Day 21 of 21
What should a believer's relationship be to the Word of God?
In Colossians 3.16, Paul says to "let the word of Christ dwell in you richly." This is Scripture, the Holy Spirit inspired Scripture, the word of revelation He brought into the world. "Dwell" means "to live in" or "to be at home," and "richly" may be more fully rendered "abundantly or extravagantly rich." Scripture should permeate every aspect of the believer's life and control every thought, word, and deed (Ps. 119.11; Matt. 13.9; Phil. 2.16; 2 Tim. 2.15).
This concept is parallel to being filled with the Spirit in Ephesians 5.18 since the results of each are the same. In Ephesians 5.18, the power and motivation for all the effects is the filling of the Holy Spirit; here it is the word richly dwelling. Those two realities are really one. The Holy Spirit fills the life controlled by His Word. This emphasizes that the filling of the Spirit is not some ecstatic or emotional experience, but a steady controlling of the life by obedience to the truth of God's Word.
"Teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs" (v. 17). The early church sang the Psalms. Old Testament psalms put to music, primarily, but the term was used also of vocal music in general. "Hymns"-perhaps songs of praise distinguished from the Psalms which exalted God, in that they focused on the Lord Jesus Christ. "Spiritual songs"-probably songs of personal testimony expressing truths of the grace of salvation in Christ. "With grace in your hearts to the Lord"-not just public, but private.
The Lord Himself is both the source and the object of the believer's song-filled heart. That such music pleases God can be seen in the account of the temple dedication, when the singing so honored the Lord that His glory came down (2 Chr. 5.12, 14).
Colossians 3:16 NKJV
16 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.
Psalms 119:11 NKJV
11 Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.
Matthew 13:9 NKJV
9 He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
Philippians 2:16 NKJV
16 holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.
II Timothy 2:15 NKJV
15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
II Chronicles 5:12-14 NKJV
12 and the Levites who were the singers, all those of Asaph and Heman and Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, stood at the east end of the altar, clothed in white linen, having cymbals, stringed instruments and harps, and with them one hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets— 13 indeed it came to pass, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord , and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the Lord , saying: “For He is good, For His mercy endures forever,”
that the house, the house of the Lord , was filled with a cloud, 14 so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.
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