Colossians 3:16 says: “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.” Expository Songs exists to help you find songs in which the word of Christ dwells richly.
Many hymnals have a Scripture index. Expository Songs is like a hymnal Scripture index - but for all genres and eras of English-language Christian music.
When you use a hymnal Scripture index, there’s no way to tell whether a given reference is a passing allusion or the song’s main idea. So this collection organizes songs by how relevant they are to the Scripture passage, ranging from passing allusions to expository songs.
This project derives its name from Christianity’s long tradition of expository sermons - where the main idea of a passage of Scripture is the main idea of the sermon. Scripture never commands us to only preach expository sermons or only sing expository songs; topical sermons and songs have tremendous value. But there is also untapped potential in reinforcing expository sermons by singing expository songs rooted in the same Scripture passage.
Notes
Relevance Scale
Songs added to this collection are classified by relevance to the Scripture passage, on this scale:
- Passing Allusion: A passing reference that is either very incidental or repurposes the wording outside of its original context.
- Allusion: A passing reference that respects the original context but isn’t one of the main ideas of the song or a portion of the song.
- Scripture Song: This Scripture is sung word-for-word. Its placement on the scale is not a value judgment; it needed to be somewhere on the scale and I did not want to make it 0 or 1.
- Reference: A significant portion of the song (e.g. verse or bridge) is based on this Bible verse. 5: Main idea: The main idea of a Bible verse or phrase within that verse is the main idea of the song. (The phrase is often the title and the rest of the song develops this theme topically.) 6: Expository: A passage of Scripture gives this song its structure. Multiple ideas/phrases from the source text are included in the song. (Includes strict Psalm paraphrases.) 7: Expository: A passage of Scripture gives this song its structure and the song exposits these verses in thoughtful ways.
One note: The first 100,000 song entries were categorized based on three or four options, and have not all been updated yet.
Thematic Parallels
Most Christian songs have thematic parallels to somewhere in Scripture. Tracking these would essentially involve tracking every Christian song! So I focus on songs that reflect the wording of Scripture.
Parallel Passages
Plenty of Scripture passages have direct parallels; for instance, there are three references each to the just shall live by faith and God wiping all tears away. A song is generally listed under each parallel passage unless its wording makes it clear that it is tied most specifically to one of them.
References vs. Allusions
This project launched in 2011. For the first few years of research, I didn’t make a distinction between references and allusions. Alongside adding new entries, I am slowly recategorizing those early entries.
About Daniel J. Mount
Daniel J. Mount runs the Expository Songs project. He is also a Christian songwriter; some of his songs can be viewed on his website. He can be contacted at daniel@danielmount.com.