Reference: Hymns
Fausets
Hebrew tehillim; in direct praise to God (Ac 16:25; Jas 5:13). Not restricted to church worship; but used to exhilarate Christians in social parties. "Psalms," mizmor, were accompanied with an instrument, carefully arranged. "Songs," Greek oodai, Hebrew shir, were joyous lyric pieces on sacred subjects; contrast the reveling, licentious songs of pagan feasts (Am 8:10). The accompaniment is the "melody of the heart," not the lyre. Tertullian (Apology, 39) records that at the love feasts (agapae), after the water was furnished for the hands and the lights lit, according as any remembered Scripture or could compose (compare 1Co 14:26, "improvised psalms"), he was invited to sing praises to God for the general good. The heart is the seat of true psalmody, "singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord" (Col 3:16; Eph 5:19).
Some generally accepted confession, in the form of a hymn, appears in 1Ti 3:16; the short unconnected sentences, with words similarly arranged, almost in the same number of syllables, the clauses in parallelism (the principle of Hebrew versification) antithetically arranged, each two forming a pair which contrasts heaven and earth, the order reversed in each new pair, flesh and spirit, angels and Gentiles, world and glory; the first and the last clauses correspond, "manifested in the flesh. .. received up into glory." So Pliny, 1:10, ep. 97: "the Christians are wont on a fixed day, before dawn, to meet and sing a hymn in alternate responses to Christ as God." Christ and His disciples sang a hymn after the Passover and the Lord's supper (Mt 26:30; Mr 14:26). Probably it was the Great Hallel or paschal hymn, usually sung after the Passover by the Jews, namely, Psalm 113-118.
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I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation (dirges). I will bring sackcloth on all loins and baldness on every head. I will make it as the mourning for an only son like the end of a bitter day.
After they sang a song of praise to God, they went to the Mount of Olives.
After a song of praise to God they went to the Mount of Olives.
Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God at midnight. The prisoners were listening to them.
How is it then, brothers? When you come together, every one of you has a psalm, has a doctrine, has a tongue, has a revelation, and has an interpretation. Let all things be done to clarify and offer understanding!
Speak to one another in psalms and praise and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to Jehovah.
Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you with all wisdom. Teach and admonish one another with psalms, praises to God, and spiritual songs. Sing with gratitude in your hearts to God.
The secret of godliness is great and it is without controversy. 'He (Jesus Christ) was manifested (revealed) in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, and seen by angels. He preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, and received up in glory.'
Is any among you suffering? Let him pray. Is any cheerful? Let him sing praise.
Morish
These occur in this order: 'psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.' Eph 5:19; Col 3:16. The word 'psalms' is the same as the Greek ???????; so the word 'hymns,' ??????; for 'spiritual songs' it is ?.???? ????????????, spiritual odes or songs. There can be no doubt that the Psalms of David had been used by the devout of Israel as songs of praise, and some of these may have been used in the early church, such as Psalm 23, Psalm 103, etc., which in substance have found their way into nearly all modern hymnals.
But the new dispensation required new songs of praise, and some may have been written that retained the name of psalms; others were called hymns, which apply to those compositions which are addressed to the Father or the Son, or directly to God. The word used for 'songs' is employed in Re 5:9 for the song of the redeemed; and in Re 14:3 for the new song; and in Re 15:3 for the song of Moses, the sentiments of which are often repeated in the Psalms: cf. also Ex 15:1-19; De 32:1-44.
It will be noticed that the passages in Ephesians and Colossians do not refer to singing in the assembly, and the one in Colossians may be punctuated thus: "in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another, in psalms and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." The Lord sang a hymn with His disciples at the last passover; and we may be sure that there was singing in the assemblies. The heathen Pliny bore testimony that the Christians sang 'odes to Christ as God.' Christ is twice represented as praising God, in the midst of His congregations, that is, in the assembly, and in the great congregation of Israel and those associated with them. Ps 22:22,25. Among hymns generally it is easy to see that some are hymns of praise; others recount what God has done; others speak of what Christ has suffered; others refer to future blessing; and again others are really prayers.
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Moses and the Israelites sang this song to Jehovah: I will sing to Jehovah, because he has won a glorious victory. He has thrown the horses and their riders into the sea. Jehovah is my strong defender. He is the one who has saved me. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will sing about his greatness. read more. Jehovah is His name, and he is a warrior! He threw the chariots and army of Egypt's king into the Red Sea, and he drowned the best of the king's army. The depths have covered them. They sank to the bottom just like boulders. With the tremendous force of your right arm, Jehovah, you crushed your enemies. In the greatness of your excellence you overthrow those who rose up against you. You sent your wrath and consumed them like stubble. With a blast from your nostrils, the water piled up. The waves stood up like a dam. The deep water thickened in the middle of the sea. The enemy said: 'I will pursue them! I will catch them! I will divide the loot! I will take all I want! I will use my sword! I will take all they have!' Your breath blew the sea over them. They sank like lead in the raging water. Who among the gods is like you Jehovah? Who is like you, wonderful in holiness? Who can work wonders and mighty acts like yours? You stretched out your right hand, and the earth swallowed our enemies. Using your powerful love, you rescued (redeemed) the people. Nations learned of this and trembled. The Philistines shook with horror. The sheiks (chiefs) of Edom were dismayed. The leaders of Moab are griped with fear. The inhabitants of Canaan are filled with fear. Terror and dread fall upon them. By the greatness of your arm they are motionless as stone. Until your people pass over, O Jehovah, until the people pass over whom you have purchased. You will bring them and plant them on your own mountain, the place where you live, O Jehovah, the holy place that you built with your own hands, O Jehovah. Jehovah will rule as king forever and ever. When Pharaoh's horses, chariots, and cavalry went into the sea, Jehovah made the water of the sea flow back over them. The Israelites had gone through the sea on dry ground.
