You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth.
19
Speaking[laleo] to yourselves[heautou] in
psalms[psalmos] and[kai] hymns[humnos] and[kai] spiritual[pneumatikos]
songs,[ode] singing[ado] and[kai] making melody[psallo] in[en] your[humon] heart[kardia] to the Lord;
[kurios] KJV-Interlinear
19 speaking
to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making
melody with your heart to the Lord; NASB
In the previous verse we learned that we are to be spiritual, and not carnal. We are to live in truth and not in the world of disorientation.
Truth is the sober world of reality. The lie is the carnal world of the drunkard.
And only when you have doctrine in your soul, and more than that, when you have functioning doctrine in your soul, then you have the capacity for appreciation and the capacity for understanding what it is that you have been given from God.
And that is what this verse is saying. When you have learned doctrine, when you have learned doctrine in the proper way, namely while being in fellowship, then while you are growing up, you are also developing a capacity for life.
And part of that capacity is the appreciation and expression of gratitude and happiness you will have, knowing what it is that you have.
This verse does not say that songs and singing are the spiritual life.
What it says, is that you sing because of what is in your heart. And what is in your heart obviously has to be there first, which means that you have to learn doctrine before you can appreciate it. And in your appreciation, you express your happiness, your gratitude, your contentment, your inner peace.
And this appreciation is properly expressed in the direction of the Lord.
We do not express it in a phony way for other people, just to make them think that we are spiritual. What God thinks is important, and God knows the real emotions and feelings of your soul.
So, when you learn doctrine, when you grow up, then your expressions of emotion are genuine and true, and that makes your mental state much better, and life more livable, regardless of your circumstances.
