Hymn
<<song of praise to God>>
Music played an important part in Israel’s worship and having the words of oral traditions and events set to music assisted in the passing on of the specific historical events (eg. Ex 15:1-21).
Other accounts of singing mentioned in the Bible include: Mary’s song (Lk 1:46-55); Paul and Silas singing in prison (Act 16:25); singing in the spirit and with the mind (1 Cor 14:15); a happy person sings songs of praise (Jas 5:13); in heaven the redeemed will sing (Rev 15:3,4).
We are encouraged to “Sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your heart to God” (Eph 5:19; Col 3:16). The Book of Psalms was the hymnbook of the Israelites. Except for the 23rd Psalm few are sung nowadays. Hymns normally have multiple verses, and were often used for teaching purposes when people were illiterate, while spiritual songs could be called the short choruses, popular today.