Around midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God,
and the other prisoners were listening.
Acts 16:25 (NLT)
Paul and Silas were in prison. Backs throbbing from a severe flogging, their feet confined in stocks, the two apostles had every reason to moan and groan. Who would fault them for lamenting their fate? The jailer and the other prisoners certainly wouldn’t. Yet in the midst of their pain and confinement, Paul and Silas lifted their voices in praise. Not exactly the right setting for a worship service, one would think.
Imagine, for just a second, you’ve been chained to a dank, musty wall. Rats skitter across the cell. Every bit of your body hurts. Suddenly, two men in the cell next door start singing. They’re not just humming a few bars because they’re bored or have an earworm. They’re belting out songs of praise to their LORD and Savior. The walls of your prison have never heard the likes of it!
That Paul and Silas chose to worship rather than whine must have moved even the hardest heart. How could two prisoners, feet clamped in stocks, sing with such joy? But their choice impacted every single soul in that prison. That night, their captive audience (pun intended) saw first-hand what happens when believers praise God even in their darkest hours.
It’s hard to sing when we’re suffering. Yet when we turn our pain into praise, we bear witness to God’s gift of grace and open our hearts to receive God’s strength and comfort. There is no greater witness than a soul who praises God through the pain.
That night, Paul and Silas’ testimony brought many to the LORD. If you’d asked them, “Was it worth it?” I am certain they’d respond, “Absolutely!”
Thought: “When you’re under attack by the armies of suffering, don’t think you have no weapons to raise. Lift a song in worship and praise. They’re powerful weapons in the hands of God’s children.” – Dr. David Jeremiah
For further reading:
- 2 Chronicles 20:22
- Hebrews 13:15
- 1 Peter 2:9
- Psalm 35:28