Sacred Songs of the Church<\/em><\/a>. Some of your comments really got me to thinking about the songs we sing in our worship services. I love God with all my heart and pray that I am doing what He commands. Maybe you can help me understand this a little better since you have a better knowledge of these songs and their writers than I do.<\/p>\nMy question is: How can we know that the songs we are using to worship and praise our Heavenly Father are acceptable to Him?<\/p>\n
I am looking forward to hearing from you. Thank you so much for your time.<\/p>\n\t
Answer:<\/h2>\n
I’ve fowarded your question on to brother Walker and hope that he’ll have time to respond. Meanwhile, I would like to address your question as well.<\/p>\n
We could broaden your question. How do we know that are prayers are acceptable to God? After all, we aren’t given prayers to say, only a few examples of other people’s prayers and some guidelines on what makes a good prayer. While we don’t have the tunes, but we do have the words for a number of songs in the Bible.<\/p>\n
When Paul told us, “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. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him<\/em>” (Colossians 3:16-17), it is the phrase “do all in the name of the Lord” that governs the contents of our songs. First and foremost songs must be in accordance with the Lord’s authority. They have to be accurate to the teachings of God found in our Bibles.<\/p>\nSecond, songs have a purpose. They are to teach and admonish while at the same time directing the hearts of the singers to the Lord. Entertain is not in the criteria for songs that we sing.<\/p>\n
Third, the types of songs are psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. A proper song of worship can be based on one of the poems in the Bible (a psalm), it can be a song based on the text of the Bible (a hymn), or it can teach spiritual principles found in the Bible (a spiritual song).<\/p>\n
Fourth, the medium in which the songs are delivered is by the voice. We sing songs, not play music. And such makes sense given the other criteria. Songs are about the words, not the music. Music helps emphasize the words, sets the tone, and helps our memory, but it is the words being delivered that is the focus of what we sing.<\/p>\n
Therefore, the determinant of whether a song is acceptable to God is whether it expresses what God requested. That is done by comparing what a song teaches to what the Scriptures teach. But even an accurate song can be delivered in an unacceptable way. Too many song leaders give little to no thought about what they are teaching at a service. Many congregations give little thought about what they are saying, making the words merely the sounds which accompany the music instead of the other way around. Without our hearts accompanying what we are doing, I have a hard time seeing that as pleasing to the Lord, given what God has said in the past.<\/p>\n
“But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth<\/em>” (John 4:23-24).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Question: Thank you for your\u00a0review of\u00a0Sacred Songs of the Church. Some of your comments really got me to thinking about the songs we sing in our worship services. I love God with all my heart and pray that I am doing what He commands. Maybe you can help me understand this a little better since…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[520,521],"class_list":["post-20629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-music","tag-songs"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":49979,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-acceptable-to-use-songs-that-have-humming-for-one-or-more-of-the-parts-in-worship\/","url_meta":{"origin":20629,"position":0},"title":"Is it acceptable to use songs that have humming for one or more of the parts in worship?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 24, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good evening brother Jeffrey, I pray this email finds you in good health. May God favor you for blessing us and teaching us. You and many have given me so much knowledge in God's word and increased my faith. I am a member of the Church of Christ. I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32040,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-ok-to-play-hymns-at-home-without-singing\/","url_meta":{"origin":20629,"position":1},"title":"Is it OK to play hymns at home without singing?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 4, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My question is regarding instrumental music.\u00a0Is it okay to\u00a0play hymns on the piano at home, without singing, for fun? Also, how do I answer someone who says that instrumental music predates the Mosaic\u00a0law and, therefore, is okay in worship today? Thank you so much for your time! Answer: God\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28218,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-do-you-think-of-songs-of-faith-and-praise\/","url_meta":{"origin":20629,"position":2},"title":"What do you think of Songs of Faith and Praise?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 28, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I am writing to you because I came across a blog you had on your website concerning your review of the Songs for Worship and Praise\u00a0hymnal. \u00a0I have owned the hymnal for a\u00a0couple\u00a0of months and also own\u00a0Songs of Faith and Praise\u00a0and\u00a0Praise for the Lord. \u00a0I am trying to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7357,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-watching-a-church-service-an-acceptable-way-to-worship\/","url_meta":{"origin":20629,"position":3},"title":"Is watching a church service an acceptable way to worship?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 13, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi Jeffrey, This has become popular with people. Is the video sermon a new way to worship God?\u00a0 I do not like it and don\u2019t understand how it\u2019s right. Do you find scripture to support it because I can\u2019t? Thank you again and always. Answer: \"They were continually devoting\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14318,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-okay-to-listen-to-instrumental-christian-music-outside-of-worship\/","url_meta":{"origin":20629,"position":4},"title":"Is it okay to listen to instrumental “Christian” music outside of worship?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 11, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Someone asked me this question and I would like your opinion. I looked on your great web site but didn't see it addressed. A young lady asked me if it is okay to listen to \"Christian rock\" or instrumental (\"Christian\") songs outside of worship. I would appreciate your opinion.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14963,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-playing-an-instrument-for-a-persons-own-enjoyment-scriptural\/","url_meta":{"origin":20629,"position":5},"title":"Is playing an instrument for a person’s own enjoyment scriptural?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 26, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is playing an instrument for a person's own enjoyment scriptural? For example, can I play the guitar and piano, and write my own songs -- not in worship to God, but for my own enjoyment? I feel somewhat at odds because I think about how we are to give\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20629"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20629\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}