunger, God is at work through – and sometimes in spite of – us. So, come and see, and listen for the new song that fills creation.