Small group Bible study curriculum with lessons by:
Scott Aniol, Tom Ascol, Voddie Baucham, Josh Buice, Costi Hinn, Phil Johnson,
Steven Lawson, John MacArthur, Laramie Minga, Matthew Sikes, Paul Washer, James White
Main Point: The Word of God impels the believer to sing the Word out of joyful obedience, in response to who God is and what he has done, and in the sure hope of spiritual formation.
Main Passage: Ephesians 5:18–20, Colossians 3:16–17
Memory: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” (Col 3:16)
Even congregations who have a high view of God are not immune to a misplaced understanding or expectation of singing. Sometimes even the most committed Christians make no attempt to sing in corporate worship, even carrying on full conversations with their neighbor in the pew while others sing around them. Often Christians do not really know why, what, or how we ought to sing. Additionally, often in churches, leaders do very little to help in this matter as they haphazardly approach the inclusion, form, and content of singing in worship.
However, God’s Word reveals that the church has great reasons to sing and that we should be concerned with what and how we sing. Singing the rich truths of God’s Word with joy and thankfulness in our hearts has eternal benefits in the lives of God’s people.
WHY WE SING (Eph 5:19)
The first essential question to address is why we sing in the first place. Singing is commanded by God in Scripture, allows us to express our affections to God, serves in the spiritual formation of the believer, and is a natural expression of community within the body of Christ.
God has commanded us in his Word to sing.
Most people are familiar with the typical mom or dad response to the child who asks why he must do something: “Because I said so.” There are certainly more reasons than this, but in and of it itself, obedience to the authority in one’s life is a sufficient reason. Likewise, God’s Word is filled with instruction on singing. Of the more than four hundred reference to singing, just over fifty of them are direct commands to sing.
Following Israel’s exodus out of Egypt, the song that Moses’s sister Miriam sang included the command to “Sing to the Lord” (Exod 15:21). After David’s successful, second attempt to bring the ark to Jerusalem, he led the people in a song of thanks, including the imperative to “sing to him, sing praises to him” (1 Chron 16:9). The Psalms are also filled with commands like this as they repeatedly echo sentiments like “sing praises to the Lord” (e.g., Ps 9:11; 30:4; 68:32), sometimes even stringing several imperatives in a row: “Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises!” (Ps 47:6).
These commands in the Old Testament followed God’s people into the New Testament. In Ephesians 5:19, Paul clearly instructs believers,
Addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart.
Obedience to the command to sing is certainly enough reason for us to desire to participate in singing, but God has given us much more than a compulsory rationale to do so.
Singing allows us to express our affections to God for who he is and what he has accomplished.
Following David’s deliverance from his enemies and Saul, he sang a song that concluded with the words “for this I will praise you” (2 Sam 22:50). The word for indicates that all that he had just sung about God served as the motivation for his song. Not once did he express that his singing was a fulfillment of expectation, but rather because God was his “rock and [his] fortress and [his] deliverer” (22:2) and his “shield, and the horn of [his] salvation, [his] stronghold and [his] refuge, [his] savior” (22:3). Throughout the song, David proclaims characteristics of the Lord and his delivering work, and expresses affections of adoration, joy, and thankfulness. Perhaps no book of the Bible greater displays a variety of expressions (e.g., praise, lament, confession, grief, love, and more) than the book of Psalms, which includes more than seventy of David’s psalms.
As it regards the believer today, we have no greater revelation to which to respond in singing than the gospel—the death of Christ on behalf of our sins, his burial, and his resurrection from the grave, conquering and proclaiming victory over sin and death. It is this redeeming work that fuels the singing of heaven, and therefore should be our most compelling cause to burst forth in song.
And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” (Rev 5:9–10)
Singing demonstrates the community we enjoy as the people of God.
We likely have all attended or watched a Major League baseball game where someone sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” and the 40,000 in attendance joined in the singing. Often you’ll hear an organ began to play “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” and once again, the crowd joins in. This display of singing within a community, one that is not even the church, demonstrates that we are a singing people by design.
