Become New with John Ortberg

You were made for great joy...but what do you do when you don't feel particularly joyful?

In this reflection on Psalm 47, John Ortberg explores a surprisingly practical answer: Do something joyful.

Sing.

Clap.

Dance.

Go outside.

Listen to birds.

Look into the face of someone you love.

Maybe even skip.

The Psalms weren't merely written to be read. They were meant to be sung.

Drawing from William Law and the James-Lange theory of emotion, John explores the fascinating relationship between our bodies and our inner lives.

We can't simply command ourselves to feel happy. Our emotions don't work that way.

But we can choose our actions.

And because our bodies and souls are deeply connected, the things we choose to do can help shape what's happening inside our hearts.

So don't wait until you feel joyful to sing.

Sometimes, singing helps lead us toward joy.

This is your day.

You can make this day a song.

In this episode:

Psalm 47 and the command to sing
Why the Psalms were meant to be sung
William Law on singing the Psalms
The relationship between body and emotion
Why “just choose to be happy” doesn't work
The James-Lange theory of emotion
Why the Psalms include dancing and other physical practices
How our outward actions can shape our inward lives
Practical ways to move toward joy
Making your day a song

Scriptures:
Psalm 47 • Psalm 113:3

#Psalm47 #JohnOrtberg #Joy #Psalms #Worship #SpiritualFormation #ChristianFaith #BibleStudy #Prayer #Happiness

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Music Credits:
Vikersund by RØRE - MB01V0UASAACPKE
Alta by RØRE - MB01IWZVJASGKHF

00:00 You Were Made for Great Joy
00:25 How Your Life Becomes a Song
00:48 Psalm 47: Sing Praises
01:20 Sing, Sing, Sing
01:46 Why Were the Psalms Meant to Be Sung?
02:09 William Law on Singing the Psalms
02:32 Don't Just Read the Psalm
02:57 How Singing Changes the Heart
03:21 The James-Lange Theory of Emotion
03:51 Your Body Can Affect Your Feelings
04:11 It's Hard to Be Depressed While You Skip
04:27 From the Rising of the Sun
04:45 How the Body Influences Emotion
05:09 John's Blind Date Advice
05:24 The Union of Soul and Body
06:14 You Can't Just Choose to Be Happy
06:41 How Much Power Do We Have Over Ourselves?
07:05 Choose the Outward Action
07:41 Why Singing the Psalms Matters
08:03 Do Something That Leads to Joy
08:33 Sing, Skip, Dance
08:55 Make This Day a Song

What's the right way to wake up?
In this reflection on Psalm 5, John Ortberg continues the daily rhythm begun in Psalm 4.
Evening is the time of peace.
 Morning is the time of hope.
And don't worry: you don't have to become a morning person.
John explores how Psalm 5 gives us a practical way to begin an ordinary day with God, even when we wake up carrying heavy burdens, difficult circumstances, or unanswered questions.
Drawing from the ancient Christian invitation Sursum corda, “Lift up your hearts,” and the wisdom of Francis de Sales, John invites us to preview the coming day with God.
What meetings are ahead?
Who will you encounter?
Where might you be tempted?
Where might you have an opportunity to serve or encourage someone?
Bring your actual day to God.
Then wait expectantly.
Maybe we shouldn't call the thing that wakes us an “alarm clock” at all.
As John puts it, perhaps we need a resurrection clock.
God has given you another day. This one will never come again.
In this episode:
Psalm 5 as a morning prayer
The rhythm of Psalms 3, 4, and 5
Why you don't have to be a morning person
Waking up with God when life feels heavy
Sursum corda: Lift up your hearts
Why waking shouldn't begin with alarm
Francis de Sales on morning prayer
Previewing your day with God
Preparing for difficult interactions
Looking for opportunities to serve
Why morning is the time of hope
The “resurrection clock”
Living this day surrounded by God's care
Scriptures:
 Psalm 3:5 • Psalm 4 • Psalm 5 • Proverbs 27:14 • Psalm 118:24
#Psalm5 #JohnOrtberg #MorningPrayer #Psalms #Prayer #SpiritualFormation #ChristianFaith #BibleStudy #MorningRoutine #Hope
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Music Credits:
Vikersund by RØRE - MB01V0UASAACPKE
Alta by RØRE - MB01IWZVJASGKHF
00:00 The Right Way to Wake Up
 00:23 Psalms 4 & 5: Evening and Morning
 00:46 I Wake Because the Lord Sustains Me
 01:03 God's Kingdom, Not Mine
 01:15 You Don't Have to Be a Morning Person
 01:42 All Time Is God's Time
 02:11 When You Wake Up Heavy
 02:54 Every Morning Is a Resurrection
 03:22 Map Out the Coming Day
 03:40 Sursum Corda: Lift Up Your Hearts
04:01 Living Today in God's Hands
04:30 Why Do We Call It an Alarm Clock?
05:14 Don't Wake Up Alarmed
05:40 Psalm 5: The Morning Prayer
06:33 Preview Your Day With God
07:21 Prepare for Difficult People
07:47 Look for Opportunities to Serve
08:27 Talk Through Your Day With God
08:45 Wait Expectantly
09:01 You Need a Resurrection Clock
09:11 This Is the Day the Lord Has Made
09:32 Two Ways to Live Today
10:27 Surrounded by God's Favor
10:47 This Day Will Never Come Again
11:10 Wake Up, for God's Sake!

