Praying and singing hymns of praise to God

Acts 16:16-34 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 greatly, having believed in God with his whole household.

In today’s text it says:  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 didn’t complain or grumble about their situation, they praised God. In Psalm 22:3 it says: But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. Psalm 100:1-5 says:  Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing. Know that the Lord Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving And His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. For the Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting And His faithfulness to all generations.   Regardless of the situation or the circumstance, we should give thanks to God, we should praise Him. Praise and thanksgiving are how we enter into the presence of God. Praise is how we have God enter into our situation. He inhabits the praise of His people. Like Paul and Silas, as the psalmist says, it’s not that we praise God for the circumstance. Rather we praise God in and through the circumstance. God didn’t cause Paul and Silas to be imprisoned and He does not cause many of the things which have us in bondage. But in spite of the circumstance: His lovingkindness is everlasting And His faithfulness to all generations. Additionally 2 Corinthians 3:17 says:   Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.   When we come into the presence of the Lord, we are free. In the kingdom of heaven the work of the cross is finished it is complete. Whatever may bind us on earth has already been overcome by the finished work of the cross, in the spiritual realm. There is freedom. When God comes and inhabits our situation, in response to our praise, He brings the realities of heaven to earth. There is freedom.

In today’s text it says:  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. 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.”    Paul and Silas did not run to their freedom. Instead they, like Jesus, saw what the Father was doing and they joined Him in His work. Romans 8:28-29 says:  And 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.     God didn’t cause Paul and Silas to be imprisoned, but He caused it to work together for their good and for the good of the jailer and his household. Paul and Silas became conformed to the image of Christ, choosing to bring freedom to the jailer rather than themselves. The jailer and His household became some of the many brethren, the fruit of Jesus finished work on the cross.

Regardless of what it is that has us in bondage, we should praise God. We praise Him not for the circumstance, but in the circumstance. We praise Him for our own benefit, that He would come into our circumstance and change it, that the realities of heaven would be manifested on earth. At the very least though, through our praise we enter into His presence in the spirit.  Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.   We also though praise God because, His lovingkindness is everlasting And His faithfulness to all generations.   Like Paul and Silas, there are others watching us in our circumstance. God hasn’t caused the affliction in our lives, but He will cause it to do good. When those around us see and hear our response to adversity and affliction, they too may see God’s goodness and faithfulness. When they see that in the midst of affliction there is freedom, they too might ask, what must I do to be saved?

When the nation of Israel went to war, the tribe of Judah went first. They were the tribe of praise. God inhabits the praise of His people. When we praise Him in the midst of our battles, He is there. He fights for us. Praise is a powerful weapon against the things which hold us and others in bondage.     Romans 8:31-39 says: What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?... Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?... But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing. Know that the Lord Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving And His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. For the Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting And His faithfulness to all generations.  Amen.