“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Col. 3:16.) The Bible commands us to sing. Singing is a way to praise the Lord. Although the Lord takes pleasure in our praise to Him, He is in no way dependent on our praise. God commands our praise to Him and expects us to do it often. We are fortunate, however, that God has made praise to Him beneficial to us. When we sing to the Lord we are also “teaching and admonishing one another.” We must understand the purpose of singing in worship. This act of worship was established by God so that we could edify one another and build each other up. Too often the focus of our song worship is on the melody. This should not be so. Our minds should always be on the sentiment of the song.

Ephesians 5:19 says “speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.” Pay close attention to the first word of that sentence, “speaking.” This refers to the words that are expressed in the songs. When we are singing in worship, we are speaking to each other. The melody of the song is of little importance. As we come together in the assembly to sing, remember the purpose of this act of worship. Singing is for our learning.

“I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding” (1 Cor. 14:15.) When we sing songs to the Lord, we are to understand the words which we are singing. If we pay little attention to the words in the song, we can not say we are singing with understanding. When we worship, we are to “worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24.) When we sing, it should not merely be a physical action. Singing is an act of the heart, an act of the mind. We must be emotionally involved in singing. If there is a lack of emotion, our song is in vain. There is always a danger of simply going through the motions. We need to make certain that our hearts and minds are involved in worship to the Lord. We must make sure the sentiment of the song are in accord with God’s word. 2 Timothy 3:16  says “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” If the contents of the song do not correspond with scripture, they are not profitable for these things. God forbids adding or taking away from His word (Rev. 22:18-19.) Because we must worship in “truth,” the words must agree with scripture. If the song contradicts scripture by adding to the truth or taking away from it the song is not to be used in worship. If we sing a song that is against scripture, we are ultimately teaching error. Hence the great importance of listening to and understanding the words of the song.

Worshiping in truth illustrates a concept of authority. The word of God is the truth. In order to worship in truth, we have to be acting in a way that is authorized by scripture. “All scripture is inspired by God” and is therefore authorized. We must take the word of God, and do only what it says. Under the old law mechanical instruments were commanded and authorized in worship to God (2 Chron. 29:25; Ps. 81:1-4.) We must understand that we no longer are under the old law, but are now under the law of Christ (Col. 2:14; Heb. 8:7-9.) There are ten passages in the New Testament that mention music in worship to God, all of which only regard singing (Matt. 26:30; Mark 14:26; Acts 16:25; Rom. 15:9; 1 Cor. 14:15; Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16; Heb. 2:12; 13:15; James 5:13.) The command to do one thing (sing), only authorizes that one action. We have no authority to add anything to the command to sing. By specifying singing, God excludes instrumental music and any other kind of music.

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Col. 3:16.) Remember this command and act of worship. Understand what it means to worship the Lord in song. We are to be careful to do only what the New Testament authorizes. We are to open our hearts and minds to the words in the songs we sing and we are to understand and mean the words we are singing.