Click here for more messages from the Why Do We …? series.
Click here to return to the Sermons page.

Ephesians 5:19-20

INTRODUCTION: We are in week four of our five-week series called “Why Do We..?” in which we have been looking at why do we do certain things we do as a church. So far we have looked at baptism, church membership, and church giving. And today we will look at the place of music and singing in the church. [Read Ephesians 5:19-20 and pray.]

Why do we sing and play music in church? Is singing optional for a church or is it required? Why do we spend so much time singing here at PCC? Almost half our service is committed to music and song. Those are some of the questions I would like us to look at this morning as we talk about singing in the church.

I believe you will find that most churches sing. There are some churches that do not use musical instruments. They do all their singing a cappella without any instrumental accompaniment, but as far as I know, all churches at least sing. And most use some type of musical instruments as well.

Which makes sense, because music and singing are important all throughout the Bible. The first reference to music in the Bible is found in Genesis 4:21 where we read that “Jubal . . . was the father of all who play the harp and flute.” (Genesis 4:21) So people discovered music very early on.

Notice I said “discovered,” not “created.” We know from the Bible that music goes back even further than that, because God says in Job 38:7 that at the very creation of the world “the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy.” (Job 38:7) And so music existed even before the world was created. This means that music is not just a human or earthly development, but that it is part of the language of heaven itself.

The book of Revelation confirms this for us. Revelation gives us a glimpse into heaven, where we find that heaven itself is full of music and song. And so we find music in the Bible all the way from Genesis to Revelation, from the angels singing at creation to the redeemed saints praising God in heaven. We even have a whole book of songs in the Bible, the book of Psalms, which is right in the middle of the Bible and just happens to be the longest book in the Bible. When God gave us the Bible, he made sure to give us a songbook as part of his Word to us.

Frederic Neitzche once said that “without music, life would be a mistake.” I don’t know if we can go so far as to say that, but I do believe we can say that music is one of the good gifts that God has given to us. And we should praise God for the gift of music and through the gift of music.

Music and singing are part of our worship to the Lord, although worship is much more than just singing. We can also worship God through prayer and giving and service and loving our neighbor and doing a good job at work. Music and worship are not the only way to worship the Lord, but they are certainly a very important way in Scripture.

I love the instruction Paul gives to us in our passage this morning. A lot of churches nowadays seem to get into a lot of conflict over music and what is often called “worship style.” I believe a lot of this conflict could be avoided if we simply followed Paul’s instructions here in Ephesians 5:19-20.

There are three basic instructions Paul gives in these verses, and I would like to look at each one in turn. But before we jump into Paul’s instructions, I want to make just one comment on the overall context of these verses.

The context actually begins at the end of verse 18 where we are told, “Be filled with the Spirit.” (Ephesians 5:18) That is the direct command, and then Paul follows that up by giving us four examples that describe what being filled with the Spirit looks like. They are: 1) speaking to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs; 2) singing and making music in your heart to the Lord; 3) always giving thanks to God the Father for everything; and 4) submitting to one another out of reverence to Christ. The fourth instruction, submitting to one another, then leads into a whole other section of Scripture on Christian relationships, so we will not be looking at that one today. But I want us to understand that the three instructions pertaining to musical worship are all part of what Paul calls “being filled with the Spirit.” Paul is not talking about music for music’s sake, but music as a result of God’s Spirit at work in our lives and in the church. And so as we look at these three instructions together, be mindful that the context is that of being filled with God’s Holy Spirit.

I. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. (Ephesians 5:19a)

The first instruction Paul gives is found in the first part of verse 19: “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.” (Ephesians 5:19a) There are a number of things we can learn from this verse.

   A. The words we sing are important

First of all, notice that Paul says to “speak to one another” through music. You might wonder why Paul said “speak” here rather than “sing.” We usually think about singing songs rather than speaking songs. Paul is emphasizing content here. The words that we sing are vitally important. That’s not true with all music. There are a lot of songs where the content of the words doesn’t really matter. The words just sound good together and form a background for the music. You know, shimmy shimmy shang shang, skip daddly doodly wop. Not a whole lot of content there. But content does matter when it comes to songs in the church. Paul does not say we should just sing to each other, but that we should speak to each other in song. When you speak to someone, the words matter. In fact, that is the reason why you are speaking – to communicate something with words. This does not mean that there is no place for instrumental music in the church. Instrumental music can help set a tone or be used for transitions or perhaps to aid reflection during the serving of communion for example. But it does mean that the primary reason for music in the church is to communicate through words. We do not just sing to each other in the church. We speak to one another through song.

