Spiritual songs are songs of praise and devotion associated with the Holy Spirit. Along with psalms and hymns, they may be used in public worship, personal devotion, family fellowship, and the joyful expression of Christian faith.
Definition
Spiritual songs are songs inspired by the Holy Spirit and used in the joyful and devotional expression of spiritual life. They include lyric expressions distinct from, though related to, psalms and hymns, and may serve both public praise and personal or social devotion.
Biblical Usage
The apostles authorize the use of spiritual songs with psalms and hymns in Christian praise. They may be used in worship, prayer, family fellowship, meals, love-feasts, and gatherings for religious encouragement. Scripture also speaks of a new song and the song of Moses and the Lamb.
Historical Background
The term “song” is broader than “psalm” or “hymn,” while “spiritual” limits it to Spirit-inspired devotion. The supplied material presents spiritual song as continuing beyond the Old Testament collection into the eternal praise of the redeemed.
Historical Bible Dictionaries
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>(odai pneumatikai): ode, English "ode," is the general, and generic word for "song," of which "psalms and hymns" are specific varieties (Eph 5:19; Col 3:16). It includes all lyric poetry, but is limited by the word "spiritual" to songs inspired by the Holy Spirit and employed in the joyful and devotional expression of the spiritual life. While songs, like psalms and hymns, were used in public worship and praise, they were more intended for, and suited to, personal and private and social use; as, e.g. in family worship, at meals, in the agapai ("love-feasts"), in meetings for prayer and religious intercourse from house to house. The passages above cited give apostolic authority for the use of other than the Old Testament psalms in public praise, and rebuke the narrowness and unbelief that would forever limit the operations of the Holy Spirit and the hymnology of the church to the narrow compass of the Davidic era and the Davidic school of poetry and song.</p><p>The "new song" of Re 5:9; 14:3, and "the song of Moses and of the Lamb" (15:3), indicate that spiritual songs are to be perpetuated in the eternal melodies of the redeemed.</p><p>Dwight M. Pratt</p>
