Worship from the heart

“...but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making medlody to the Lord with all your heart...” Ephesians 5:18-19

 Jerome: Commentary on the Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians Jerome (ca. 345-419) “Let youth hear this, let them hear it whose office it is to make melody in the church: Sing to God, not with the voice, but with the heart; not, after the fashion of tragedians, in smearing the throat with a sweet drug, so that theatrical melodies and songs are heard in the church, but in fear, in work, and in knowledge of the Scriptures. And although a man be kakophonos, to use a common expression, if he have good works, he is a sweet singer before God. And let the servant of Christ sing so that he pleases, not through his voice, but through the words which he pronounces, in order that the evil spirit which was upon Saul may depart from those who are similarly troubled and may not enter into those who would make of the house of God a popular theatre.”

 Ouch! That’s the problem with Church history – those who have preceded us have already wrestled with many of the issues with which we struggled today. We look to the wisdom and experience of our forebears to help us maintain right doctrine; should we not also consult them concerning right practice? Jerome encouraged heart-felt singing, not entertainment, and called on even those who don’t thing they can sing to make a joyful noise to the Lord. Give me that old time cacophony over those carefully rehearsed performances any Lord’s Day. Can people learn to sing from the heart? What is the pastor’s responsibility in teaching them to do this?