16 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. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Col 3:16–17.
Our gathering together on a Sunday can easily become an activity of weekly habit and as a result lose the weight of ascending the hill to worship the Lord together. Or, we can treat our time singing together as the bookends that frame the more important stuff – the preaching of the word and celebration of the Lord’s table. Both of these are errors. For singing the Word together is one of the means by which we cause the word of Christ to dwell in us richly.
The passage above comes in the context of Paul exhorting believers to live as new creations in Christ, unified as one body. One of the ways that the church has always unified is by responding to this admonition and singing together. The word of Christ dwells amongst us as we proclaim together, encouraging others with the truth and being encouraged through psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.
Personally, there has been countless times when I have gathered with you on the Lord’s day, and my soul has needed to join in and proclaim with the saints:
“What gift of grace is Jesus, my Redeemer
There is no more for Heaven now to give
He is my joy, my righteousness, and freedom
My steadfast love, my deep and boundless peace
To this I hold, my hope is only Jesus
For my life is wholly bound to His
Oh, how strange and divine, I can sing, “All is mine”
Yet not I, but through Christ in me”
– Yet not I, but through Christ in me
There have been times of affliction when your songs have edified, reminding me of my great saviour who is with me in all trial:
“O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer
Strong defender of my weary heart
My sword to fight the cruel deceiver
And my shield against his hateful darts
My song, when enemies surround me
My hope, when tides of sorrow rise
My joy, when trials are abounding
Your faithfulness, my refuge in the night”
– O Lord My Rock and My Redeemer
I need to be reminded, we need to remind each other, of the glorious vision set before us:
‘When on the day the great I Am
The faithful and the true
The Lamb who was for sinners slain
Is making all things new
Behold our God shall live with us
And be our steadfast light
And we shall ere his people be
All glory be to Christ”
– All Glory Be to Christ
In any case, singing together is not merely an opportunity for some Christian Karaoke, a chance to get more people’s gifts involved, or some comfortable padding to flesh out a service. No, we sing the truth because God deserves to be glorified, we proclaim his word so that it may dwell among us richly, and we declare where our hope is, so that our souls might be reminded, and so anyone walking through the door might witness and conclude; “wow, they actually believe it!” We sing because Christ has commanded us to sing, and he has commanded us to sing because he, as our Good Shepherd, knows that we need it!
Brothers and sisters – whether your voice comes in angelic tones like James’ or Georgia’s, or you stand with me in the choir of children who were never told to find a different dream – know that when we gather together you do not come to consume but to join in with the task of “teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”
“For the price You paid
We pour out our praises
For this feast of grace
We thank you, Jesus”
– We Receive
Grace to you, Glory to God!