Wednesday, October 21, 2026
“Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word” (Psalm 119:9 KJV).
If our physical posterity could augment its spiritual dexterity, exactly what would that entail?
Contemplate Ephesians 5:18,19 again: “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;….” Also read its companion, Colossians 3:16, once more: “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.” We teach (instruct) and admonish (warn) each other by means of singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs that match grace principles. There is mutual edification, believers in Christ building up one another in sound doctrine and maturing each other: “From whom [Christ] the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love” (Ephesians 4:16).
Rather than just opening our mouths and thoughtlessly singing whatever we want, we should sing with understanding or comprehension (see 1 Corinthians 14:15). Yet, a dear Christian friend and brother informed me how he sang denominational songs until someone pointed out that the lyrics were wrong. He realized he was engaged in mindless singing, not really thinking about sound doctrine—and this is precisely why church tradition is so dangerous. Hundreds of millions are singing all sorts of songs in our church buildings worldwide, but have no clue what they are actually saying because there is no critical thinking! It is but mindless religion, what they have done all their lives; they are familiar with nothing else, so they do not question it. If others sing, people eagerly join in. They do not know what they are singing, but they hope the preacher knows or someone there knows… when it is most likely that no one knows (otherwise, they would not be singing it if they did). I sang hymns in ignorance for years myself, and so did many other people I know.
This is not God’s fault, but our own fault….
