Sing a New Song When Renewed Like the Eagle
Sing a New Song When Renewed like the Eagle.
“Let the upright sing for joy to the Lord; it is fitting for the pure to praise Him. Praise the Lord with melodies on the lyre; make music for Him on the ten-stringed harp. Sing a new song of praise to Him; play skillfully on the harp, and sing with joy.” (Ps. 33:1-3).
“Sing a new song to the Lord! Let the whole earth sing to the Lord! Sing to the Lord, praise His name. Each day proclaims the good news that He saves. Publish His glorious deeds among the nations. Tell everyone about the amazing things He does. Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise! (Ps. 96:1-4).
“Sing a new song to the Lord, for He has done wonderful deeds. His right hand has won a mighty victory. His holy arm has shown His saving power! The Lord has announced His victory and has revealed His righteousness to every nation! He has remembered His promise to love and be faithful to Israel. The ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.” (Ps. 98:1-3).
“I will sing a new song to you, O God! I will sing your praises with a ten-stringed harp.” (Ps. 144:9).
“Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Sing to the Lord a new song! Sing His praises in the assembly of the faithful. O Israel, rejoice in your Maker. O people of Jerusalem, exult in your King. Praise His name with dancing, accompanied by tambourine and harp. For the Lord delights in His people; He crowns the humble with victory. Let the faithful rejoice that He honors them. Let them sing for joy as they lie on their beds.” (Ps. 149:1-5).
“Sing a new song to the Lord! Sing His praises from the ends of the earth! Let the whole world glorify the Lord; let it sing His praise! (Isaiah 42:10, 12).
God is the Final Frontier. When it comes to singing a new song to the eternal and almighty Lord, there will always be fresh material for a new composition. Every believer is on the endless quest to discover as much about the character and goodness of God as He is willing to reveal. There is always more to the Lord than we can understand or appreciate, so there is always something new to discover about Him and more to sing about. There will always be new ways to express our praises to God.
Joe Mettle – They That Wait (feat. MOGmusic) [Music Video]
“They who wait (“qavah”) for the Lord, who patiently hope in the Lord by weaving together aspects of their lives with Him, will find their strength renewed (“chalaph”). Trusting in the Lord, they will be able to lift off and soar like the eagles. When they are running their race, they will never get winded or weary; when they are walking through life, they will never become tired or give up.” (Isaiah 40:31).
RENEWED: “chalaph” = to go through a change; to gain a new state or condition; to pass through a transition; associated in the Hebrew mind with God’s ability to transform situations and lives; to acknowledge God’s sovereign ability to bring about change and renewal, whether in nature, personal circumstances, or spiritual life.
WAIT: “qavah,” a common Hebrew term in Scripture for “wait,” which has a literal meaning and a figurative meaning. We get a fuller understanding of “qavah” and what it means to “wait” in the biblical sense, when we combine the literal with the figurative:
Literal Meaning of “qavah:” the process of weaving together separate strands into one; braiding together what is needed for wholeness; binding together by twisting and entwining tightly. Examples of this root word for wait would be braiding hair, twining rope, twisting strands together for a cord. To wait in this sense is not passive, but active; not a waste of time, but a useful time; not something to avoid at all costs but instead to redeem as fully as possible; not the time for seeking distractions from potential boredom, but a time to recognize it as an opportunity.
Figurative Meaning of “qavah:” to actively hope with patience; to maintain a persistent faith; to peacefully trust in God; to be content in the midst of delay; to live in eager anticipation; to engage in the spiritual activity of listening for/to God; to alertly watch for God in the midst of uncertainty; to look for God’s guidance and presence; to have a faithful expectation of what has been promised by God; to prepare oneself for whatever comes next; to “collect oneself,” to actively “get it together.”
