A New Hallelujah – Michael W. and Debbie Smith, Paul Baloche

Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise from the ends of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, you islands, and all who live in them. (Isaiah 42:10) Do you like new songs? And, just how long does it take for a ‘new’ song to become an ‘old’ song? The answers are probably different for everyone, and you may even have different answers for yourself, depending on the day. Michael W. Smith and his collaborators, his wife Debbie and his friend Paul Baloche, composed “A New Hallelujah”, and we can read what Michael says about the song (see the link below) and ponder what might be considered new in it. From what he says, it’s the song’s sentiments, its directives, which call worshippers to re-new something Christians have done for a long time – to reach out to others with God’s love. This time, however, it’s not just a walk across the street the songwriters have in mind. It’s global. Smith says his travels around the world to places in Europe, Africa, and Israel sparked this song’s development. He brings Spanish and African tongues into the fold on the album that “A New Hallelujah” headlines to emphasize the potential its message has to unite various cultures. Freedom, love, grace – all from God – are universal gifts that we sing in “A New Hallelujah”. Universal? They ought to be, but perhaps we sing this new song because there are always some who need to hear, to savor for the first time God’s message. Smith says he was the ‘cheerleader’ in the live performance in Houston, the guy urging singers to reach out to people different than themselves. ‘Reach to the other side’, the song’s words implore. The song makes me reconsider, then, what makes a song new, and whether it ever really becomes old or stale. It’s not the singers who sing a new song for themselves – indeed, after the first time, it’s not really new anymore. No, we sing it because we invite someone to hear it for the first time. Arise, the song says. I need to get up off my backside and show God to someone who’s not really seen Him in action before. It’s not a request. God said go and do this everywhere. And do it with some passion, like you believe it, since ‘hallelujah’ means ‘shout’. Those song thoughts, carried out in everyday life, might catch someone’s attention. What if this song stoked Christians’ hearts all over, from Brazil to China, from Africa to Australia? What if it was more confined, from New York to Houston? Wouldn’t it still make a noticeable impact? The film “Pay It Forward” proposed the radical idea of outrageous grace to total strangers, and that’s what “A New Hallelujah” proposes also. When I sing this Smith-Baloche composition, I’ll have to consider novel, revolutionary, radical thoughts. Like, God loves that guy whom I can’t stand – and He loved me before I was even likeable -- so maybe I oughta at least try doing the same? See the below link for Michael W. Smith’s comments about the song and the album “A New Hallelujah”: http://www.michaelwsmith.com/pressbio.html