Music Discussion, Part 2: The Other Passages

Having considered some foundational passages on music, let's consider the other New Testament passages that deal with singing.

1 Corinthians 14:15 - What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.
- The emphasis in this passage is that not only should praying and singing edify the individual doing it, but when done in public it should also edify the church.
- There is a somewhat mystical element to singing and prayer, which relates to worshiping God. This should be balanced with the fact that there should be a public edification and understanding of what is going on.

1 Corinthians 14:26 - How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.
- This passage indicates two things.
o All congregational activity including singing is to build up the believer. (vs. 26)
o All congregational activity should be done orderly. This is derived from the context, for this section of chapter 14 is dealing with an orderly meeting of believers (vs. 27-33, 40). (This is not referring to having “orderly music” that follows pre-arranged rhythmic patterns or so forth, rather it refers to not having an orderly service, not having different people singing different songs at the same time.)

Matthew 26:30 & Mark 14:26 - And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.
- These passages simply refers to the fact that Jesus and the disciples sang a hymn after the institution of the Lord’s Supper and before they went to Gethsemane. This may lend support to using music in the Church, but it doesn’t seem particularly significant otherwise (or maybe I’m missing something; that’s always possible).

Acts 16:25 - And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.
- This passage does not refer specifically to music in the church. Rather, it applies to our discussion in that it shows the spirit which our song should exhibit. We should have a song of joy in our hearts which must praise God regardless of circumstance. And this ties in perfectly with the final passage.

James 5:13 - Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.
- This passage gives us the source of our song: the joy of the Lord. Singing should be an overflow of our joy. This ties directly to the fact that singing should flow from a Word-filled, Spirit-filled, life; the intertwinedness of Scripture is fascinating.

Throughout the Old Testament, it seems that singing was used primarily as a means of ministering to the Lord by praising His name (or to heathen gods in their context). It does not appear to have the same expected purpose of horizontal ministry attached to it.  The Psalms give a vast array of instructions for how to praise God with music.

Throughout Revelation, singing is used to praise God for all He has done and is doing. In eternity, the only purpose of singing will likely be to praise God, for there will not be the same need of edification.

CONCLUSION: The dual purpose of singing appears to be that of praising and worshiping God and edifying those around us through teaching and admonishing them in truth. Thus, there should be Word- and Spirit-filling on the part of the singer, as well as understanding on the part of both the singer and the listener. Our singing should come from the joy of the Lord which has filled our hearts; often it will be a sign of our trust in God. My final thought/challenge is that if we were more fully controlled by the Spirit, we might not have so many problems with music in our churches (or homes).