“Sing praises to God, sing praises! …Sing praises with understanding” (Psalm 47:6-7 NKJV).

Singing praises to God should engage both the heart and the mind. All kinds of singing is encouraged by God’s Word. The apostle Paul wrote, “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). Modern praise songs, with their simple repetitive phrases, help move the heart, but soon feel shallow without the rich theology found in many older hymns. Both are needed. A survey of the 150 Psalms of the Bible, reveals a wealth of songs and hymns that engage both heart and mind. We are to sing songs that stir our emotion, with an exclamation on the end! But we are also to sing songs that deepen our “understanding,” so that the Word “dwells richly” in our minds too.