There are two divinely appointed channels for the emotions which are the fruit of the activity of the Holy Spirit in the heart of the believer: “Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.” (James 5:1313Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. (James 5:13)) Our sorrows should thus find expression before God in prayer, and our joys in song. Concerning ourselves in these remarks only with the latter, it may be profitable to notice the teaching on this subject of the two scriptures which stand at the head of this article. In Ephesians our praise and thanksgiving are to be the result of being filled with the Spirit, and this in contrast with being drunk with wine. Wine, in this connection, while not excluding its literal meaning, is used rather in its typical significance. The Christian is not to be intoxicated with earthly joy, but he is to be filled with the Holy Ghost. It is very noticeable on the day of Pentecost that the multitude mistook the action of the Spirit in the apostles for the effects of wine-showing that the action of wine on the natural man simulates or counterfeits the action of the Spirit of God in the believer. In fact, when any of the early Christians were filled with the Spirit they were lifted up out of themselves, and were used as vessels for the expression of the Spirit’s power whether in testimony or in praise. In such a state souls cease to be occupied with themselves; for it is the Spirit’s delight to lead out our hearts in the contemplation of Christ, according to that word, “He shall glorify me: for He shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you.” (John 16:1414He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you. (John 16:14)) Thus lost in the view of Christ, His perfections, excellencies, His worthiness, and His perpetual and tender ministries of love, from His place at the right hand of God, as well as in the anticipation of the joy of seeing Him face to face, and of being forever with Him, God would have us speak to ourselves (or, perhaps, to one another) in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in our heart to the Lord. When in such a state it would be impossible for the soul to find a voice for its feelings except in exalted strains of praise and adoration.
In Colossians, on the other hand, the same result is produced by the word of Christ dwelling richly in us. The effect, in the first place, is to be seen in our teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, and then in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing with grace in our hearts to God (“to God “ is the true reading). We have seen that praise is produced in Ephesians by the Spirit occupying the soul with Christ. So also here; for the word of Christ is but the unfolding and display of what He Himself is, and hence, when it dwells richly in us, we have Christ -Christ in all His glories-constantly present to our souls. It is of necessity therefore that we worship with the voice of praise and thanksgiving.
Surely it need scarcely be pointed out that none but believers could share in such songs of praise and, in the measure of these scriptures, only those believers whose hearts are under the direct action of the Holy Spirit and the word of Christ.
Another observation is important. In both passages we have psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. We have no means of interpreting the exact force of these different terms; but it may be safely said that they include human compositions. In the energy of the Spirit of God, especially in these early days, the affections of the soul to Christ could not but delightedly pour themselves out in strains of praise and melody at His feet And He on His part could not but gratefully feed upon the fruit which His own Spirit had produced and ripened in the souls of His saints. It was in this way that many, like Mary, would bring their alabaster box of ointment to anoint the feet of their Lord, and the house would again, as before, be filled with the odor of the ointment. (John 12)
It is very evident that both scriptures point to such songs in private as well as in the assembly. And the question may perhaps be raised whether Christian song occupies its due place, either with individuals, or in the families of the saints. For it has many uses. First and foremost, it is a relief to the heart; i.e. to the heart that is overflowing with the sense of the love of Christ. Even more, it is a relief to the heart in time of trouble; for though our circumstances may be trying, we can always find a matter of praise to God. The line of a popular hymn, though badly expressed, contains a truth. It says “Sing a song to Jesus when the heart is faint.”
Let the troubled Christian do this, and he will find that his burden is lightened and his heart eased even while in the very act of making melody to the Lord. Again, it is a means of edification; i.e. supposing the hymns sung are according to truth; and, lastly, it may become a testimony. This would seem to have been the case with Paul and Silas. Cast into prison, with their backs still sore from the stripes of their persecutors, like the apostles Peter and John, they rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for the name of Christ, and at midnight they prayed and sang praises to God; and the prisoners heard them. It was a new thing for such a sound to be heard in that prison house. Satan had roused the city against these servants of the Lord, and thought he had gained a great victory by securing their imprisonment. But God would be glorified over the adversary, and He thus filled the mouths of Paul and Silas with praise in the very seat of the enemy’s power, and so mighty was the testimony rendered in connection with the events of that night that the jailor (who was used of Satan to afflict the apostles) and his family were turned from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God. Songs had been given to them in the night, and while they ascended as sweet incense before the throne of God, they also were accompanied by a testimony which bore fruit for eternity in the salvation, through the sovereign grace of God, of the jailor and his house.
May we all be so continually under the power of the Spirit, and all have the word of Christ so richly dwelling in us that our lives may be characterized by perpetual praise to God!
E. D.