He has put a new song in my mouth.

Praise to our God;

Many will see it and fear.

And will trust in the Lord.

— Psalm 40:3

There is an extraordinary correlation in the scriptures between sound or song and breakthrough or victory.

Throughout the Bible we see God leading His people to be attentive to a sound that would precede His moving on their behalf. Yahweh instructs David and his army to be still until they hear the sound of an army in the tops of the mulberry trees, Elijah hears the sound of abundance rain before a drop is ever released from the cloud the size of a man’s hand.

I am not sure if God was simply sounding a heavenly egg timer to say, “Now is the time, everything is prepared,” or if maybe the deeper and lasting lesson is that God kept the attention of His people so that they would never mistake the size of their battle with the size of their God.

Equally as often as He moved His people through a sound for His people, God would move mightily through a inspired sound from His people.

Jericho fell at a shout and trumpet blast, Paul and Barnabas saw prison walls fall because of a song, and the Bible is full of accounts of righteous men and women who’s prayers are recorded as having unprecedented impact on the course of history.

What is it about a sound or a song that is so divinely inspired that proves to be often the determining factor between victory and defeat?

I am convinced that most battles are won and lost for the believer in worship. Now, make no mistake worship is not only song, as a matter of fact, worship is often not initially a song.

I say, most battles are won in worship because all battles are about worship, our affections and attention. The result of fruitful missionary or evangelistic efforts is worship. The reality is Jesus Christ is Lord, that is settled, now and for eternity.

In Psalm 40, the psalmist, says to sing a new song. The word for song in the original language, is the word for minstrel. It is a song sung in movement or a cadence to a procession.

Try letting your heart be settled that the Word of truth, the Word settled in Heaven, Gods biblical decrees of who He is, be the sound that produces in your heart a reverence that gives your voice a new expression and your feet a new cadence.

David Malcolm is pastor of King Street Church in Keysville. His email address is davidmalcom75@gmail.com