Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs

[Part 4]

In our previous studies we have considered at some length the difference between psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. We must now look at the practical applications to our own worship.

In Ephesians 5:19 we are enjoined to: "Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs" and in Colossians 3:16: "Teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs." These verses suggest that we have here something different from a specific teacher expounding the word of God. They assume a number of people meeting together in an assembly, all of whom have a part to play in teaching and admonishing (warning) with respect to the word of God.

The Purpose of the Psalms - to Teach the Word
Taking an Old Testament example, the Psalms were not composed to sound good or for entertainment, but to express truth. They are quoted extensively in the New Testament and do just that. Peter, speaking to his own nation (Israel), many of whom were gathered together in Jerusalem to keep the feast of Pentecost, quotes Psalm 16:8-11 during his address to them (Acts 2:25-28):

I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices…you will fill me with joy in your presence.

Peter applies these words of David to "Jesus of Nazareth" (verse 22). He again quotes from the Psalms in Acts 2:34 (Ps. 110:1) and 4:11 (Ps. 118:22). Likewise Paul in his letter to the Romans uses the Psalms to press home aspects of his teaching. For example 3:12 (Ps.14: 3); 4:7,8 (Ps. 32:1,2); 8:36 (Ps. 44:22) etc. The letter to the Hebrews is full of quotes from the Old Testament Psalms, e.g., 2:5 (Ps. 2:7); 2:12 (Ps. 22:22); 3:7-11 (Ps. 95:7-11); 10:5-7 (Ps. 40:6-8) and so on. From these and other instances it is evident that there was more to 'singing' in both the Old and New Testaments, than 'having a good sing-song' or demonstrating the talent of an individual or group of people. It was part of the means of hearing the word of God.

In Colossians 3:16, psalms, hymns and spiritual songs have the two-fold purpose of teaching and admonishing (Greek noutheteo - warning, as in Acts 20:31; "Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears". See also 1 Corinthians 4:14; 1 Thessalonians 5:14 NIV). Teaching is positive; warning is negative, and both are necessary for the knowledge and practice of the truth.

Singing in our Worship Today
Applying these thoughts to our own situation, it reminds us that our psalms, hymns and spiritual songs should teach relevant truth. How can we "teach and warn one another with all wisdom" if we are singing unscriptural or undispensational hymns, or if they simply form part of a service which is looked upon as, 'sing a few hymns, say a few prayers, listen to a (boring?) sermon and then go home'? In this respect the attitudes of Charles and John Wesley to the words of hymns have much to commend them.

It was Charles Wesley who wrote the first hymns of the great Evangelical revival of 1738, when it was said of him and his brother John, that they were "filled with the Spirit" (Preface to the The Methodist Hymn Book 1933 edition). In the original Preface to his, A Collection of Hymns, John Wesley wrote of the book and its hymns thus: "It is large enough to contain all the important truth of our most holy religion….and to prove them both by Scripture and reason." Whatever we may think of Methodism today, it had its foundations on the word of God, both in the preaching of that word and in the hymns that were sung.

That is not to say, of course, that we endorse the teaching of all the hymns included in the book, for as John Wesley himself admitted, there might be some, even in his day, who might want to "mend" some of them (op.cit.). Also there is no evidence, as far as we are aware, that the Wesleys rightly divided the word of truth in the sense in which we understand that today.

In our own day, there are plenty of hymns written by godly men and women, that can be sung with sincerity and understanding, much in the same way that many of the Old Testament Psalms can be applied to our own situations. There is also the fact that, with some small 'corrections' (John Wesley's "mend"), other hymns could be adapted. Some who recognise the distinctive truth of the 'Mystery' have produced their own books, incorporating many of the great hymns of old, as well as some written especially by 'friends' for the present dispensation (for example the Hymns of Praise used in the Chapel Of The Opened Book, Wilson Street, London, as well as other meetings in the U.K.).

Where can we sing our hymns?
Perhaps the biggest difficulty for some, who embrace right division and its implications, lies not with what hymns to sing but where to sing them. Some find themselves not only isolated by teaching but by distance. It is not always possible to enter whole-heartedly into fellowship with other Christians who confuse together the teaching of the Acts dispensation and the dispensation of the Mystery of Ephesians and Colossians. A tape ministry (such as that provided, for example, by The Open Bible Trust) helps in the teaching of the word, but the ministry of psalms, hymns and spiritual songs is something that seems to be largely lacking in 'right division' circles. How important this is considered to be, is down to the individual believer, but we cannot get away from the words of Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16 that form the burden of these studies.

In a statement made (at the time of writing - September 2001) by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, head of the Roman Catholic Church of England and Wales, that included the controversial idea that "Christianity has now almost been vanquished", he foresaw that it might be kept alive through small "Bible Study Groups". Many find themselves already in that position. Whether psalms, hymns and spiritual songs can form part of such worship is down to the members of those groups. We mention it here because it is part of the Apostle's teaching in those epistles that are particularly precious to the members of the Body of Christ.

Make Music in your Heart to the Lord
In these studies we have tended to emphasise the outward expressions of allowing the Holy Spirit to fill us with the word of Christ. There is also of course an inward aspect of this truth. Without going to the excesses of emotion induced in some assemblies by repetitive singing and body expressions, there is, for those who hear and allow God's word to indwell them, a music or melody in the heart (Ephesians 5: 19). This feeling of elation that may be experienced in both the preaching and hearing of the Word is the natural outcome of the Lord speaking to us through that Word. It has been and continues to be the experience of many, not only when met together in groups but also of the lone Bible student prayerfully listening to what that Word has to say. When the Lord teaches His Word such an experience is likely to follow. The two disciples who met the risen Christ on the way to Emmaus and heard from Him probably the most wonderful Bible study ever, said afterwards:

Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us? (Luke 24:32)

He had "explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself" (verse 27) and they burned within. Such is the outcome when the word of Christ dwells in us richly in all wisdom. If this is the music in the heart of Ephesians 5:19, it is closely associated with thankfulness for everything He is and has done for us. Both the contexts of this passage and the parallel, Colossians 3:16, go on to speak of just that.

Make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 5:19,20)

Sing…with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:16,17)

In modern parlance, when something is said that pleases us, we sometimes respond with: "Those words are music to my ears." The Word of God should produce 'music in the heart'.

The Word of Christ: in you or among you?
Before closing these studies, we feel it is worth drawing attention to a possible alternative interpretation of the words "in you" (Greek en humin) in Colossians 3:16: "Let the word of Christ dwell in you". The words occur also in Colossians 1: 27:

God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you (en humin), the hope of glory.

In this latter passage the Apostle may be looking back to a time when Israel alone had the presence of the Lord among them, in Tabernacle and Temple. The "glorious riches" of the "mystery" he is now making known is that Christ is now among the Gentiles, in the calling that refers to the Body of Christ.

If this be allowed as a legitimate interpretation of this passage, why not also in Colossians 3:16? Both the passages in Ephesians and Colossians have to do with more than the individual: "Speak to one another" and "teach and admonish one another". Could not the "word of Christ" be dwelling amongst the company that is met together to hear it, just as well as in an individual's own heart? Could it be that there is truth in both aspects of this dwelling?

We may have to treat the following quotation with some caution, since it belongs strictly to another dispensation, but is there not an element of truth in it that is eternal and can be applied to our own calling?

Where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them. (Matthew 18:20)

Whatever the reader thinks of this, we trust that they can join with us in thankfulness to God for our place in the high calling that sees Christ amongst the Gentiles and can rejoice together in "psalms, hymns and spiritual songs", making music in our hearts to the Lord.