What is going on with this song?

“40″

I waited patiently for the Lord
He inclined and heard my cry
He brought me up out of the pit
Out of the miry clay

I will sing, sing a new song
I will sing, sing a new song

How long to sing this song
How long to sing this song
How long, how long, how long
How long to sing this song

He set my feet upon a rock
And made my footsteps firm
Many will see
Many will see and hear

I will sing, sing a new song
I will sing, sing a new song
I will sing, sing a new song
I will sing, sing a new song

How long to sing this song
How long to sing this song
How long, how long, how long
How long to sing this song

Of course, the first four lines come almost verbatim from Psalm 40. But the lion’s share of the emphasis turns on the repeated cry of longing, “How long to sing this song” (presumably the ‘new’ song). It is a longing that is reminiscent of Psalm 4, Psalm 6 and, perhaps more to the point, Isaiah 6 (and by extension, Isaiah 40, Isaiah’s second calling; though the expression does not appear there).

So I wonder is it:

1. “How long until I will be able to sing this new song?”
2. “How long until I will be able to sing this song unrestrained?”
3. “How long must I bear the agonizing tension of singing this song in a world that makes a mockery of the hope of renewal it points to?”

An astute U2 scholar would tell you that “40″ is the closing song from the War album and is a direct tie to the powerful anti-war opening track “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” the chorus of which echoes the same question: “How long, how long must we sing this song, how long, how long…” How much longer will we sing of civil war and “bodies strewn across the dead end streets?” Based on this fact alone, explanation number three seems to be the most appropriate in terms of Bono’s original intent.

However, as I mediate on the lyrics I find myself truthing about myself and asking a more poignant question: “How long will you, O Lord, put up with me? How long will I keep committing the same sins before your patience runs out? How long will I sing this new song before I get my just desserts?” While they are not necessarily the words on my lips, is this not the true expression of my heart? Do I not continually fall into a performance mentality when it comes to relating to God?

The truth is that I continually stumble and fall face first into the mud, but God picks me up, cleans me off and sets my feet upon firm ground. In microcosm my daily walk is reminiscent of the Israelites and their continual disobedience, but in spite of this the Lord fulfilled his promise to them (and to the nations) to provide true cleansing and restoration in Jesus Christ. “But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them” (Neh 9:17). “How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? [...] but I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, because he has dealt bountifully with me” (Psalm 13). How long? How long before I truly understand what it means to live by grace? As I discover daily the depths of my own depravity, I am slowly recognizing that God’s grace in Jesus Christ and Him crucified is far, far greater than I could ever imagine.

“How are we to think of the incarnation? The New Testament does not encourage us to puzzle our heads over the physical and psychological problems that it raises, but to worship God for the love that was shown in it. For it was a great act of condescension and self humbling. ‘He, Who had always been God by nature’ writes Paul, ‘did not cling to His prerogatives as God’s equal, but stripped Himself of all privilege by consenting to be a slave to nature and being born as mortal man. And having become man, He humbled Himself by living a life of utter obedience, even to the extent of dying, and the death He died was the death of a common criminal. And all this was for our salvation.’”
J.I. Packer, Knowing God

From Lesslie Newbigin, The Gospel in a Pluralist Society:

It is a striking fact that almost all the proclamations of the gospel which are described in Acts are in response to questions asked by those outside the Church. [...] In every case there is something present, a new reality, which calls for explanation and so prompts the question to which the preaching of the gospel is the answer. This is clearly so in the first cases I have cited, the sermon of Peter on the day of Pentecost. Something is happening which prompts the crowd to come together and ask, ‘What is going on?’ The answer of Peter is in effect a statement that what is going on is that the last day has arrived and the powers of the new age are already at work, and that this is so because of the life, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus.

What sorts of questions are being prompted among the world by our own lives and ministries? When the questions come, what are our instinctive replies? That is, what do we believe is real-ly happening among us? Is it Jesus or is it just Memorex? A friend relayed a recent conversation with seven very knowledgable men about “what is the gospel,” and the conversation progressed for a full thirty minutes with each one waxing eloquent on the topic of “the gospel.” In that half hour not one time did the name of Jesus nor any reference to his person and work come up. How is that?