Ephesians 5:19a – Songs From the Spirit

… speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit.

Summary: Paul challenges us to do something that few have attempted. It is not a common practice to speak to each other on psalms, but it is something that we should probably try, if for no other reason that God’s Word says we should do it.

When the Israelites had left Egypt and were on their way to Canaan for the first time, God instructed Moses on the proper way to worship. Worship, in this context, is the act of acknowledging that God is God and we are not. Done properly, worship involves showing appreciation for God through organized praise for the Creator.

Under the Old Testament covenant, God instructed Moses to build a mobile temple called the Tabernacle. Inside were both symbolic and practical elements of worship. In the heart of the Tabernacle, in what they called the “Holy of Holies,” was the ark. The Ark of the Covenant was the heart of Israel. In those days, the “ark contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant.” (Hebrews 9:4)

Many years later, after the Israelites had been in the promised land for many years, their king, David, set about to bring the ark to the chosen capital of Israel, Jerusalem. When he had accomplished this, he assigned priests and singers to minister before the ark “regularly, according to each day’s requirements.” (1 Chronicles 17: 37)

The number of men assigned to singing and prophesying before the Lord was two hundred eighty-eight. They were divided into twenty-four divisions of twelve each. It did not matter if King David was there or not. It did not matter if nobody but the priests and musicians were before the ark. They sang before the Lord. They sang to the Lord. Later, when the actual temple was built by Solomon, these same instructions were followed. When the ark was placed in the new Temple, “the trumpeters and signers joined in unison, as with one voice, to give praise and thanks to the Lord.” (2 Chronicles 5:13)

Imagine, if you will, walking through the streets of ancient Jerusalem on a starlit night. The city is quiet except for the sound of singing and praising the Lord. The music is sweet and stirring. It grabs ahold of your soul and draws your mind towards the Temple. The power of God seems to radiate from the Holy of Holies, carried up by the praise and thanksgiving of the singers.

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There is power in music, and there is power in praise. It is the power to stir men’s souls and cause their eyes to lift up from the mud of their own problems to the light of the Living God. Paul encourages us to speak to each other in “psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit.” Imagine it, and then try and do it.

Application: Pick a psalm that is special to you and share it with a friend. Speak it to them, or if you are able, sing it.

Food for Thought: Why does the Spirit of God inspire people to speak in psalms, hymns and songs?