Be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 5:18-20, ESV)
Focus on these words with your heart. What does it mean to sing spiritual songs and make melody with your heart? One commentary says:
…singing…is not a mental praising of God…but it is a praising of God with the modulation of the voice; and is rightly performed, when the heart and voice agree; when there is a melody in the heart, as well as in the tongue; for singing and making melody in the heart, is singing with, or from the heart, or heartily. —Gill's Exposition of The Bible
When we sing heartily with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, the uplifting of our voices to the Lord renders the enemy speechless. Satan doesn’t know what to do when we sing songs of praise in the midst of a storm.
“As you sing, the environment of your life will literally vibrate with a new frequency of expectancy, as the enemy’s progress is arrested and you are ushered into God’s presence.”—Girls with Swords
When our hearts pour out love and affection to the One who first loved us, we disarm the enemy.
**Adapted from Girls with Swords: How to Carry Your Cross Like a Hero (WaterBrook Press, 2013).
