Heart of Worship

Ephesians 5:19 "Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord."

The apostle Paul is teaching the new believers in Ephesus how to conduct themselves in a new, redeemed way. Christ has brought light into the world and is shining it into the hearts and lives of His followers. All that has been done according to the former conduct is now exposed and dealt with by the blood of Jesus and thus the new believers are to walk worthy of the sacrifice of Christ. To do anything according to the old nature of man is sin, for the follower of Christ is a new creation, empowered by the Spirit of God. That new nature of the reborn believer manifests itself in ways that glorify and bless God. In this section of the letter to the Ephesian church Paul has already addressed the attention (vs.15), the attributes (vs.16), the attitude (vs.17), and the aspirations (vs.18) of the new man in Christ. In this verse he now turns his attention to the utterances of the Christian.
As a new creation in Christ, part of the challenge we face every day is to walk and act in accordance with our new nature. God has finished His redemptive work for us, but He is currently involved in the sanctifying work in us through the Holy Spirit. He has given us a new heart, a new nature, and calls us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Therefore, a renewal process is happening in each one of us that will take the rest of our lives to reach perfection. Part of this renewal in us involves our speech. Just like the missionary who moves to a new country and has to learn the language and habits of a new culture, so we have to learn afresh the idiosyncrasies and language of the culture of God. We are no longer of the household of man, but are children of God, who have to conduct themselves accordingly, both in behavior and speech. Paul shows us here what this new language looks like that is spoken in the kingdom of God. God wants us to speak to one another in three particular ways: in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.
Psalms speak of the old verses penned by David and others in the Old Testament times. They are generally an individual's expression of praise and worship directed to the Almighty God. Hymns are songs sung by the body of Christ with the purpose of unification through corporate praise and worship. Spiritual songs indicate an expression of praise and worship about any part of the Christian life. The common factor in these is an attitude of praise and worship. Where does this attitude come from? A heart overflowing with worship for our Creator. A heart that is "singing and making melody to the Lord." Whenever we are opening our mouths, the results should be constant outflow of the Spirit filled heart. Mat 12 :34 tells us that "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." As we address each other, our words should reflect the Word of God and encourage the listener immediately to praise and worship our God. The focus thus has to be on the attitude of our hearts, in order for our words to be pleasing to God and each other.

Application
I want to have a heart that is constantly rejoicing in the works of God in my life. For that I need to get my eyes off of myself and onto Jesus. Anything else pales in comparison to the wonderful act of redemption by Him on my behalf. Therefore today I will read again the "Resurrection" chapter in "The Story of Jesus" book and ask God to help me to keep this lesson fresh on my mind.