Give ear, O [physical] heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. My instruction shall drop as the rain; my words shall descend like dew, as the gentle rains on the tender plant, and as the showers on vegetation. read more. I will proclaim the name of Jehovah and ascribe greatness to our God. He is the Rock! His work is perfect. For all His ways are just. He is a God of faithfulness and without evil. He is just and upright. They have corrupted themselves; they are not His sons. They are a blemished, crooked and perverse generation. Is this how you repay Jehovah, you foolish and unwise people? Is he not your Father and creator, who made you and formed you? Remember the days of old. Think about all the past generations. Ask your fathers to remind you, and your elders to tell you. When the Most High gave nations their inheritance, when he divided the descendants of Adam, he set up borders for the tribes corresponding to the number of the sons of Israel. Jehovah's people were his property. Jacob was God's own possession. He found his people in a desert land, in a barren place where animals howl. He guarded them, took care of them, and protected them because they were the precious apple (pupil) of his eye. Like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, spreads its wings to catch them, and carries them on its wings, Jehovah alone led his people. No foreign god was with them. He made him ride on the heights of the earth and fed him with the produce of the fields. He gave him honey from rocks and olive oil from solid rock. He ate cheese from cows and drank milk from sheep and goats. He gave them fat (the best from the flock) from lambs, rams from the stock of Bashan, male goats, and the best wheat. He drank the blood-red wine of grapes. Jeshurun (Israel) grew fat and disrespectful. You got fat! You were stuffed! You over eat! He abandoned the God who made him and scornfully treated the rock of his salvation. They made God furious because they worshiped foreign gods and angered him (stirred up his zeal) because they worshiped worthless idols. They sacrificed to demons that are not God. They served gods they did not know. These were new gods who came from nearby, gods your ancestors never worshiped. You ignored the rock that fathered you and forgot the God who gave you life. Jehovah saw this and rejected them. His own sons and daughters made him angry. He said: 'I will turn away from them and find out what will happen to them. They are a devious and perverse generation. They are children who have no faith. They made him furious because they worshiped foreign gods. They angered him because they worshiped worthless idols. So I will use those who are not my people to make them jealous and a nation of godless fools to make them angry. My anger has started a fire that will burn into the depths of the grave. It will consume the earth and its crops and set the foundations of the mountains on fire. I will heap distress on them! I will use my arrows on them. They will be wasted by famine, and consumed by plague and bitter destruction. I will send teeth of wild animals on them, with the venom of crawling things (reptiles) of the dust. Outside the sword will bereave. Inside terror shall destroy both young man and virgin, babies and old man with gray hair. I would have said: 'I will cut them to pieces. I will remove the memory of them from men.' I did not want their enemies to make me angry. I did not want their opponents to misunderstand and say: We won this victory! Jehovah did not do all this! My people have lost their good sense. They do not understand. They fail to see why they were defeated. They cannot understand what happened. Why were a thousand defeated by one? Why ten thousand by only two? Jehovah their God abandoned them! Their mighty God gave them up. Their rock is not like our rock! Their enemies know that their own gods are weak, not mighty like Israel's God. Their vine is like the vine of Sodom. Their fields are like Gomorrah. Their grapes are grapes of anger. Their clusters are bitter. Their wine is the poison of serpents, and the cruel venom of asps (cobras). Is this not laid up in store with me and sealed up among my treasures? Vengeance and retribution belong to me. (Vengeance is mine, I will repay.) Their foot shall slide in time, for the day of their calamity is at hand. The things to come on them come quickly. Jehovah will bring his people justice. He will have compassion on his servants. He sees that their power is gone, and only the imprisoned and abandoned remain. He will say: 'Where are their gods, the rock in which they sought refuge? Who ate the fat of their sacrifices? Who drank the wine of their drink offering? Let them rise up and help you. Let them be your hiding place! See now that I, even I, am he. There is no god besides me! It is I who put to death and give life. I have wounded and it is I who heals. There is no one who can deliver from my hand. Indeed, I lift up my hand to heaven, and say: As I live forever, I sharpen my flashing sword, and my hand takes hold on justice! I will render vengeance on my adversaries. I will repay those who hate me. I will make my arrows drunk with blood. My sword will devour flesh with the blood of the slain and the captives, from the longhaired leaders of the enemy. Rejoice you nations with his people. He will avenge the blood of his servants. He will render vengeance on his adversaries, and will atone for his land and his people. Then Moses came, along with Joshua son of Nun, and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people.
I will tell my people about your name. I will praise you within the congregation.
My praise comes from you while I am among those assembled for worship. I will fulfill my vows in the presence of those who respect Jehovah.
Speak to one another in psalms and praise and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to Jehovah.
Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you with all wisdom. Teach and admonish one another with psalms, praises to God, and spiritual songs. Sing with gratitude in your hearts to God.
They sing a new song, saying: You are worthy to take the book, and to open the seals, for you were slaughtered and by your blood you bought persons for God out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation.
They sing a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders. No man can learn that song but the hundred and forty-four thousand, who were redeemed from the earth.
They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying: Great and marvelous are your works, Jehovah God, the Almighty; just and true are your ways, you King of the ages (Eternal King) (King of the nations) (King of the holy ones). (Deuteronomy 31:30; 32:4) (Exodus 6:3)