Colossians 3:16
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
Why sing praise? this is a question i still have yet to answer in full, especially to those who do not belong to the Lord.
lets take this verse backwards…
“with gratitude in your hearts to God”:
i get the feeling that this verse is saying that that gratitude is there already- that gratitude is in your heart, now present it to God. not that it has always been there or that it is just there because, but that it was put there the day He allowed us to understand that life is completely about Him. and anything that we have ever been given by God must always be given back to Him…meaning that He was the One who gave us this gratitude and now in order to give it back the natural way our hearts respond is through singing praise. in other words our praise through music should not be a chore or tradition, but a response due to the way the Lord is moving in our lives.
“sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs”:
first off, it doesnt mention any instruments. not that they cant be there, because i truly believe that an instrument is a powerful tool that assists in the singing of praise, but i am just saying…instruments are not a necessity. interesting. it is as if our voices alone are the instrument of choice by God. secondly, these are the things it says to sing: psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. just so everybody knows…that pretty much classifies everything under the sun. In other words, the Lord desires our voices genuinely responding in praise to Him for what He has done, is doing and is yet to do in any key, any pitch, and any rythm because what makes a song of praise to the Lord is, and has always been, the authentic state of a heart(s) loving Him through proclamation.
“you”:
hmm. Paul is not writing to an individual, thus the “you” he is referring to is not a singular, but a plural. i am not saying that it cannot be “you” as an individual, but in this case Paul is writing a letter to the town and the church of Colosse (which is made up of more than one person fyi:). i dont understand this in full, but i do know that there has always been power in the masses under unity, no matter who they consider their authority. now, take a body of literal Spirit-filled people, bring them together, and allow the Spirit (who has already filled these people) to unite them under His authority. that is the kind of body that has the power to change the world…literally. not only is it naturally powerful due to its number, but keep in mind it is lead (in perfect unity) by the all powerful world-changer Himself. in other words-unstoppable.
“as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom”:
notice here, teaching and admonishing one another are directly paralleled to singing praise to God. to be honest, i am not exactly sure what that means, but, as a worship pastor, i feel it shows me that the teaching and the admonishing of one another is of equal importance to the worshiping of the Lord through song in relation to the word of Christ dwelling in us. in other words, the word of Christ dwelling in us is of utmost importance because His words are our weapon of choice in every battle we encounter, thus singing praise to Him is (for reasons i still dont fully understand) of utmost importance.
“the word of Christ dwell in you richly”:
to me, this is saying that the word of Christ dwelling in us is an outcome of the two things listed above. meaning that the word of Christ dwelling in us IS what happens when we partake in teaching and the singing of praise to God. and it doesnt just happen…it happens RICHLY. in other words, the most powerful weapons (besides God Himself), Christ’s words, are dwelling (definition of dwelling: living permanently) in us as we worship the Lord through song, thus creating in us a nature of literal un-defeat, thus bringing the most possible glory to the name of Jesus Christ. …i think i just gained some understanding in the importance of worshiping the Lord through song.
“Let”:
finally, the word let. in other words, everything we just discussed up above naturally takes place when we partake in the singing of praise to our Creator, but the one thing that can taint this natural process is our ability to deny permission of Christ’s words dwelling in us. i get this picture of Paul begging us to just LET it happen. dont worry that it may not happen or think that we must have to do more to make it happen…just…let…it…happen. Christ’s words through Paul are true, so we should just believe them. Let God do what He does best…everything.
in conclusion:
worshiping the Lord through music is of UTMOST importance…amen?!
