Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God

Acts 16:16-40 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

It happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave-girl having a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortune-telling. ¹⁷ Following after Paul and us, she kept crying out, saying, “These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation.” ¹⁸ She continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out at that very moment.

¹⁹ But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the market place before the authorities, ²⁰ and when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, “These men are throwing our city into confusion, being Jews, ²¹ and are proclaiming customs which it is not lawful for us to accept or to observe, being Romans.”

²² The crowd rose up together against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods. ²³ When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely; ²⁴ and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.

²⁵ But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; ²⁶ and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. ²⁷ When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸ But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!” ²⁹ And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, ³⁰ and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

³¹ They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” ³² And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house. ³³ And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. ³⁴ And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced ^[j]greatly, having believed in God with his whole household.

³⁵ Now when day came, the chief magistrates sent their policemen, saying, “Release those men.” ³⁶ And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The chief magistrates have sent to release you. Therefore come out now and go in peace.” ³⁷ But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us in public without trial, men who are Romans, and have thrown us into prison; and now are they sending us away secretly? No indeed! But let them come themselves and bring us out.” ³⁸ The policemen reported these words to the chief magistrates. They were afraid when they heard that they were Romans, ³⁹ and they came and appealed to them, and when they had brought them out, they kept begging them to leave the city. ⁴⁰ They went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia, and when they saw the brethren, they encouraged them and departed.

In today’s text it says:  The crowd rose up together against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods. When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely; and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened.  Paul and Silas were not rejoicing that they had been beaten and imprisoned. They were not celebrating their circumstances. They were praying and singing hymns of praise to God. God is worthy of praise regardless of the circumstance we are in. James 1:2-4 says:  Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.  It is not the trials that we consider joyfully, but rather the knowledge of the result, that as we endure the trials our faith is increased and we are perfected, lacking in nothing.   Romans 8:28-29 says:  We know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren. Our circumstance has not taken God by surprise. In Jeremiah 1:5 He says:  "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you.”   Psalm 139:16 says:  Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.  Knowing that God is in control, that our circumstance has not taken Him by surprise or caused Him to worry, when we praise Him in our circumstance, He causes it to work for our good. We are perfected, conformed to the image of Christ.

There is more though that comes from our praising Him in spite of our trials. The psalmist says that God inhabits our praise. In Matthew 18:20 Jesus says:  “Where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst."  2 Corinthians 3:17 says:  Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.  For Paul and Silas, the very chains and doors that held them in bondage were opened. But, even if the physical circumstances do not change, when we praise God and He is present with us, we are free. We are free from fear. We are free from the bondage of the circumstance because God is present with us. If God is for us and with us, who can be against us.

The text says:  When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!” And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house. And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole household.   When others, even those who hold us in bondage, see the power and the freedom that we have in God and Christ, they too will want that freedom. We can witness for Christ and testify of His goodness and blessings and perhaps persuade some to believe. The power of our testimony and the witness of our praise in the midst of the trials and storms of life, will speak more than our preaching ever could.

May this song be our declaration and prayer today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKSuA7z1OYY

Amen.