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The Power Of Music & God's Word

Abi Coleman09 March 2026 12:00

How scripture songs are good for our mind, soul and strength.

How do you like to listen to your music? Radio station in the car? A Spotify playlist plugged into headphones? We have recently bought a new hi-fi system for our kitchen, that includes a CD player. I know! How 90’s!

But it has been so much fun dusting off our old CD’s from the loft, and introducing the kids to our favourite artists. There is something really embodied about knowing a CD inside out from the images of the artwork, the order of the playlist, to remembering where you were the last time you played it. Music has that effect on us. It is powerful to evoke memories and emotions from when, where and with whom we listened to it with.

At the popular music festival Glastonbury in 2025, a primary school singing teacher called James B Partridge did a set called Primary School Assembly Bangers. He was on a small stage at the back of the site – but so many people came to watch his gig that the field overflowed; with thousands of people joining in to sing “Shine Jesus Shine” and “Sing Hosanna to the King of Kings”. That’s what music and nostalgia can do. Help you to re-call songs you haven’t sung in years in seconds. Just by hearing a few notes to a tune you are transported back to sitting in a school assembly hall singing these songs with your peers.

Kids are amazing at recalling songs they hear.

Take a song from a film or TV show and within a few repeats they are singing the song around the house like they’ve known it for years - and so are you in your sleep, am I right? For example the most recent TV hit, K-Pop Demon Hunters, is Netflix's most-watched movie ever, with over 500 million views to date. It’s full of upbeat, punchy songs with lyrics kids are memorising and repeating on an hourly basis. Golden, one of the tracks, has itself surpassed 1.5billion streams globally – and can get any one singing at the top of their lungs “now I’m shining like I'm born to be!”

Music therefore has a great way, with it’s patterns and rhythms, to help us remember both lyrics, events and emotions. Christian Neuro-scientists and therapist Jo Hargreves explained the science behind this in a recent social media post about biblical bio-hacks - ways to improve your mind and body. One of these was singing, which she explains,

stimulates the vagus nerve, which regulates the parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest). It activates the release of Oxytocin, reducing stress and enhancing feelings of connection and trust. It also increases heart rate variability, a key marker of resilience and emotional regulation.

As well as boosting our bodies in these ways, songs also affect our minds through the lyrics. Most of these popular tunes we listen to have empowering themes, encouraging us to be resilient, fight for our dreams, or explore love. But when music is this powerful, and our memory so strong to remember and recall – should we as parents be considering more carefully the content of the lyrics our kids are listening to?

Jo Hargreaves explains another bio-hack to enrich our bodies and minds is biblical meditation, which can,

…strengthen the prefrontal cortex (responsible for focus, self control, and decision making), reduce anxiety in the amygdala, and calming the fight or flight response. It also promotes neuroplasticity, helping you rewire your brain towards peace and hope.

Repeating the words of the bible therefore, is a powerful way to help re-focus our minds on positive and encouraging truth.

Imagine then what happens when you join the two bio-hacks together, putting bible truths to song. Nero-pathways will be firing all over the place, releasing oxytocin and peace throughout our bodies. Re-framing our thinking to recall Gods word and promises to us whenever we hear the tune that accompanies it. What a beautiful way to use the gift of music and scripture to fill our minds, and those of our children with the word and promises. What power for our thoughts to be filled with the encouragements of the bible, rather than just catchy pop music.

If music is therefore a mechanism to help remember things, what is it we are remembering most?

Are we rewiring our minds to remember to reach for the stars like in K-Pop’s Golden, or remembering to reach for God our very present help in times of need in Psalm 46? Are we desiring our hearts saved from the “fate of Ophelia” like Taylor Swift, or from being saved by grace into the hands of his glorious riches in Christ Jesus in Ephesians 2?

What is exciting is there are music artists out there already producing these scripture songs, in many genres and variations, so you can find something that suits your taste. Below you will find a list of them you can explore. Just this year, two new devotional books have also been published, linking scripture and songs, to help families meditate on Gods word easily, and fill their hearts and minds with is truth. The links for these are below as well.

So if you have ever found it tricky to memorise scripture, or you want to find a way to help your children bring God’s truth to mind easily in moments of trouble – why not have a listen to some scripture songs. Find the style you like, and enjoy belting out God’s word to music in you next car journey. If you find the next assembly banger – let me know!

Scripture Song Artists:

Other Resources:

Sing the Bible: 52 Bible Verses for Kids to Learn and Sing

Each week, kids will encounter a new Scripture verse and a corresponding devotion that helps them to dig deeper into God’s Word. Each colourfully illustrated devotion includes a QR code leading to a video where kids will learn the song that goes with each verse.

We Sing!: Teaching Kids to Praise God with Heart and Voice

Through music, we can express our heartfelt praise, weave the gospel into our daily lives, and grow in our understanding of the Lord. Written by acclaimed singer and hymn writer Kristyn Getty, We Sing! beautifully highlights the power and joy of worshiping God through song. 