Ephesians 5:15-20: Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and 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.
Paul gave additional insight into the Spirit filled life in verses 19 and 20. The Holy Spirit gives the believer a song. Paul instructed the church to speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord. Notice again the similarities between the Spirit filled life, and the life of drunkenness. Those who drink excessively will often sing. They will make music, however, not to the Lord. But, the believer will make music in his heart to the Lord, and the believer will speak to other believers with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.
Our music and our songs provide a tremendous opportunity for the church to worship God. Also, our music and our songs provide an opportunity for the church to minister encouragement and edification to one another. Music inspires, and when our songs are filled with the Word of God, then the lyrics will build up, and encourage the church.
Paul said, in I Thessalonians 5:11, Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. Speaking psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to one another is an excellent way to obey the command of Paul to encourage and build up one another.
I love the testimony of King David found in the first three verses of Psalm 40. I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.
King David was in a hard place. He needed help from God, so he cried to God, and he waited patiently for God. Then, God lifted David out of the slimy pit of his circumstances, and God gave David a firm place to stand on a rock. Then, God put a song in David's mouth. God gave to David a hymn of praise. The combination of God's deliverance and God's song will cause many to see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.
Notice the Biblical pattern, that when God moves to deliver in the earth, God gives a song. Music usually accompanies the move of God. Most of the great revivals of the last three to four hundred years, also produced a revival of inspirational music. In the very first verse, after Paul commands the church to be filled with the Spirit, he commands the church to minister in song to one another, and to the Lord!
Make note of some Biblical examples of a song accompanying the move of the Spirit of God.
Music is important to God. As God delivers, he gives a song of deliverance.
- God gave Israel a song after their deliverance from Egypt at the Red Sea. (Exodus 15)
- Deborah and Barak sang a song of victory after the defeat of their enemies. (Judges 5)
- After the Holy Spirit moved to impregnate Mary, then Mary sang the song of the Lord. (Luke 1:46-55)
- After the birth of John the Baptist, Zechariah prophesied the song of the Lord. (Luke 1:68-79)
- The 144,000 sang a new song before the throne of God. (Revelation 14:1-5)
- The ones victorious over the beast, sang the song of Moses. (Revelation 15:1-4)
- Psalms is a hymn book of God's greatness, and power, and deliverance.
However, not only does God give a song after deliverance, but God also gives a song before the deliverance is manifested. Then, that song becomes a weapon in bringing deliverance to God's people, and judgment to the enemies of God.
This principle is revealed in Psalm 149. Praise the Lord. Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of the saints. Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; let the people of Zion be glad in their King. Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with tambourine and harp. For the Lord takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation. Let the saints rejoice in this honor and sing for joy on their beds. May the praise of God be in their mouths and a double-edged sword in their hands, to inflict vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples, to bind their kings with fetters, their nobles with shackles of iron, to carry out the sentence written against them. This is the glory of all his saints. Praise the Lord.
A mouth filled with the praises of God is a spiritual weapon against the enemies of God. See Lessons from King Jehoshaphat
A New Testament example of this spiritual truth is found in Acts 16. Paul and Silas have been imprisoned because of their ministry activity. About midnight they were praying and singing hymns to God. As they sang a violent earthquake occurred. All the doors to the cells came open. The jailer awakened and he was about to kill himself, because he thought the prisoners had escaped. Paul told him that all the prisoners were there, and Paul proceeded to lead this man, and his entire family, to faith in Jesus Christ.
Did the singing have anything to do with the events of that night? Most assuredly, it did.
God wants to give you a song. He wants to deliver you, and then to give you a song of deliverance. He wants to fill you with the Holy Spirit, and see you speak to one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, as you make melody in your heart to the Lord. He wants to use the song of praise, that is in your mouth, as a weapon in spiritual warfare.
Be filled with the Spirit. Then, open your mouth, and begin to sing.
Wayne L. Williams
wayne@fotwm.org