Eph 5:19–20 — The Church’s New Song

Last week we looked at Paul’s command in Eph. 5:18 to not be drunk with wine but rather to be filled with the Spirit. I defined being Spirit-filled neither as a Charismatic, supernatural experience like speaking in tongues, nor as a merely objective state that is true of all believers, but as something that has to do with our progressive sanctification. I argued that we experience the Spirit’s filling by faith in Christ, through the means of grace, in the context of the worshipping church.

We saw that the imperative in verse 18 to be filled with the Spirit is fleshed out in verses 19-21 with four subordinate participial clauses. When we consider those subordinate clauses, it becomes clear that Paul isn’t urging us to have mystical, ecstatic, or supra-rational experiences. The first three participial phrases all have to do with corporate worship, specifically the importance of singing together and giving thanks in worship. The fourth participle, submitting to one another in the fear of Christ, introduces the section 5:22–6:9 regarding the mutual submission of husbands and wives, children and parents, and masters and slaves. Being Spirit-filled then, is something that has to do with our corporate life together in the body of Christ.

Paul begins his exposition of the results of being Spirit-filled by exhorting us to be involved in corporate worship, specifically in the dual worship activities of congregational singing (v. 19) and giving of thanks to God through Jesus Christ (v. 20). Congregational singing and giving thanks are obviously interconnected, since singing is but one of the ways that we give thanks in corporate worship. The primary focus of my sermon this morning is on congregational singing, but we will incorporate the statements in verse 20 as part of our attempt to unpack the meaning of the command in verse 19 to speak to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with melody in your heart to the Lord.

The first thing that jumps out at you in this text is the odd-sounding reference to congregational singing as “speaking to one another.” Some have attempted to take this literally as if the congregation were divided into two parts, each side responding to the other in an antiphonal musical arrangement. This is probably reading too much into the words. What Paul is getting at is really quite simple: he is saying that congregational singing is not only directed to the Lord (“singing with melody in your heart to the Lord”), but it is also directed toward one another for the purpose of spiritual edification.

This brings to our attention a very important point: the hymns and songs that are chosen for congregational singing in worship ought to be selected on the basis of how accurately they teach sound theology, and only secondarily on how well the music stirs our hearts. All too often the hymns are viewed in the contemporary church as having little theological or instructional function. The words are relegated to a level of unimportance, as long as the music stirs our hearts and makes us feel like we are really worshiping God. That is certainly important, as Paul notes, “making melody in your heart to the Lord.” But it is wrong to elevate the music over the words. The music ought to be a mere handmaid to the words, bringing out the deep truths of the gospel conveyed by the words, so that our hearts are stirred not by the music alone, but by the content of the biblical truth communicated by the words. The melody is merely an aesthetic support to the lyrics, reinforcing their meaning and bringing the content of the lyrics to meaningful, heart-felt expression. It is the theological content of the hymns that Paul places up front as the primary way in which congregational singing edifies us.

Compare our text with Colossians 3:16, which is actually a parallel to Eph. 5:19. It is only as we let the Word of Christ, that is, the gospel, dwell in us richly that we will be able, with all wisdom, to teach and admonish one another with songs. Again, Paul places the accent on the instructional, intellectual, and doctrinal function of congregational singing. In view of the importance Paul puts on the function of hymns for edification and instruction, ought not the contemporary church to be more concerned about the orthodoxy of our hymns than it has been? Where is the burning zeal of pastors and music leaders to carefully ensure that the gospel is accurately and biblically presented in our songs? Where is the passion for holding “the standard of sound words” handed down by the apostles? Why do our contemporary songs sound so inane and insipid? Because they have abandoned the rich biblical terminology and poetic imagery in favor of more modern words and ideas. Let us heed Paul’s exhortation to let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly, so that the riches of Scripture will pour forth from our lips as we sing praises unto God in worship. The need for sound, orthodox hymns is a vitally important issue for the ongoing reformation and spiritual growth of the church today.

Now there are some who in their laudable zeal for orthodox lyrics go even further and argue that any hymns and songs of human composition must be ruled out in exchange for the hymns that God himself has written by divine inspiration. These hold to what is called the exclusive psalmody position. This is the position that the only words that are acceptable to God in worship are the words that God himself has inspired. The book of Psalms is viewed as the inspired, authorized hymnal that God has given to the church of all ages for use in corporate worship. The very existence of the Psalter is interpreted as an implicit command by God to sing only those hymns found therein. For God’s people to go outside that hymnal - even if they restrict themselves to canonical texts beyond the Psalter - is to reject God’s instructions for us in the area of the verbal content of song in worship.

