Daily Bible Reading 25th July 2025 // Colossians 3:12-17
12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
It is interesting to notice that the singing of psalms, hymns and spiritual songs (v 16, the actual distinction is uncertain, lost in the mists of history - but not psalms, psalms and nothing but psalms!) is, alongside teaching and admonishing, one of the ways in which the word of Christ is to dwell among us richly. And this should perhaps say something to us about the content, the subject matter of hymns (whether they are modern or traditional). What the apostle is concerned to see is that these songs are consistent with the word of Christ, that they are 'scriptural', that they focus on the fundamentals of the faith and are a thankful and heartfelt expression of gratitude to God for His redeeming love. While there are other legitimate forms of hymn, it is not coincidental that the majority of solid biblical, theological hymns flowed from times of evangelical revival within the Church of God, as there was a renewal of the Word of Christ, centering upon the greatness and the mercy and the salvation of God Almighty. Genuine Christian praise which allows the word of Christ to dwell in us richly will not be primarily man-centred but God/Christ-centred. They will not be the vehicle for the expression of our spiritual aspirations and experiences, so much as a celebration of God's mighty redemptive acts in Christ.