“Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and psalming with your heart to the Lord”—Eph. 5:19

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs…”—Col. 3:16

Although we may think that hymns are mainly for singing, such a concept proves too narrow in light of God’s Word. Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16 (among other verses) reveal that hymns are quite versatile; they are not only for singing but also for speaking. This indicates that hymns can serve a greater purpose in the church life than we might naturally think. In a message given in 1968, Brother Lee recounts his realization concerning speaking hymns to one another based on a fresh reading of Ephesians 5:19:

Previously, in reading this verse, we paid attention only to singing and psalming with your heart to the Lord, and we neglected speaking to one another. Whenever psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs are mentioned, we think that they are for singing and not for speaking. However, this verse tells us that psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs are for us not only to sing but also to speak. Furthermore, speaking is mentioned first and then singing. We have studied the book of Ephesians numerous times in the past, but we never saw the matter of speaking to one another. This time the Lord in His mercy has pointed this matter out to us. (The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1968, vol. 2, pp. 302-303)

In his sharing in the mid-to-late 1980s concerning our practice of meeting in mutuality according to the God-ordained way, Brother Lee repeatedly emphasized the importance of speaking hymns to one another, especially in smaller church meetings such as home meetings and group meetings. Such meetings afford “the best setting for the practice of mutuality”; thus, they are especially conducive to our mutual speaking of hymns (CWWL, 1988, vol. 1, “The Proper Way for Believers to Meet and Serve,” p. 85). In a message given in 1986 on basic principles of meeting, Brother Lee gives us a strong sense of just how crucial it is to speak the hymns to one another:

To speak means more than to sing. Even to read is not so significant as to speak. Speaking the hymns has been nearly killed, annulled, in Christian practice today. We must come back to the practice revealed in the pure Word. Ephesians 5:19 says to speak the hymns to one another. In mutuality, I speak to you, and you have to speak back to me. This is quite meaningful. The first time I proposed speaking the hymns was in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 1968. That was a wonderful experience of Ephesians 5:19. The major item in our meetings is not the singing but the speaking. (CWWL, 1986, vol. 1, “Elders’ Training, Book 8: The Life Pulse of the Lord’s Present Move,” p. 181)

Similarly, in a message given in 1988, Brother Lee points out that “singing the hymns is not as important as speaking them. We have discovered in the Word and in our experience that speaking a hymn is much more important and profitable than singing it” (CWWL, 1988, vol. 1, “Speaking Christ for the Building Up of the Body of Christ,” p. 186).

In another message spoken in the same year, Brother Lee reiterates the importance of speaking the hymns and explains why our speaking to one another with the words of the hymns can be so powerful:

Hymns are not mainly for singing but for speaking to one another. Ephesians 5:19 says, “Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and psalming with your heart to the Lord.” Colossians 3:16 says, “Teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.” To exhort one another with hymns and spiritual songs is very powerful. The words people use in speaking are generally not as refined as the words in a hymn. The psalms were often used in the early church life. When Christians met, someone would choose a psalm, not for singing but for speaking to one another and for teaching one another. In addition to psalms, many maxims from Proverbs were used by Christians to exhort one another. All the words in hymns, spiritual songs, and maxims are refined, not ordinary, expressions.

Brother Lee continues:

Even the words in the hymns written among us are not ordinary but refined. In our composing, we always had much consideration, and we always made numerous revisions. Certain hymns were revised up to forty to fifty times. Therefore, the words in the hymns are very meaningful. According to the revelation of the New Testament, hymns and spiritual songs are first for speaking and then for singing. The impact of speaking the hymns is greater than singing the hymns, and it is more powerful than exhorting people with common words. (CWWL, 1988, vol. 3, p. 36)

As we all can surely testify, our hymnal is a veritable storehouse of hymns that are both rich in truth and refined in expression. These hymns not only convey the truth to us but also supply us with refined, poetic expressions of that truth. Hymns, #501, “O glorious Christ, Savior mine,” comes to mind. This hymn—polished and adjusted by Brother Lee nearly one hundred times—supplies us with ample poetic utterances (such as “God mingled with humanity / Lives in me my all to be”) that we can use in our speaking to one another (CWWL, 1988, vol. 1, “Speaking Christ for the Building Up of the Body of Christ,” p. 218). By incorporating hymns into our speaking to one another, we can speak not with common words but with refined words, words rich in truth and poetic in expression. This will heighten the impact and power of our speaking for our mutual encouragement and building up in the church life.

In The Divine Speaking, Brother Lee gives the following example of how we can use the hymns to enrich our speaking in the meetings:

Every hymn, especially those written by us, is a good message full of the riches of Christ. For example, Hymns, #501 describes how Christ was the infinite God in eternity who, as God’s radiant expression, became a finite man, limited in time. As the very expression of God, He died for us to accomplish redemption in His flesh. Then He became a life-giving Spirit to be one with us. We must learn to speak Christ with the hymns. I believe that these hymnals are good for having our home meetings. In every meeting we should use a hymn in a living way. (CWWL, 1985, vol. 3, p. 287)

As this example illustrates, the hymns in our hymnal provide us with many good messages “full of the riches of Christ” that we can use “in a living way” for our speaking to one another in home meetings, group meetings, and other meetings of the church. May the Lord bring us more and more into this organic practice of “speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.”