Good evening, Loved Ones,

The evening psalm for today is number 33. Here are the first few verses.

Psalm 33:1-5

Good people, cheer God! Right-living people sound best when praising.
Use guitars to reinforce your Hallelujahs!
Play his praise on a grand piano!
Invent your own new song to him;
give him a trumpet fanfare.
For God's Word is solid to the core;
everything he makes is sound inside and out.
He loves it when everything fits,
when his world is in plumb-line true.
Earth is drenched
in God's affectionate satisfaction.

Thank you for the new songs of youth that challenge my 50 year-old presumptions and preferences -- for the Lady Gagas, the Frightened Rabbits, the Arcade Fires and the Los Amigos Invisibles. New songs are new songs and God is in them.

Thank you for new songs from young people who are supposed to be old. Mavis Staples at 70, still belting out the good news through new melodies and words and even making the old tunes like Freedom Train and I'll Take You There new.

Thank you for new songs echoing through the concrete canyons of Chicago coming from young people who gathered by the thousands to be inspired by and to share the gift of music.

Thank you for new songs in the hearts of those of us who aren't so new. New visions and messages from the likes of Pastor Alfonso bring hope and faith.

Thank you for new songs that remind me of God's affectionate satisfaction.

Gimme cinco.

Pastor Rick