   B. Singing is a part of community life

Another thing we learn from this verse is the importance of community. Notice we not only speak through song, but we speak “to one another.” Now this does not mean that we cannot use music or song in our private devotional life. Of course we can. But Paul is saying that music and song should be an important part of our community life. We are to use the good gift of music and song to speak to one another in the church.

Of course that raises the question, why not just speak to one another with words? Why is putting it to music so important? I believe music is important because the kinds of truth we speak to one another in the church are truths that should stir our emotions, and music is a God-given way of tapping into our emotions. For example, I could tell you this morning that God is great and that he deserves our praise. I would be speaking words of truth. But if I just spoke the words, and we did not feel in our hearts God’s greatness, and we did not express our praise to him, then something vital would be missing. Music helps us to fill in that gap. We not only speak of God’s greatness, but we praise him in worship and song. Also when you speak to one another in words, usually only one person can speak at a time. But when we speak to one another in song, all of us can speak and proclaim and testify to one another together in unity the wonderful truths about our God.

   C. We should use a variety of musical expression

A third thing we can learn from this verse is that we should use a variety of musical expression in the church. We are to speak to one another “with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.” Paul uses three different words for songs here, and each has a different shade of meaning. The word “psalm” comes from a word that literally means to pluck the strings of a musical instrument. This would seem to imply songs that have musical accompaniment. And sure enough, when you go back to the Psalms in the Old Testament you will often find at the beginning of an individual psalm instructions for the musical instruments that were to accompany that psalm.

The word hymn comes from a word meaning “to celebrate.” We have a tendency to call the songs in our hymnals “hymns” and the songs up on the screen “praise songs.” But that is really an artificial distinction. What if we took one of the songs out of the hymnal and put it up on the screen? What is it then – a “praise hymn?” No, a hymn is not a song in a book, but a hymn is any song that celebrates God and his greatness.

And then Paul simply says “spiritual songs.” Some people relate this to what they call “singing in the spirit,” sort of like speaking in tongues but actually singing in tongues instead. But I don’t think that is what Paul is talking about here. I think he is just including a third general category of songs that speak the truth of God’s word to our hearts by the Spirit of God.

Paul uses this same threefold division of terms – psalms, hymns and spiritual songs – in Colossians 3:16. Some people see a reference to the trinity here, with psalms referring back to the Old Testament, i.e. psalms to God the Father, hymns referring to the New Testament, i.e. hymns to Christ, and spiritual songs referring to songs about the Holy Spirit. Either way, we can certainly say from this verse that Paul recognizes a variety of musical expression within the church.

In fact if you look at the book of Psalms, God’s songbook in the Bible, you will find a great variety of songs. There are psalms of thanksgiving and praise as well as psalms of grief and lament. There are psalms of moral instruction, and psalms which recount the history of God’s people. There are psalms of confession of sin, and psalms of intercession for others. And each type of song would require a different type of music to help carry and reinforce its message. You would not sing a song of lament to a cheerful dance tune. It wouldn’t work. Likewise, you would not sing songs of celebration to a funeral dirge. There are many things that we can and should sing about together as a church, and therefore there is a variety of musical expression within the church. Paul’s first musical instruction to us in Ephesians 5 is that we should “speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.”

II. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord. (Ephesians 5:19b)

   A. God is our primary audience

Paul’s second instruction is found in the second half of verse 19 where Paul says to “sing and make music in your heart to the Lord.” (Ephesians 5:19b) This is an important verse because it identifies for us our primary audience when we sing in church. The primary audience for music in the church is always God. Although we speak to one another in song, we are not the primary audience. We are always singing first of all and foremost to the Lord.

