Hebrew Word Study – A New Song – Sir Chadash שיר חדש Shin Yod Resh   Cheth Daleth Shin

Psalms 96:1 “O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, all the earth.”

In 1910 Luther B. Bridgers was an evangelist serving God in the Southern States of America by holding revival meetings in various churches.  One day while he was preaching in a church many miles from his home in Georgia his wife and three small sons were trapped in their home when a fire broke out.  All four perished.   Luther Bridgers was not only grief stricken but filled with guilt that he was not home to save his family.   In the midst of his grief, God gave him a new song for which he is credited with both the lyrics and music.

“There’s within my heart a melody

Jesus whispers sweet and low

Fear not I am with thee peace be still

In all of life’s ebb and flows.”

This song was titled: “He Keeps Me Singing.”

In Psalms 96:1 the Psalmist is commanded to sir chadash sing a new song and to sing it to the Lord.  The word sing is sir and the word song is also sir.  As a verb it means to utter words or sounds in succession with musical modulations of the voice.  As a noun sir are poetic lyrics set to music. There are other words in Hebrew for a song and singing  but this word is used to express the idea of singing a song from your heart.  Music is supposed to be an expression of your heart which is why music is so often used to draw you into worship.  When you express your heart to the vibrations of music that are in harmony with the vibrations of God, there is a connection, like two radio waves, sending and receiving making a connection when they are matched, reproducing the sounds of the sending vibrations. 

But what is a sir chadash, a new song?  The word chadash is interesting.  It is actually a word for renewing.  We are to sing a renewing song to the Lord.  Hey, isn’t it God who renews us?  Well, when you get to heaven ask Luther Bridgers that.  God gave him a new song to sing at the lowest, most horrible time of his life and that song set out to renew him, giving him strength.  In fact the word chadash also means to strengthen.  The melody came from God’s heart and if the melody came from God’s heart then the vibrations of that melody are in harmony with God and if in harmony with God it will broadcast the peace, love and the assurances of God. 

In 1697 the British poet William Congreve wrote: “Music hath charms to soothe a savage beast. To soften Rocks or bend a knotted Oak, I’ve read that things inanimate have moved.”  God uses music to calm us, soften us so that He may draw us closer to Him. In the 1920’s there was a long running operetta style musical on Broadway called Indian Love Call.  Its signature moment was when two lovers called to each other from a distance expressing their love for each other. It was not enough to say the word, they had to sing them to really express their love.  

Perhaps that is what Tommy Dorsey experienced (not the swing band leader). Tommy Dorsey was a blues singer who found Jesus and turned to a new type of music, music he called Gospel Music.  Tommy Dorsey coined the words Gospel Music back in the early 20th Century.  His most famous song came to him almost instantly.  His wife and new baby had died. He was sitting at his piano trying to play a song but nothing came. He laid his head back in grief and just cried: “Oh, Lord, Oh Lord.” A Christian friend who was with him said to him: “Don’t call him Lord, call him Precious Lord.”  Suddenly Tommy Dorsey’s fingers began to move across the piano as the Lord gave him a new song and he began to sing: “Precious Lord, take my hand, lead me on help me stand. I am tired, I am weak, I am worn. Through the storms through the night, lead me on, hold me tight, precious Lord take my hand, lead me on.” It was chadash, a renewing, a strengthening.

Millions, perhaps you as well as myself found chadash, a renewing and strengthening from that sir chadash of Tommy Dorsey.  I recall when I was chaplain at a nursing home a nurse introduced me to a woman, named Carsue, who was in the final stages of Alzheimer’s disease. She would just stare out the window and never speak.  I tried to talk with her, read her Scripture, but there was no response. One day the nurse said she sang in a choir in some Baptist church on the South Side of Chicago.  It was a pretty famous choir but she had no further details.  Doing some math I calculated she lived about the same time as Tommy Dorsey when he was the music director for the Pilgrim Baptist Church.  To test my theory the next time I sat with her I began to quietly sing “Precious Lord.”  All of a sudden I heard this beautiful voice singing  Precious Lord  with me.  From the depths of her Alzheimer she was singing a sir chadash.

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