As plausible as this argument may sound at first, I believe it is not supported by Scripture. If, as the defenders of this position argue, the presence of the Psalter itself in the canon implies a divine command to sing the Psalms, then the presence of other songs in Scripture, besides the Psalter, implies that they too are to be sung. Let me give you some examples:

The Song of Moses (Exod. 15)

The Prayer of Habakkuk “on shigionoth” - “for the choir director on my stringed instruments” (Hab. 3:19)

When we turn to the pages of the New Testament, we find a great number of additional Scripture songs besides the Psalms.

Mary’s Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55)

The Song of Zechariah (Luke 1:67-79)

The heavenly songs in the Book of Revelation, such as the songs we read in our first Scripture reading from Revelation 5.

It is reasonable to assume that the presence of these hymns in the New Testament canon indicates that they were sung in the worship services of the apostolic church. The impression that is created by all of these songs outside of the Psalter is one of freedom not restriction, of spontaneous response on the part of God’s people, not following to a tightly restricted selection of songs. The glory of the mighty acts of God in redeeming his people cannot be hidden. The saints cannot suppress their joy. New words of praise immediately well up within them as they give whole-hearted expression of thanks to God.

This variety in the lyrical content of the worship of the early church seems to be supported by the fact that in our text Paul uses two additional terms, besides the word psalms, to refer to the various materials of song to be used in worship. Notice that in addition to psalms, we are to sing “hymns, and spiritual songs.”

Now defenders of the Psalms only position argue that all three of these terms, not just psalms, refer to the Psalms of the Old Testament. The argument is that these three terms are used frequently in the Septuagint in the superscriptions to the Psalms. But these terms are also used in other places in the Septuagint to refer to songs other than the Psalms. Furthermore, if Paul had wanted to make clear that he was referring to the canonical book of Psalms, he could have done so very easily by referring to “the book of Psalms” (biblion psalmon).

So the exclusive psalmody position is rather weak when it attempts to find support for the “Psalms only” view from Eph. 5:19.

But not only is the “Psalms only” interpretation of Eph. 5:19 unsupported, I believe there is positive evidence from the context that the psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs Paul refers to here must include new songs created by the church in order to express adequately the fullness of its response of praise to God for redemption through Jesus Christ.

Notice how Paul goes on to give further explanation of the command in verse 20: “always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father.” Now where in Ephesians have we seen an example of such giving thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ? Is it not in Ephesians chapter 1, that great hymn of thanksgiving for every spiritual blessing that is ours in Christ?

For the overflowing riches of the spiritual blessings that Paul has enumerated in the first three chapters:

For our unconditional election in Christ before the foundation of the world, not for any foreseen goodness in us, but only on the basis of his mercy and grace.

For our predestination to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, thus making us heirs of the eternal inheritance in heaven.

For the marvelous gift of redemption through Christ’s blood, and the resultant forgiveness of sins.

For his making known to us the mystery of his will, a mystery that had been hidden in God in ages past, but which has now been revealed to the saints by the Spirit.

For the preaching of the gospel of our salvation, by believing in which we were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance.

For the resurrection, ascension, and heavenly enthronement of Christ, and our co-participation with Christ in this cosmic drama.

All of these spiritual blessings for which we are to give thanks in our congregational singing as we make melody in our hearts to the Lord, are new covenant blessings. They were, as Paul says, not made known to the sons of men in other generations, but they have now been revealed to the saints through the ministry of Paul and the other apostles.

Thus, Paul has in mind a much richer concept than merely singing the Psalms of the old covenant book of praises. He wants us to join in the joyful praises of the worshipping church in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, in order to express our thankfulness to God for the new covenant accomplishment of his eternal purpose in Jesus Christ in these last days. The “Psalms only” view would restrict the words by which the church gives expression to its thanksgiving for the climactic accomplishment of Christ’s new covenant redemptive work. It would restrict the vocabulary of the church’s songs of thanksgiving to the conceptual and verbal limitations of the praises of the Old Testament people of God.

