Background Notes

We wrote this hymn as a companion to our home congregation’s 2020 theme year, “behold these new things,” drawn from the 19th verse of Isaiah 43. (Serendipitously, this was also the verse for Holden’s 2020 theme, “All Things New.”) Our hymn text begins by reminding the singer of our collective history and God’s promise to walk alongside us particularly during harrowing times. After verse 19 (See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?), we are reminded that certain gifts are timeless; however, their manifestations will look different to us and we need help to see these “new things.” When we wrote this in January of 2020, little did we know that these passages would have such relevance after the COVID-19 pandemic thrust the world into many new and difficult patterns of work, worship, and gathering. And yet, even though the changes are difficult, we are promised that these “new things” will, in fact, bring us new life.