October 26, 2023: Making Melody To The Lord

"be filled with the Spirit addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart" (Ephesians 5:19, ESV)

Be filled with the Spirit! What a beautiful statement! Being filled with the Spirit of God is such a refreshing activity of God in the life of a believer. But what Paul instructs us to do with that filling is to encourage one another as we worship God together! I get the picture of Paul and Silas in a Philippian jail, in stocks with their backs bleeding, all because of preaching the Gospel. (Acts 16:25) Paul and Silas begin singing at midnight, encouraging one another.

Address one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Talk to each other using the Word of God in song. Don't do that with groaning, doubt, and unbelief; do it with a melody in your heart to the Lord.

The end result of Paul and Silas' singing was God inhabiting their praises! As His presence entered that Philippian jail, the earth shook, prison doors opened, and prisoners were set free! That is the power of praise!

Oh, that the church would learn to sing its way out of darkness into His marvelous light. Oh, that the church would learn to sing until it is free! Oh, that the church would learn to sing until others in spiritual bondage were made free! Never underestimate the power of your praise! Sing, sing, sing, and sing to one another!