Psalm 40:3

"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."

All my life I was partial to sad songs. I thought it was just a musical preference. But a lot of it, I think, is that I was a pit-dweller. So when I sang sad songs I was singing the elevator music of my pit. You know how Jesus said that those who are in darkness love the darkness and hate the light? That was I---I actually despised happy songs as a vampire despises a cross.

I am very surprised at how changes in my spiritual life have changed my aesthetics. That, in fact, is one of the biggest proofs to me of the authenticity of God's work in me. There are tunes I wouldn't have dreamed of singing voluntarily that I now quite enjoy. I thought I was hard-wired in the minor key. Who is this new person, I sometimes wonder as I go for a walk and make him my audience of One for a rousing rendition of "In Christ Alone"? I still like some of the sad songs, but now they just remind me of what life is like without God. I don't let them pull me back into the zone anymore.

Jesus put a new song in the mouth of the demoniac (Mark 5). And then He gave him a ministry to last the rest of his life: "Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you" (Mark 5:19). I don't know if the man was ever gainfully employed again in that town, having wrecked the pork industry. But whether he mucked stalls or pushed brooms, I assume he told everyone who would listen about Jesus. He shared his song.

At the Pennsylvania Sugarloaf Craft Show, my mother and I walked up to a vendor who was selling beautiful oak rocking chairs. I happened to ask him if he had gone to college before ending up in a field he loved. He looked me in the eye and responded: "I would rather answer your question this way: The Lord Jesus Christ gave me the design for this chair." He told us that in 1970 he had to decide whether he was going to apply for welfare or live under a bridge. He met the Lord at a Teen Challenge meeting, and now, like some modern ex-demoniac, Gerry Grant tours the country with his chairs, obeying Jesus' command to "Go . . . and tell . . . how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you."

Gerry laughs heartily and often, and the song in his mouth has caused many to "put their trust in the Lord," as God blesses his happy tune. This should not surprise us because, as John Piper says, "God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in him."

King David makes a startling statement in his plaintive prayer of repentance in Psalm 51. He pleads with God to restore his joy (verse 12). And immediately he says, "Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you" (verse 13). David is aware of the connection between joy and witnessing. How better to persuade the world of truth than by our own manifest delight in God's salvation?

God's love is a love that is always trying to enfold more people. And it is when we are happy in him that people are attracted to the truth.

To read Andrée Seu's series on Psalm 40, click here.

To hear commentaries by Andrée Seu, click here.