The New Song

The pattern begins at the Red Sea, where Moses and Israel sang once they had passed through (Exod 15:1-21). The Psalms name it: "he hath put a new song in my mouth... many shall see it" (Ps 40:2-3). The new song answers deliverance, "for he hath done marvellous things" (Ps 98:1); Isaiah calls the ends of the earth to sing it (Isa 42:10). The book reads the song of Revelation 5 and 14 as a verdict of worthiness declared by the full Court, more than worship, a legal declaration. Like the song at the sea it can be sung only by those who passed through the deliverance: testimony, not technique.