“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.” – Col 3:16

I think this might be a volume of wisdom in a single passage. By the construct, Paul’s teaching point is right up front – “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. . .”, followed by the ‘how’ of “. . .teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.”.

After a couple of instances this weekend of instruments drowning out the lyrics and messages contained in Christian music, hearing this passage while listening to the latest White Horse Inn broadcast cleared up the agitation I felt during both instances of having been agitated (for lack of a better word) by what I thought was ‘noise’. I felt somehow assaulted by the drums and guitars that overwhelmed the words. I thought maybe it was a hearing issue because other listeners were really enjoying the music.

Hearing that passage this morning set me straight. Feeling ‘agitated’ was not an improper response. The purpose of God in His music is so that ‘the word of Christ may dwell in us richly’. That can’t happen when we can’t hear the ‘word’.