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The “Queen of Jazz,” Ella Fitzgerald, described the intense joy and delight she experienced through music as living “With a Song in My Heart,” the title of her 1959 jazz classic. The apostle Paul used a similar metaphor to express the believer’s experience of being filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit: “Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:18–19, NKJV).
The original Greek phrase rendered as “making melody in your heart to the Lord” means “to sing praises from one’s inner self to the Lord; sometimes with stringed or other instrumental accompaniment.” The inward life of a Spirit-filled believer produces joyous notes of praise and worship that may consist of audible sounds or a silent melody that bubbles up from inside his heart to the Lord.
Singing and creating songs with instruments played a significant role in the life and worship of Israel. The psalms are filled with calls to praise the Lord, sing, shout for joy, and make melody to Him (see Psalm 5: 11; 33:1–3; 96:1–2; 147:7). Music and singing were part of special occasions and celebrations (1 Chronicles 15:27–28; 2 Chronicles 5:12–13; Nehemiah 12:27–29) as well as daily worship (2 Chronicles 23:18; Nehemiah 11:23).
From the earliest days of the church, singing and making melody to the Lord continued to be an essential part of the believer’s life and worship (see Matthew 26:30; Acts 16:25). Paul encouraged, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Colossians 3:16, ESV). James urged, “Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise” (James 5:13).
To make melody in your heart speaks of joy, which is one of the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). The Spirit-filled believer’s joy is not a shallow, unreliable, superficial emotion; it is a deep, abiding delight and trust in the Lord, no matter the circumstances. Even in suffering and sorrow, the child of God can make melody in his heart to God. Warren W. Wiersbe writes, “This kind of joy is not a thermometer but a thermostat. Instead of rising and falling with the circumstances, it determines the spiritual temperature of the circumstances” (Wiersbe, W., The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 2, Victor Books, 1996, p. 49).
God welcomes unreserved, authentic expressions of praise and worship from His people. He wants us to sing and make melodies directly from our hearts to His. We should not be concerned with what others think as we communicate our praise and gratitude to the Lord. We can freely, sincerely, and jubilantly pour out our heartfelt songs of praise and worship, “always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20).
Spirit-filled Christians speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs because God’s Spirit lives in them and speaks through them (see 2 Samuel 23:2). We make melody in our hearts to the Lord because He Himself has put a new song of joy within our reborn, tender hearts of flesh—these songs soar from clean lips in praise to God our Savior (Psalm 4:7; 40:3; 98:1; Ezekiel 11:19; 36:26–27; Revelation 5:9).
