Are We Singing What God Commanded?
Walk into many churches today and you’ll see the neat lights, drums and guitars, and the worship team on a stage launch into the latest hit from a chart-topping Christian band. Every week it’s something new. The Lord’s Day becomes a rotating concert setlist that seems to be driven by novelty and market trends. But is this what God commanded His church to sing?
The apostle Paul, by the Spirit, gives clear instruction: “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs” (Colossians 3:16). Again: “Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:19).
The Spirit’s triad here is not a buffet of whatever music style we prefer, it is a description of songs flowing from the Word of God and the theology of the church. Psalms are the inspired songs of Scripture itself. Hymns are weighty, doctrinally rich compositions the church has embraced to confess the faith. Spiritual songs are songs rooted in truth, directed to God, and filled with Scripture’s substance. None of these categories fit the shallow, man-centered ditties churned out to top Christian music charts.
God commands that our singing be the means by which “the word of Christ” dwells richly among us. That requires truth that can be taught, words that can admonish, melodies that can endure through generations. The music industry thrives on the disposable. God calls His people to sing the eternal. If the songs fade from memory as soon as the bridge ends, they cannot form deep, mature believers. Shallow songs form shallow Christians.
This is not a call to “old over new” for tradition’s sake. It’s a call to God-ordained song over man-driven entertainment. A newly written song can be as faithful to Colossians 3:16 as an ancient hymn—if it is saturated with Scripture, confesses true doctrine, and endures beyond the fleeting moment. But if we swap the Word for emotional highs, we have traded worship for amusement.
Semper Reformanda
A common defense of the endless stream of new, vapid worship songs is, “We’re told to sing a new song” (Psalm 96:1; 98:1). But in Scripture, “new song” is not a license for disposable trends, it is a description of fresh praise springing from God’s mighty works of redemption. When Israel sang a “new song,” it was often the ancient truth of God’s salvation proclaimed again with renewed joy (Psalm 40:3; Revelation 5:9). The content was still God’s mighty deeds and His unchanging truth.
The modern use of “new song” to justify replacing God’s pattern with whatever is fresh on the radio misses the point. God’s command is not “keep it trendy,” but “sing the truth.” When “new” means “fleeting and hollow,” we are no longer obeying the command… we are abandoning it.
Truth That Withstands
God has commanded His church to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs so that His Word dwells richly in us. The triad leaves no room for shallow, industry-driven substitutes. To replace God-ordained song with disposable entertainment is not innovation… it is disobedience. The songs that please Him are those that endure because they are filled with His truth.
Shortlink: reformlet.com/singing