Singing to One Another in Worship

I was intrigued by this verse from Ezra 3 in my Bible reading today:

And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the LORD... (Ezra 3:11 ESV)

The word that caught my attention was the word "responsively". My initial study revealed that a lot of modern translations actually leave that word out - which is really a shame because it really is needed to give the sense of what was going on here. Apparently there were several different courses of priests and Levites who were singing back and forth to each other as they worshiped God. And the chorus, or refrain to that singing is one that is found often in the Psalms and also in 1 Chronicles:

“For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel.”

Although when we sing in worship we are responding to God - who He is and what He has done - there is also a sense in which we are building God's Word into the lives of others in the body by singing to each other. I'm wondering if perhaps Paul had this verse in mind when he wrote these words:

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) 

Next time you're a part of corporate worship you may want to consider how you are helping the Word of Christ to dwell richly in your life and the lives of others through your singing.