Ephesians 5:19

Speaking to yourselves. Or, “addressing one another” (RSV). There is here perhaps a suggestion of antiphonal singing or responsive chanting, or it may be simply a reference to mutual benefit that is to be gained by common worship. Pliny says, in speaking of early Christians and their worship, “They were in the habit of meeting on a certain fixed day before it was light, when they sang in alternate verses a hymn to Christ, as to a god” (Letters x. 96; Loeb ed., vol. 2, p. 403). One of the first manifestations of being filled with the Spirit is joy in the fellowship of believers and in acts of common worship.

Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. The distinctions among these three types of praise may be as follows: In general, the psalms were the OT psalms sung to instrumental accompaniment; the hymns, praises to God, composed by the believers and sung by the whole group; while the spiritual songs or odes were of a more general and meditative nature, with or without accompaniment (see Matt. 26:30; Acts 4:24-30; 1 Cor. 14:26; James 5:13; cf. on Col. 3:16). Praise is a most important part of worship.

Making melody. Gr. psallo, “to play a stringed instrument,” “to sing a hymn.” The word may thus refer either to instrumental music or to singing in general. Some think psallo here refers to the former, inasmuch as “singing” has already been mentioned; others think that in the NT the word means only “to sing.”

In your heart. Praise must spring from the heart and not be merely a performance. Music has ever been used as an aid to worship, and Christianity has elevated and consecrated it. In religious worship the singing must be directed toward God, otherwise it is little more than an exhibition of self. It was this danger that led Calvin and Knox to speak disparagingly of instrumental music. Music does not exist for its own sake, but, like prayer, as a means of approach to God. Indeed, prayer may go forth in many forms, such as words, meditation, music.