When we gather on Sunday for worship and unite our hearts, minds, and voices in singing around the Word of God, we are demonstrating the community we enjoy as a people who have been reconciled to God and one another through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Perhaps nothing we do in worship better pictures that we are one in Christ than singing—many people coming together in unison and harmony.
Singing aids the spiritual formation of believers.
That God intends for singing to have a spiritual benefit to the believer is made clear in passages that qualify singing as a form of teaching. Colossians 3:16, another passage that shows God’s mandate to sing, also reveals to us one way that we teach and admonish one another is through singing.
… teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.
As we sing, we are not teaching and admonishing one another in the same sense as what takes place in a lecture, sermon, or an accountability small group, but rather as we sing truths, even ones we don’t yet fully grasp, we are planting them in our minds that they may grow as we come back to those truths in song over and over. Whether it’s the drive home from church or during a task like preparing a brisket for a Sunday evening dinner, I’m much more likely to sing to myself the songs we sang in worship than I am to quote statements from the sermon. This is not to minimize the preaching of the Word, but rather to demonstrate the power that music carries as a form of teaching, playing an integral part in the sanctification of believers.
Therefore, we sing because God has commanded us to sing, to express Godly affections, to demonstrate the community we have as believers in Christ, and because it helps form us.
| Think About It |
| 1. What are some common reasons people might give for why we sing in worship that do not necessarily come from Scripture? 2. What does singing accomplish that cannot be accomplished in any other way? 3. What are some ways music is performed in churches that can actually hinder the biblical purposes for singing? |
WHAT WE SING (Col 3:16)
Having established why we are to sing, we now turn to what we are to sing. Knowing that God cares how he is worshiped should lead us to be concerned with the substance of what we sing.
We should sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.
Before looking at the content of what we sing, it makes sense to first establish what we are to sing on a surface level. Paul in two places instructs us to sing “psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” (Eph 5:19; Col 3:16). Many have attempted to assign a definition to each of these three terms, creating genres of congregational song. However, it is more likely that, because of the interchanging of these terms in the New Testament, Paul is simply using these three terms in series to emphasize the importance of singing. One could argue, however, that the church is expected, but not limited, to sing at least the Old Testament psalms.
We should sing the Word.
Before the exhortation to sing, Colossians 3:16 instructs believers,
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.
We have only one source in which to find the “word of Christ” and that is the Scriptures in both the Old and New Testaments. Jesus claimed, “everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled” (Luke 24:44), revealing that he was the subject of the Old Testament. Hebrews 1:2 reveals that God’s special revelation following the Old Testament would be revealed through and finalized in his Son, thus confirming the New Testament as the word of Christ as well:
But in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
John 4:24, one of the most important biblical statements on worship argues that “those who worship [God] must worship in spirit and truth.” Similar to the implication of Colossians 3:16, to worship in truth is to worship according to the Word. Therefore, our singing should be filled with the Word of God, the only source of truth and the word of Christ.
We should sing the gospel.
More specifically, as we sing the Word, we should concentrate our singing in the gospel. On both a macro level (the whole of Scripture) and micro level (specific passages throughout Scripture) the Word of God carries the shape of the gospel (a good argument for why our services should be shaped by the gospel). The gospel is even the substance of the worship of heaven, as seen in Revelation 5 above. Additionally, our worship is mediated by the gospel. Hebrews 10 makes this clear:
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. (Heb 10:19–22)
Because it is the gospel that makes worship even possible, it should serve as both the fuel and the substance of our singing. All that we sing ought to foreshadow, proclaim, or flow from the gospel.
We should sing our hearts’ affections and the cause of those affections.
Our songs should communicate both our hearts’ affections (subjective response) and the theological reasons (objective truth) for those affections. To sing only of our hearts’ affections would lead us into the trap of emotionalism in which much of contemporary worship music finds itself. At the other extreme, to sing only theological fact, would lead us into cold, dry intellectualism. A combination of these aspects in singing is clearly modeled throughout Scripture. Consider David’s song in 2 Samuel 22 again. Throughout the song he states who God and is and the delivering work that God has accomplished. This would be the objective theological truth. He then follows those theological statements with his own response of affections: “For this I will praise you” (22:50).