Did you know the Bible gives us a way to go to sleep?
In this reflection on Psalm 4, John Ortberg explores what sleep can teach us about surrender, control, prayer, and trusting God.
Drawing from Answering God, John points out a fascinating biblical rhythm: evening comes before morning.
Genesis says, “There was evening, and there was morning.”
Sabbath begins at sundown.
Psalm 4 gives us an evening prayer before Psalm 5 gives us a morning prayer.
Why?
Because before we wake up, accomplish anything, solve anything, or even become conscious of the new day, God is already at work.
Every night, sleep asks us to relinquish our grip on our work, our relationships, our problems, our thoughts, and our need for control.
The world keeps turning.
God remains awake.
And we can rest.
In this episode:
Psalm 4 as an evening prayer
Why the biblical day begins at night
Eugene Peterson on evening and morning prayer
Sleep as an act of surrender
Why we struggle to relinquish control
"Search your hearts and be silent"
Historical "first sleep" and "second sleep"
Reviewing your day with God
Gratitude before bed
Psalm 4:8 and sleeping in peace
Learning to trust God's providence while we sleep
Scriptures:
 Psalm 3:5 • Psalm 4 • Psalm 5 • Genesis 1 • Genesis 2:2–3
#Psalm4 #JohnOrtberg #Sleep #Prayer #Psalms #EugenePeterson #SpiritualFormation #ChristianFaith #BibleStudy #TrustGod
🙌 New episodes every weekday.
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GET A TEXT REMINDER FOR NEW VIDEOS: text NEW to 51504
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Music Credits:
Vikersund by RØRE - MB01V0UASAACPKE
Alta by RØRE - MB01IWZVJASGKHF
00:00 The Right Way to Go to Sleep
 00:34 Psalm 4 & Psalm 5
 01:01 I Sleep Because the Lord Sustains Me
 01:26 Why Evening Comes Before Morning
 01:44 Genesis, Sabbath & God's Rhythm
 02:05 Who's Really in Control?
 02:27 Eugene Peterson on Evening Prayer
 03:05 Sleep Is the Practice of Letting Go
 03:37 Why We Don't Want to Surrender Control
 04:07 Psalm 4: An Evening Prayer
 04:33 What False Gods Did You Chase Today?
 05:08 Search Your Heart and Be Silent
 05:34 First Sleep & Second Sleep
 06:30 What to Do When You Can't Sleep
 06:42 Review Your Day With God
 07:15 Gratitude Instead of Discontent
 07:38 The Right Way to Sleep
 08:07 God Is God and I Am Not
 08:22 Why "Sleep Like a Baby" Isn't Quite Right
 08:54 Sleep Is the Friend of God
 09:50 Trusting God Through the Night
 10:16 Let God Look After the World
 10:51 Sleep, for God's Sake

What if you prayed the Psalms as if they could really help?

In this reflection on Psalm 30, John Ortberg explores the difference between simply reciting Scripture and allowing its words to become our own prayer.

John shares the story of Rabbi Plotkin, whose life seemed to be falling apart. His marriage was ending. His future felt uncertain. Fear and self-pity had taken over.

Then one morning, as he prepared to say the same prayers he'd prayed for decades, he challenged himself:

“Don't pray as you always have. This time, pray as if it could really help.”

The words were the same.

But the speaker was different.

When he reached Psalm 30 and read, “At night you go to sleep crying. In the morning there is joy,” something changed. The ancient words suddenly became personal.

That's John's invitation to us today: don't merely read Psalm 30.

Pray it.

Bring your actual fear, grief, need, and hope to the words. Read them as though they're addressed to you. Let the Psalms become a vessel of God's grace in your actual life.

