SINGING SPIRITUAL SONGS

Jesus taught that worship to the God of heaven must be done in spirit and truth (John 4:24). One aspect of our worship is singing praises to Jehovah. We should remember that though we sing praises to God in our public worship services, singing spiritual songs is not restricted to the Lord’s day or other times of public worship assemblies. What does the New Testament teach about singing in spirit and in truth?

What are the New Testament verses that mention singing? Some passages in the New Testament mention music or singing which have nothing to do with worshipping God. Others mention music or singing in heaven. However, for our purposes, we want to notice the New Testament verses that specifically speak of God’s people on the earth singing songs of praise to Him.

“And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives” (Matt. 26:30 and Mark 14:25). “And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang hymns unto God” (Acts 16:25). “And that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy; as it is written, For this reason I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy name” (Rom. 15:9). “...I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also” (I Cor. 14:15). “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Eph. 5:19). “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Col. 3:16). “Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee” (Heb. 2:12). “...Is any merry? Let him sing psalms” (James 5:13).

From this list we see that at least nine books of the New Testament give instruction about singing or show us examples of those that sang praises to the Lord. While it is plain that the Bible commands us to sing praises to God, it is equally clear that nowhere in the teaching of the Christ is it stated that we are authorized to use mechanical instruments of music in our worship to Him. Respecting the authority of the Bible, we thus sing songs of praise without such mechanical instruments.

Who should sing? All Christians should sing praises to God. Sometimes it is thought that only those who sing well should participate in the singing. Some brothers do not sing during worship services because they feel they do not sing well, and do not want to be embarrassed or hinder others. But the Bible instructs all Christians to sing. Please read again Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16, which were written to all the saints of those congregations, not just to those who sang well. Partaking of the Lord’s supper is a command for all Christians (I Cor. 11:24,25). So is singing. It would be just as wrong not to participate in the singing as it would be not to partake of the Lord’s supper!

What should Christians sing? Remember, we are talking about what we should sing when we worship God. If you enjoy singing popular songs, patriotic songs, or other songs that are not related to praising the God of heaven, that is fine (as long as they do not involve inappropriate lyrics). But, when we worship, we are to sing certain kinds of songs when we praise God. What are those? They are “psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16). The spiritual songs that we sing have a variety of contents. We sing songs in which the words speak of our Creator, our Savior, the love of God, the cross of Jesus, His second coming, and many other Bible topics. We also sing songs by which we exhort one another to be holy and faithful in our service to the Master. The message of each song that we sing in worship should be based on or in harmony with the Bible. A number of songs that have been written in recent times actually take the exact words of the Bible and put them to a melody.

Why do Christians sing? The purpose of our singing is not to impress other people and cause them to say that our singing sounds pretty. Again, we do not sing spiritual songs in order to entertain others. Christians sing because they are commanded to sing (Col. 3:16). Christians sing in order to praise God: “Singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Eph. 5:19). When we sing praises to God, we do the following: We speak (Eph. 5:19), we speak to one another (Eph. 5:19), we teach (Col. 3:16), we teach one another (Col. 3:16), we admonish (Col. 3:16), and we admonish one another (Col. 3:16). Since we teach and admonish when we sing praises to God, then should we not make every effort to sing only those things which are true and in accord with the teachings of the Bible? Surely so.

How should Christians sing? We must sing by the authority of Jesus, for it is written, “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Col. 3:17). We should sing with the proper motive, which is to please and glorify God: “...whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God” (I Cor. 10:31). We must sing with understanding (I Cor. 14:15). We should sing with happiness in our hearts, for it is written, “...Is any merry? Let him sing psalms” (James 5:13).

We should truly sing from our hearts, giving our full attention to the words we are singing. When we sing praises to God, let us think seriously about every word we sing, and let us truly mean what we sing. What would you call a person, who during worship services loudly sings that he loves God, then leaves the place of meeting and curses God or denies the Lord by his actions? The Bible calls such a person a hypocrite and blasphemer! Let us sing with sincerity, and support our singing with godly lives. Brethren, let us sing from the heart, just as we would if we were standing before the throne of God in heaven and singing praises to Him there. Let us not forget: when we sing songs of praise, God is the audience.

It is a privilege to worship the Lord God. It is an honor to speak to Him in prayer. It is an equal honor to praise Him in song. Few things inspire the soul like the sound of God’s children blending their voices to praise the great I AM. May we take our singing seriously. Let each of us be totally committed to singing every spiritual song from the heart.  

Roger D. Campbell