As an example of this in a well-known hymn, consider the stanzas of “Praise to the Lord! The Almighty” by Joachim Neander. The hymn writer begins each stanza with an expression of praise followed by a cause for that praise. This pattern continues throughout the hymn, along with expressions of adoration, reliance, grief, and wonder.
Praise to the LORD, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation.
All ye who hear, now to His temple draw near:
join me in glad adoration!
Praise to the LORD, who o’er all things so wondrously reigneth,
shelters thee under His wings, yea, so gently sustaineth!
Hast thou not seen how thy desires e’er have been
granted in what He ordaineth?
Praise to the LORD, who with marvelous wisdom hath made thee,
decked thee with health, and with loving hand guided and stayed thee.
How oft in grief hath not He brought thee relief,
spreading His wings for to shade thee!
Praise to the LORD, who doth prosper thy works and defend thee;
surely His goodness and mercy here daily attend thee.
Ponder anew what the Almighty can do,
if with His love He befriend thee.
Praise to the LORD, O let all that is in me adore Him!
All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before Him!
Let the amen sound from His people again:
gladly forever adore Him!
We should sing a new song.
Oh sing to the Lord a new song. (Ps 96:1)
Ps 33:3 Sing to him a new song.
Ps 40:3 He put a new song in my mouth.
Ps 96:1 Oh sing to the Lord a new song.
Ps 98:1 Oh sing to the Lord a new song.
Ps 144:9 I will sing a new song to you, O God.
Ps 149:1 Sing to the Lord a new song.
Isa 42:10 Sing to the Lord a new song.
Rev 5:9 And they sang a new song.
Rev 14:3 And they were singing a new song.
Many have pointed to the Psalms’ frequent directives to sing a new song as an argument for singing new compositions. While new compositions certainly have their place in worship, this is not the intention of this phrase in the Psalms or in other parts of Scripture (once in Isaiah and twice in Revelation). Rather, to sing a new song in the biblical sense, we are coming before the Lord with a fresh experience of God’s faithfulness in our lives. Approaching God in song this way, means that even when we have sung the hymn above for the one-hundredth time it is a fresh expression of our hearts and minds to the truths that song proclaims.
A new song is a song that rises out of the heart of one who has experienced the Lord’s salvation, who has experienced the goodness and greatness of God, and even more specifically, one who sings, who responds, who worships as if the Lord reigns already; as if he has come already to judge the world; as if all the families of the people are already ascribing him the glory due his name; as if the very heavens and earth and seas and fields and trees are singing for joy to him.
God’s Word instructs us to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, the Word of God, the gospel, our affections and the cause of those affections, and a new song to the Lord.
| Think About It |
| 1. How important is it to sing psalms in corporate worship? 2. In what ways could music actually hinder the Word of Christ dwelling richly in us? 3. Why is it important to sing both in expression of our affections and the reasons for our affections? |
HOW WE SING (Eph 5:20, Col 3:17)
Finally, having considered a biblical case for singing in worship and what the content of our singing should be, we would be remiss not to discuss how we should sing. This section is not about the musical considerations, though musicians in the church should consider these matters. Rather, this section addresses how congregations should come before the Lord in singing.
We should sing with our affections.
Every section of this lesson has involved the affections (not to be confused with emotions or feelings that may accompany the affections). Our affections cause us to sing, inform the substance of our singing, and describe how we approach God in our singing. It’s easy to show up on a Sunday, sing, and have hearts that are cold and completely disengaged. This is not what God wants. Consider how God responds to this type of worship:
And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men, therefore, behold, I will again do wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden” (Isa 29:13–14)
For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. (Hos 6:6)
The Lord is clear. Externally, the people of God have fulfilled their obligation, but because their hearts’ affections didn’t match their external expression, God rejected their worship.