You see, even the verbal form in which our response of thanksgiving must be appropriate to, must correspond to, the nature of the work of God that has prompted our response.

For example, the original, typological exodus out of Egypt - the defining redemptive and covenant-establishing event of the old covenant - was marked by an outpouring of song, the song of Moses in Exodus 15. The words of this song were appropriate to the typological nature of the redemption accomplished by God on Israel’s behalf at the Red Sea. In the same way, the defining redemptive and covenant-establishing event of the new covenant, the death and resurrection of Christ, has been accompanied by a new song, the content of which is appropriate to this new and final work of God.

Read Revelation 15:3.

This verse is exceedingly significant. It makes a redemptive historical connection between the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb. In fact, these are not two different songs, but one song with a two-fold title. What is the reason for this unique title? I believe it is intended to convey an important theological point: the salvation God accomplished through Moses and the salvation accomplished in these last days through the Lamb are hereby connected in a type-antitype pattern. The original exodus out of the Egyptian house of bondage is a type or foreshadow of the ultimate redemption of God’s people from the bondage of sin that has occurred in the cross and exaltation of Christ. Reference to Christ as a lamb harks back to the Passover Lamb whose blood was sprinkled upon the door posts of the Israelite households in order to keep them safe from the destroying angel. When the church sings, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain!” we are celebrating the fact that all the blood of the many thousands of Passover lambs shed in the old covenant has been surpassed by the better sacrifice of Jesus Christ, who offered himself once for all as the final atonement for sin. Thus, according to Revelation, the new song that is being sung by the redeemed multitudes in the heavenly places is the fulfillment of the Song of Moses.

Let me reiterate the point: the verbal form in which our response of thanksgiving must correspond to the nature of the work of God that has prompted our response. To celebrate the new exodus accomplished through the blood of Christ, using the old songs of the old covenant, would be like commemorating the death of Christ in the New Testament age by sacrificing a literal Passover lamb!

Defenders of exclusive Psalm singing have not sufficiently wrestled with the newness of the new song, the newness of the church’s heavenly songs as recorded in the book of Revelation. One defender of exclusive Psalm singing said to me in an e-mail debate on this topic, “There is no circumstance where a hymn could do better or just as well as a psalm for any given occasion.” Then why does the book of Revelation depict the heavenly choirs singing not the Psalms of David, but new covenant hymns that specifically praise Jesus Christ for his redemptive accomplishment?

“And I heard a voice from heaven, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder, and the voice which I heard was like the sound of harpists playing their harps. And they sang a new song before the throne … saying with a loud voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing’” (Rev. 14:2-3; 5:12).

My e-mail correspondent attempted to reply to this argument by stating that the worship of the church triumphant is not the standard for the worship of the church militant, that is, the church on earth. In other words, he acknowledged that the saints in heaven are singing hymns of praise to Jesus Christ, and are not limited to the Psalms.

But this response betrays an unbiblical view of worship. When the New Testament church gathers together for worship on the first day of the week, we enter into that heavenly worship service of the church triumphant. We come to Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven. There are not two worship services going on - an earthly and a heavenly - but one service of the church universal. How, then, can the church on earth be limited to singing out of the old covenant hymnal, when the church in heaven is singing a new song of praise to the Lamb that was slain? There is only one church, the body of Jesus Christ, some members of that church are in heaven, and some are still on this earth. But in Christ we are one, and our worship is one. The book of Revelation gives us a window into what the worship of the heavenly portion of the body of Christ looks like. Let us strive to conform our worship to that heavenly model, rather than rending the unity of the body of Christ.

Let us conclude by returning to our text in Eph. 5:18ff. Paul is calling us to something higher in this text than merely singing the Psalms. He is calling us to be filled with the eschatological Spirit who was poured out at the day of Pentecost, the Spirit who is the primary promised gift of the new covenant age. The same Spirit by whom, through the preaching of the good news of Jesus Christ, we were sealed unto the day of redemption. The same Spirit whom Paul calls the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ, granted by the ascended Christ in order to make known to us the mystery that had been kept hidden in ages past. Being therefore filled with this Spirit, poured out abundantly in these last days upon the new covenant church, we are exhorted to express the Spirit’s filling and empowerment, not by singing old covenant hymns, but by taking upon our lips the new song, the song of Moses and of the Lamb, with hearts overflowing with thankfulness to our Father who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.