Friday, October 23, 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?
Remember, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). This is always applicable on the Bible timeline—time past, but now, and the ages to come. Worship of God must be “in spirit and in truth,” with more stress placed on the heart (internal/inward) rather than the physical body (external/outward). Though the body can behave deceitfully, the attitude of the inner man cannot be faked. Moreover, truth has to undergird our beliefs and actions, meaning our doctrine (and lyrics) must be dispensationally correct (matching God’s present-day work, Romans to Philemon).
Ephesians 5:19 exhorts, “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;…” The heart (soul), not the voice, matters above all else when singing to the Lord. Remember, the tongue can be faked but the heart of faith cannot; Israel sang and spoke of the LORD and prayed, but it was vain, empty, hypocritical religion that eventually led to judgment. No heart of faith was involved in what they were doing in Judaism. It was just mindless, external, religious activity, worshipping religion instead of worshipping God; it looked good on the outside, but it was rotten inside, just like Christendom. They do what they want, and they teach what they want, but always give “God” credit. Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart/soul (1 Samuel 16:7).
Someone once wrote, “The psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs were to be sung so that the heart should be engaged, and not so as to be mere music, or a mere external performance.” As with prayer, our music reflects what is in our heart—whether good doctrine or bad doctrine. Once, I talked with a young woman who played the piano at church. She said she was not that good. When I inquired if her goal was to glorify the Lord, and she replied “yes,” I informed her that it did not matter if she knew how to play proficiently. What counted is that she was playing for the Lord to hear—and it was in her heart to worship Him….