In seeking a right approach to God in worship, consider the way Paul closes his instruction on singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs:
… giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Eph 5:20)
… with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Col 3:16b–17)
In both of these passages, Paul didn’t finish with telling them what they should sing—an external expression. He closes the passages with statements regarding the position of their hearts as they sing. Our singing should be characterized chiefly by thankfulness, a fitting response to the redeeming work of Christ to reconcile sinners to God! Whatever the affection expressed (adoration, joy, godly sorrow, etc.), our hearts should reflect that expression.
We should be filled with the Spirit as we sing.
Before instructing the Ephesian church to address one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, Paul exhorts them,
And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit.
Paul does not mean a passive filling of the Spirit, such as what took place at Pentecost or what we receive at salvation apart from any effort of our own. Nor did he mean any kind of charismatic understanding of the Spirit focused on feelings or the expectation of an extraordinary experience. Because of the imperative language, we know Paul was admonishing them to actively pursue Spirit-filling. Additionally, because of the parallel to his instruction in Colossians 3:16 to “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,” we can conclude that to actively be filled with the Spirit is to regularly consume the Word of God. In this way, both our singing (the what) and our lives (the how) are shaped and filled by the Word of God, thus fulfilling the exhortation to be filled with the Spirit.
We should sing skillfully.
We should sing skillfully, with excellence. This final instruction on how we should sing is both external and internal. All that has been stated above, especially regarding why we sing, should lead us to not only sing, but to sing with excellence, for God is worthy of this. Not only is he deserving of our best, but he has commanded it.
Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts. (Ps 33:3)
While the description of skillfully is specifically in relation to playing an instrument, the concept naturally would apply beyond this to all aspects of music in the assembly in the same way that instrumentalists would also participate in the expressions assigned to singing. The adjective is relative of course, as singers and instrumentalists in the congregation are at different levels of skill. The point is that we should strive for our best and to always be improving, for he is worthy!
Our singing should be accompanied by our hearts’ affections as we strive to be filled with the Spirit and sing skillfully to the Lord.
| Think About It |
| 1. Why is it important to recognize that music does not fill us with the Spirit, but rather that singing is the result of the Spirit filling us with the Word? 2. What will characterize “skillful” singing in corporate worship? 3. How has your understanding of singing in worship changed as a result of this lesson? |
CONCLUSION
As we have seen from God’s Word, we sing in worship because God has commanded it, but also because we are impelled to because of who God is and what he has done and because of the spiritual benefit singing has in our lives. This spiritual benefit is only a reality if our singing is rightly filled with the Word, the gospel, and our affections. Those godly affections are a result of being filled with the Spirit that should characterize our singing as we gather with the people of God.
As we gather each Sunday to worship, we have choices to make in our singing. Are we filling ourselves with the Spirit and letting the word of Christ dwell in us richly so that we might grow in godly affections and thus desire to sing in obedience to God as an outpouring of our affections? Some of these postures are done in preparation, while others we actively pursue in the moment. And some things regarding our singing, particularly what we sing, are chosen for us, yet we still have an obligation to desire from our leaders and encourage them towards that which should form the substance of what we sing. Are you committed to this effort? You should be, for he is worthy.
Prayer: Lord, we thank you for the gift of singing that helps the Word of Christ richly dwell in us and allows us to respond to your truth with the affections of our hearts. Help us to be discerning in what we sing and fervent in our desire to glorify you and edify the congregation through our corporate song. In Christ’s name, Amen.
FOR FURTHER STUDY:
Aniol, Scott, Ryan J. Martin. Hymns to the Living God. Fort Worth: Religious Affections Ministries, 2017.
Aniol, Scott. Sound Worship: A Guide to Making Musical Choices in a Noisy World. Simpsonville, SC: Religious Affections Ministries, 2010.
Jones, Paul S. Singing And Making Music: Issues in Church Music Today. P & R Publishing, 2006.
Munson, Paul, and Joshua Farris Drake. Art and Music: A Student’s Guide. Wheaton: Crossway, 2014.