Songs Matter: Doctrinal Discernment in Congregation Singing (Part Two)

A couple years ago, I wrote an article about having discernment in the songs we  sing during corporate worship on Sundays. In that article, my main point was:  God Himself sets the standard for how we come to Him in worship, even down to what songs we sing. I mentioned in closing that there would be a part two, so needless to say, this is long overdue! 

In this article, we are going to look at the New Testament’s instructions for us in the realm of congregational singing. If God himself sets the standard, then what is it? We live in an age where there is a very wide range of singing that happens  in the church on any given Sunday morning. On one hand, this is great! We should be very thankful for the many people that are writing song for the church. On the other hand, this can be concerning. Depending on the church you attend, you may find the worship team singing everything from secular pop  songs, to hymns, to only psalms, to modern worship anthems, and everything in  between. Does our Lord care what we sing? He most certainly does! To help us  discern what we should be singing on the Lord’s day we are going to look at a  command that is repeated twice in the New Testament. In the book of Ephesians  and the book of Colossians, Paul is giving instructions to the church, and he outlines what singing in the body of Christ should look like. Let’s look at Colossians 3:16, and there we will see this important point: Saturation in God’s word results in the singing of God’s word. 

Colossians 3:16–17 

“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.”  

The Saturation of God’s Word  

What we love, we speak about. Jesus instructed us in the sermon on the mount,  that what comes out of our mouths is an indication of our hearts. The Psalms of  David are a good example. Over and over again, the man after God’s own heart reveals himself to us. David’s response is to sing of who God is and what He has  done. 

Psalm 101:1-2, “I will sing of lovingkindness and justice, to You, O LORD, I will sing praises.” 

Psalm 22:22, “I will tell of Your name to my brethren; in the midst of the assembly I will praise You.” 

Simply put, the one who is abiding in Christ can’t help but share it with others. In  Colossians, the word that Paul uses for “dwell” is used six other times in the  New Testament. In three of those instances, he speaks about how the Holy Spirit  dwells within us. That’s the idea here as we consider that God’s word is to dwell  in us. It’s to be part of the very fabric of our being.  

From the corporate worship perspective, what guides the Sunday gathering?  The church’s saturation level of God’s world will be seen right away. I’ll give you  one way to check this. How does your church service begin? What guides you  into your time of singing? Is God’s word read? If one of the elders begins with a  call to worship from God’s word, followed by a response of singing, that could  be an indication that you are in a church the truly upholds the authority of God’s  word. But, if the service begins with a thirty second countdown, followed by a  thunderous musical intro, that might be an indication that the church values  other things above the word of God. If we are to sing biblically, our churches  must let the word of Christ dwell in us richly.  

The Singing of God’s Word  

According to Paul, singing is the natural response when the word is dwelling in  us. If we value the deep truths of God’s word, then we will value songs that  communicate these truths. Solid, deep songs, both new and old that  communicate the marvelous truths of scripture will be chosen. Paul gives us  three categories of songs: psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Other than the  psalms, its hard to know with certainty what the “hymns” and “spiritual songs”  actually were. Perhaps songs of praise, or songs of testimony of God’s saving  work. The identity of these songs is not crucial for us to know, but the foundation of them is the most crucial. Whatever they were, they were the  natural result of a people that lived in the truth of God’s word. 

One other point to mention is the audience of these songs. We see that they are  to be sung with thankfulness in our hearts to God. All worship is directed to Him.  However, there is another recipient - we are to sing to one another. This is  something we probably don’t think about often as we come to sing on Sunday  mornings, but this shows us the corporate aspect of singing. It is not our private  worship. It is to be done, like all things, for the building up of the body. When we  are faithfully discipling one another in our churches, we will know what’s going  on in each other’s lives. We will know prayer requests, we will know joys and  sorrows, sins and triumphs. We can look across the room and see the joy on our  friend’s face as he sings, “When I fear my faith will fail, He will hold me fast!” Some songs are specifically written for this purpose. A good example of this is  the song, “Run to Jesus”, by Sovereign Grace Music. 

Has your grief brought you low  

Has your faith lost its hold  

Your Deliverer knows what your need is  

He endured every test  

He has felt your distress  

As you weep He has wept  

Run to Jesus  

He will lift your head  

He will be your rest  

What you owed He has paid  

What was dead He has raised  

All your guilt for His grace  

Run to Jesus  

In this song, we are encouraging one another - run again to Christ! He is with us  and faithful in every situation.  

So, as we come to a close, we’ve seen that saturation in God’s word results in the singing of God’s word. When the word is richly dwelling in us, the result will be singing with thankfulness. This singing is directed first to our awesome God,  but also to our fellow members of the body of Christ, to encourage them in their  walks with the Lord. Friends, the songs we sing matter. God’s word has directed how this is to take place, he has the authority, and we must check every song  and every element of our Sunday gatherings and make sure they are aligned  with His word. Soli Deo Gloria!