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Scripture Reading: Acts 16

When you’re down, singing is probably one of the last things you feel like doing.  But it could be the very thing you need to bring you back up.

Singing is an expression of faith that you can exercise anytime, anywhere and with powerful results, as can be seen in Acts chapter 16.  Even after being beaten and severely flogged earlier in the day, Paul and Silas sang at midnight in their prison cell.  God heard their song and set them free.

Paul and Silas had been sharing about Christ in the city of Philippi (to which Paul later wrote his letter to the Philippians) when they ran across a slave girl who was possessed by an evil spirit by which she predicted the future.  Paul cast the spirit out of her, causing her owners to realize that they were going to lose any future profits from the girl’s unusual abilities.

The owners of the girl seized Paul and Silas and brought them to the authorities, rallying the crowds against them as well, saying that they were throwing the city into an uproar.  Paul and Silas were stripped, beaten and severely flogged, then put in the inner cell of the prison with their feet in the stocks.

Even after such a grueling day, listen to what the book of Acts says Paul and Silas did that night:

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them” (Acts 16:25). 

They prayed and sang hymns to God.   I can understand their praying, but it’s hard to imagine they had the strength, let alone the desire, to sing.  But the fact that they were praying and singing makes me think that their prayers were more expressions of faith to God rather than frustration with God; prayers of trusting in God rather than interrogating God.   Listen to what happened next as they expressed their faith in this way.

“Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose” (Acts 16:26-34). 

Faith sings.  And when faith sings, God responds.  God not only set Paul and Silas free, but He set all the other prisoners free who were listening to them sing.  If you continue reading the passage, you’ll find that God even set the jailer free, the one who had been holding them in their prison!

I was listening to a well-known, elderly pastor who talked about those times in his life when he was the most down.  He said that the only thing that he had found that could consistently lift his spirits was to sing praises to God.  As he sang, his spirits would lift, and he could see clearly again that God was in control of his life and circumstances.

King David did the same.  As you read through many of his songs, which are recorded in the book of Psalms (which means “songs”), you’ll see that he’s often quite downcast as he begins singing, but by the end of the song, God has lifted his spirits and set him free.

Psalm 5, for instance, starts with the words, “Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my sighing.  Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for to You I pray” (Psalm 5:1-2).

But by the end of the song, David is singing out his praises to God, “But let all who take refuge in You be glad;  let them ever sing for joy.  Spread your protection over them, that those who love Your name may rejoice in You.  For surely, O LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield” (Psalm 5:11-12).

There’s power in singing; power to lift us up and set us free, power to set those around us free, and even power to set those who are holding us in bondage free.  If you need a lift today, express your faith to God with a song!

Prayer: Father, help me to sing to You, even when it may be the last thing I may want to do, so that You can set me free.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.