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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comAdam Clarke Commentary - Ephesians 5:19 - 5:19
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Speaking to yourselves in psalms - We can scarcely say what is the exact difference between these three expressions. Psalms, ψαλμοι, may probably mean those of David.
Hymns - Ὑμνοις· Extemporaneous effusions in praise of God, uttered under the influence of the Divine Spirit, or a sense of his especial goodness. See Act 16:25.
Songs - Ωιδαις· Odes; premeditated and regular poetic compositions; but, in whatever form they were composed, we learn that they were all πνευματικα, spiritual - tending to magnify God and edify men.
Singing and making melody in your heart - The heart always going with the lips. It is a shocking profanation of Divine worship to draw nigh to God with the lips, while the heart is far from him. It is too often the case that, in public worship, men are carried off from the sense of the words by the sounds that are put to them. And how few choirs of singers are there in the universe whose hearts ever accompany them in what they call singing the praises of God!