The Purposes of Waiting: to gain and renew strength; to learn dependence on God; to flesh out one’s submission to God; to grow spiritually; to make progress in spiritual discipline; to gain wisdom and understanding; to keep from making rash or unwise decisions; to cooperate with God in His transformation of us; to continue securing one’s intimate union with God; to grow in patience and hopefulness; to develop creative responses with unexpected delays. Waiting can also be an opportunity to prayerfully seek God’s healing of shame, guilt, fear, trauma; to grow in “being content in all circumstances” (Philippians 4:11-13).
“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits… Who satisfies you with good and beautiful things as long as you live, making you strong like the eagle, restoring (“chadash”) your youth.” (Ps. 103:5).
“Chadash” = repair; restore; rebuild; renew; to make something just like new again; to bring back to its original state.
Eagles in particular have been a practically mythological creature forever, it seems, highlighted all through history and Scripture as an exceptional creature in many ways. They have been a reference point in almost 30 biblical passages, and have been the chosen symbol and representative for countless nations, royalties, schools, athletic teams, etc. The eagle is the ‘king of the birds” and described as noble, majestic, swift, courageous, fierce, beautiful, powerful, and blessed with endless youthful vitality. Eagles can see better and soar higher than any other creature, and are even noted for their faithfulness as life-long parents and their amazing responsibility in caring for their young. It is difficult to untangle fact from fiction regarding eagles, but Scripture remains a wonderful resource on many of the qualities of the eagle:
- Eagles seem to enjoy perennial youth:
“Yet, the strength of those who wait with hope in the LORD will be renewed. They will soar on wings like eagles. They will run and won’t become weary. They will walk and won’t grow tired.” (Isaiah 40:31); “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits… Who satisfies you with good and beautiful things as long as you live, making you strong like the eagle, restoring your youth.” (Ps. 103:5).
Eagle Fact: Once a year, each eagle naturally senses when it is time to renew their feathers through their molting process in which they gradually shed most of their flight feathers. Evidently, sometimes they help things along occasionally by carefully plucking off the ends of each feather so new ends can grow in more quickly. This molting process takes about 150 days, since each eagle has around 7,000 feathers. When this yearly process is complete, the adult eagle appears to eyewitnesses to have regained their youth with a new set of feathers. So down through history there have been myths concerning the eagle’s yearly ability to renew their youthfulness to an unusual degree. The fact is, though, that despite the myth that eagles can live until 70 years old, the average life span of an adult eagle is around 30 years. Nonetheless, eagles have a well-deserved reputation of having their youthful look restored every year until they die a natural death. Biblical writers believe the eagle is a noble example of how God is able to provide fresh spiritual strength to those who eagerly trust in God’s timing, who actively hope in Him, who faithfully wait in patience for God’s plans to work themselves out in His wisdom.
- Eagles soar higher than any other bird:
“Though you soar aloft like an eagle…” (Obadiah 1:4); “There are three mysteries that are too amazing and wonderful for me; no, make it four that are beyond my understanding, including the way an eagle flies through the sky…” (Proverbs 30:18-19).
Fly Like an Eagle ft. Steve Miller | Song Around The World | Playing For Change – YouTube
Eagle Fact: The majestic soaring of an eagle incredibly high in the sky has amazed human beings all through history. Eagles are equipped to discern air currents, then lock its wings as it waits for the right breeze for their purposes, and then simply rides the wind as they steer themselves in their desired direction. So technically, eagles don’t fly as much as they soar. Eagles have always been accepted as the “king of all the birds” because they are able to soar the highest of any bird above the clouds as they look down upon all the other creatures. They literally ride out storms by simply soaring above them. Eagles have been even worshipped by some cultures because as they are aloft, they are seemingly able to more closely approach the gods in the heavens. Believers can be like the soaring eagles as we catch the wind of the Holy Spirit and glide in the direction the Spirit takes us. Certainly there is effort in our spiritual soaring, but it is not an exercise in futility in which we desperately flap our wings hoping to fly in joy and freedom.
- Eagles have legendary vision regardless of how high they are soaring in the sky.
