“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”
“singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”
We do not truly sing until we sing “with grace in our hearts.” Grace is the song of the soul. The person may not be able to sing very well, but a song breaks out in their heart. That is why the Bible says, “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord.” Some can carry a tune, and others cannot, but the point is the expression of the heart originating from God’s grace. Maybe that is why God allows for “noise” to be sung unto him! Grace has to do with what God provides for the believer. The believer’s song involves an appreciation for what God has done for them.
If we have no grace in our hearts, we cannot sing appropriately unto the Lord. Non-Christians cannot sing with grace in their hearts to the Lord. A Christian with little understanding of how God provides for them cannot sing with grace in their hearts to the Lord (Eph. 5:19).
It is not enough to sing true to biblical content. God wants us to sing with our hearts as well as our voices. People need His grace residing in their souls to sing in their “hearts.”
Principle:
Grace is the basis of the Christian song.
Application:
We can tell much about an individual or a church by their singing. We can apprise them, not only by what they sing but by how they sing. We can tell by the singing whether the Bible is honored or whether they preach the Savior. We must have Charles Wesley’s music if we want John Wesley’s preaching. We must have Ira Sankey’s music if we wish D. L. Moody’s preaching. If we want Billy Graham’s preaching, we must have Cliff Barrow’s or Bev Shea’s music. These things go together. Dead music goes with dead preaching. A recognition and grasp of the grace of God’s provisions is the basis of authentic singing.
We cannot sing with grace in our hearts if we have a bitter, envious, striving attitude toward someone else. “But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth” (James 3:14). A heart full of animosity and criticism cannot truly worship in song. When we are sour, our heart goes off-key.