This one truth alone should revolutionize our attitude concerning music and singing in the church. We are not performing for each other. We are not showing off our musical gifts or talents. We are not seeking to draw attention to ourselves. We sing for an audience of one. We sing to our great and wonderful God who gave us the gift of music and who delights when we return that gift to him in worship and praise.

Those of you who lead in worship from up front should always remember this. Your role is first of all to worship God, and then secondly to lead others in worship. If you are not worshiping first, then you are not leading in worship. You should sing and play your musical instruments unto the Lord. God is your audience, not the congregation. People in the congregation, you also need to remember that you are singing to the Lord. That is good news. It means you don’t have to worry if you sing off key or if you don’t have the greatest voice in the world. After all, the Bible says “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord.” Hey, any of us can make noise! You aren’t singing for people. You are singing to the Lord.

I believe that truly grasping hold of this truth would eliminate most of the conflict that many churches experience over music style in the church. Churches can get into arguments over hymns versus choruses, song books versus screen. But if we would truly focus on singing to the Lord, I don’t think these things would bother us as much.

   B. True worship always comes from the heart

Another important principle from this verse is that as you sing, you should also make music in your heart to the Lord. This phrase “make music” is the same word that the word “Psalms” comes from, the word meaning to pluck the strings of a musical instrument. It is a beautiful picture here. Paul is saying that when you sing to God, you should accompany yourself with your heart. You should be plucking those heart strings along with your song. You see, God doesn’t want us just singing the words and going through the motions. True worship always comes from the heart. And so as you sing to the Lord, may your heart play the musical accompaniment to your praise.

III. Always give thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 5:20)

   A. We should always be thankful to God

And then we come to the third instruction in verse 20 which tells us that we should “always give thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Ephesians 5:20) This instruction tells us that whatever type of song we are singing, we should always carry an attitude of thanksgiving as we sing. Even in a song of lament or grief, we can still be thankful that God is there for us, that he is hearing our prayers, and that he has promised to help us through whatever problem we may be facing at the time.

   B. We should thank God for everything

Notice that we are to thank God “for everything.” That is not always easy to do, especially when we are facing some hardship in our life. And yet if God is truly in control, we should be thankful. We may take comfort in knowing that God will take even the difficult things in our lives, even the very mistakes that we have made along the way, and turn them to good. Here is where we need to remember Romans 8:28: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

   C. Do it all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ

Notice that we are to thank God for everything “in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” It is through Jesus that we have been brought back into relationship with God. It is through Jesus that we have received whatever blessing we have received from God. It is through Jesus that God will indeed take the various strands of our lives and work them together for good. Do not just be thankful to God in a general or non-specific way. Thank God for specific things, and thank him in the name of his Son Jesus Christ through whom you have received all things that are good.

   D. Music makes it easier to remember

I also like this third instruction because it looks beyond just the gathered worship service. Did you notice the word “always” at the front end of the verse? One of the ways that we can carry an attitude of constant thanksgiving beyond Sunday morning and throughout the rest of the week is through the gift of music and song. Music makes it easier to remember. We may not always remember everything the pastor said in his message. We may not remember all the Scriptures we looked at on a Sunday morning. But we often remember the songs. Songs take on a life of their own, and they follow us through the week. Often during the week I will find myself humming a song from Sunday, then suddenly thinking about the words, and then I am off praising and thanking God all over again.

Somehow it is easier to remember words when they have been set to music. That’s how some people actually memorize Scripture. You can buy whole CD’s full of Scripture verses that have been set to music. Of course, a lot of the songs that we sing on Sunday morning are either taken from Scripture or based on Scripture, too. Music is one of God’s gifts to us to help us remember to always give thanks to him for everything.

CONCLUSION: And so we see from our passage this morning that music and singing are not optional for the church. They are part of God’s good gifts to us that help us to fulfill our purpose as a church. No wonder we spend so much time singing together as God’s people! In many ways we are just warming up for heaven! Paul says, “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.” (Ephesians 5:19-20)

© Ray Fowler

You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this message provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and that you do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. For any web postings, please link to the sermon directly at this website.

Please include the following statement on any distributed copies:
By Ray Fowler. © Ray Fowler. Website: https://www.rayfowler.org

Click here for more messages from the Why Do We …? series.
Click here to return to the Sermons page.