“Does the eagle mount up and take flight at your command, or build its nest in the towering heights? On jutting cliffs it lives and keeps the night; on rocky crags it builds its mountain stronghold. From there it spies its prey; the eagle’s keen eyes discover its victims still far off, beholding it from far away.” (Job 39:27-29).
Eagle Fact: The phenomenal eyesight of the eagle is totally unique in creation. It can observe something five times farther than a human with perfect eyesight. An eagle can spot prey as small as a rabbit three miles away. Instead of the human’s comparatively meager 180-degree vision, the eagle has a 340-degree field of vision. Not only that, but the eagle enjoys the ability to operate each eye individually or together, depending on what the eagle wants to look at. Somehow, the eagle is the only creature that can stare directly at the sun with no ill effects, and uses that skill to avoid natural enemies who cannot do so. For anyone to say that God has “eagle eyes” doesn’t know the half of it.
- Eagles are examples of how God offers divine care of us.
The Eagles Are Coming | Compilation of Scenes from TLOTR&Hobbit
“The Lord Yahweh called to Moses on the mountain and told him, ‘Say this to the house of Jacob, ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself… “( Ex. 19:4); “He encircled His people, He cared for him, like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on His feathers, Lord Yahweh alone guided him.” (Deut. 32:10-12).
Eagle Fact: The Lord God’s care and protection of His people is symbolized by the way the mother eagle hovers about three feet above the nest, and then proceeds to drop down to the eaglets and nudge them each toward the edge of the nest. Then the mother pushes them out of the nest to do a freefall. The father eagle nearby catches each one on his back and returns them to the nest, at which time the mother nudges them all out of the nest once again. This process continues until the young eagles have figured out to fly for themselves. Isn’t it fascinating to consider how our God cares for us by stirring up our safe little nest at just the right time, and then catching us on His wings as we learn how to fly.
- Eagles are masters at building an impregnable nest above all predators.
“Does the eagle mount up and take flight at your command, or build its nest in the towering heights?” (Job 39:27); “Though you make your nest as high as the eagles, I will bring you down from there, declares the Lord.” ( Jer. 49:16); “Though you soar aloft like the eagle, though your nest is set among the stars, from there I will bring you down, declares the Lord.” (Obadiah 1:4).
Eagle Fact: The nest of an eagle is a magnificent work of art. They always build their nests far away, isolated from other birds because of its height on a cliff, or mountain top, or even a dead treetop. The father and mother eagle together build their nest after mating for life. Each nest is carefully constructed of branches that they skillfully intertwine, which makes the nest durable, able to withstand any storm or enemy attack. Eagle nests are the largest of any bird in North America, and can often reach four feet tall with a diameter of six feet. After the nest is fully constructed, the eagle parents finally lay down on the nest a cushion of feathers, grass, and other soft materials to make their nest comfortable for the eaglets and themselves. The eagle has an instinct to protect and care for its young in a way that reminds us of how Jesus is preparing for us a dwelling place with Him in which we will be able to flourish eternally in His presence.
- Eagles are the fiercest of warriors when in combat.
“The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away, from the end of the earth, swooping down like the eagle…” ( Deut. 28:49); “For thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, one shall fly swiftly like an eagle and spread his wings against Moab…” (Jer. 48:40); “Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead, ‘Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth…” (Rev. 8:13); “Set the trumpets to your lips! One like an eagle is over the house of the Lord, because they have transgressed my covenant and rebelled against my instructions.” (Hosea 8:1).
Eagle Fact: Eagles are renowned for being ferocious when it comes to killing their prey or fighting against anything foolish enough to be its active enemy. In biblical times, the powerful image of the eagle was coupled with its being known as the fastest known creature. The unimaginable swiftness of an eagle latching onto its prey was a prime example of a skilled warrior in action. Their strength was held in awe, recognizing that an eagle was able to carry a prey that was twice its own weight. So between an eagle’s speed, strength, power, ferocity and vision, the eagle was held up as the ultimate fighting machine in nature. Does a Soldier of the Cross need any better example as we engage in spiritual battle every day in the power and the armor of the Lord?