“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.” (Acts 16:25 NRSV)
Do you love to sing? Where are you likely to sing . . at home, in the car, in church, at the ballpark? In this text from Acts, we find Paul singing in prison. “Jesus was the song of Paul’s heart. Otherwise he would not have been able to sing hymns to God in the prison at midnight. Paul and Silas visited Philippi to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When Paul cast out an evil spirit from a fortune-telling slave girl, the two of them were severely flogged and thrown into prison in the inner cell with their feet in stocks. Their prospects were dismal. Yet at midnight they prayed and sang songs from their heart in earshot of the other prisoners. Their song expressed their confident faith in Jesus and a bold witness to the prison under dire circumstances. “Suddenly an earthquake shook the prison. All chains were broken. The jailer nearly committed suicide, thinking the prisoners had escaped. Paul had opportunity to spare his life and more important to answer his desperate question –‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’—with the song of his heart, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved—you and your household’ (Acts 16:30-31 ESV). Songs in the night heard, God’s Spirit working through Paul’s clear Gospel witness, the jailer and his family believed and were baptized. “When dire circumstances come into your life, when your faith is sorely tested, sometimes because of your faithful witness to Jesus, God’s Spirit will work through His Word so you hear again Jesus as the song of your heart. Your witness in improbable circumstances may well bring others to faith in the Savior.”1
1. Carter, Stephen. Witness to the Light. (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2006.) Devotion for January 15.
He Keeps Me Singing
There’s within my heart a melody Jesus whispers sweet and low, Fear not, I am with thee, peace, be still, In all of life’s ebb and flow. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Sweetest Name I know, Fills my every longing, Keeps me singing as I go. I will sing of my Redeemer, and His wondrous love to me. Cruel cross He suffered from the curse to set me free. Sing, O sing of my Redeemer. With His blood He purchased me. On the cross He sealed my pardon, paid the debt and make me free. Soon He’s coming back to welcome me, Far beyond the starry sky; I shall wing my flight to worlds unknown, I shall reign with Him on high.
(SWEETEST NAME: Luther B. Bridgers; MY REDEEMER: James McGranahan)
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