In this episode:

Psalm 30 and transformational prayer
How to turn Scripture into prayer
Rabbi Plotkin's story of crisis and hope
Why familiar words can suddenly become personal
The difference between reciting and praying
How the Psalms remind us we're not alone
“Weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning”
Praying Scripture with your whole heart

Scripture: Psalm 30

#Psalm30 #JohnOrtberg #Prayer #Psalms #PrayingScripture #BibleStudy #SpiritualFormation #ChristianFaith #Hope #Joy

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Music Credits:
Vikersund by RØRE - MB01V0UASAACPKE
Alta by RØRE - MB01IWZVJASGKHF

00:00 How Do You Pray to Change Your Life?
00:28 Psalm 30 & Duets on Psalms
00:48 Rabbi Plotkin's Story
01:21 When Everything Is Falling Apart
01:40 The Last Straw
01:54 Fear, Despair & Self-Pity
02:20 Put Up or Shut Up Time
02:44 Pray Like It Could Really Help
03:02 Same Words, Different Speaker
03:31 At Night You Cry, In the Morning There's Joy
03:55 Suddenly, He Wasn't Alone
04:11 What Would You Take on Alone?
04:30 Nobody Can Keep You From Taking God
04:59 Hope Enters the Story
05:16 Two Friends Underline the Same Verse
05:59 Don't Just Recite the Words
06:12 Why the Psalms Can Transform Us
06:38 Pray These Words as Your Own
06:52 Psalm 30
07:28 Weeping at Night, Joy in the Morning
08:20 You Turned My Wailing Into Dancing
09:01 There's Joy

What do you do when you find yourself in the pit?

In this reflection on Psalm 30, John Ortberg explores one of the Bible's most powerful metaphors for suffering: the pit, the depths, the darkness, Sheol.

Sometimes the pit is grief.

Sometimes it's depression, failure, anxiety, physical pain, a broken relationship, a dream that has died, or something completely beyond our control.

And sometimes the night lasts much longer than we ever imagined.

John shares personally about a season when the pain didn't go away the next day...or the next. One thought became especially important:

It will not always be this way.

That doesn't mean circumstances will immediately improve. It doesn't even mean things can't get worse. It means that even in the darkness, God can still be found.

Psalm 30 says, “Weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.”

We don't know how long the night will last.

But the night doesn't get the last word.

In this episode:

Psalm 30 and the biblical image of "the pit"
What to do when suffering overwhelms you
Why "joy comes in the morning" isn't a formula or timeline
Finding God in darkness
Psalm 139 and finding God in Sheol
How to keep going when circumstances don't improve
Why we can't lift ourselves out of every pit
Mourning and dancing existing together
Hope when the night feels endless

Scriptures:
Psalm 30 • Psalm 139:8 • Genesis 37 • Jeremiah 38 • Daniel 6 • Revelation 21:4

#Psalm30 #JohnOrtberg #Psalms #Suffering #Hope #Prayer #SpiritualFormation #ChristianFaith #BibleStudy #Grief

🙌 New episodes every weekday.
📲 Subscribe, like, and share to help others grow spiritually. One day at a time.

Become New is here to help you grow spiritually one day at a time.
TEXT us at 51504
EMAIL US at [email protected]

GET OUR WEEKDAY EMAILS WITH EXTRA GOODIES at becomenew.com/subscribe
GET A TEXT REMINDER FOR NEW VIDEOS: text NEW to 51504
SEND US PRAYER REQUESTS: via text or email; we'll send you a written prayer from our team
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😊 Join Our Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1CnqywVp9s/
🤳Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/become.new/

Music Credits:
Vikersund by RØRE - MB01V0UASAACPKE
Alta by RØRE - MB01IWZVJASGKHF

00:00 What to Do When You're in the Pit
00:29 What Does "the Pit" Mean?
00:58 Psalm 30 Begins
01:29 Weeping May Last for the Night
01:56 When God Feels Hidden
02:20 Bargaining With God
03:10 You Turned My Wailing Into Dancing
03:37 This Isn't a Formula or Timeline
04:04 The Biblical Image of the Pit
04:44 When Pain Takes Over Everything
05:35 When All You Can Do Is Hurt
05:46 How Long Does the Night Last?
06:06 It Will Not Always Be This Way
06:30 What If Things Get Worse?
06:52 Finding God in the Darkness
07:19 If I Make My Bed in Sheol
07:46 Remember You're Not the Only One
08:25 God Has Met Suffering People Before
08:44 Finding Meaning in the Pit
09:00 When You're Going Through Hell, Keep Going
09:22 You Can't Lift Yourself Out of the Pit
10:07 Laughter Comes Again
10:36 Mourning Becomes Dancing
10:54 God Is Lord Even Over the Pit
11:14 Don't You Give Up