Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison,
and made their feet fast in the stocks.
And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God:
and the prisoners heard them.
And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken:
and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed.
I once heard a preacher say that God was so pleased with Paul and Silas’ songs in the night that He tapped His foot in beat to the music, and because the Bible says “the earth is His footstool”, it caused the earth to shake and unlock the prison doors.
Paul and Silas were beaten, thrown into jail, with hands and feet placed into the stocks. Although their bodies throbbed from their beating, and they didn’t know if the next day would be their last, they sang songs in the night! They loved their Lord with all their heart. Through the storm of their fiery trial, and through the night the Lord showed His great love and compassion to them. What an excellent spirit these men of God had! No crying the blues here and no complaining of unjust treatment. Just a beautiful attitude of praise and worship, songs in the night – and that at midnight! God used the songs of praise and a miracle earthquake to free His preachers and win the jailer and his family to the Lord! Something beautiful and precious comes out of the persecution of God’s saints for His promise is to be WITH them. We, at least in this point in time in America, have not yet resisted unto blood, but may be in the fiery trial of our life. Still, there is one thing, child of God, that you and I can be very sure of, that, like Paul and Silas, we are not alone! At such times, and at all times the Lord still inhabits the praises of His children!
Psalm 147:1;7
1) Praise ye the LORD:
for it is good to sing praises unto our God;
for it is pleasant;
and praise is comely.
7) Sing unto the LORD with thanksgiving;
sing praise upon the harp unto our God:
Ephesians 5:19
Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually,
that is,
the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
Corrie Ten Boom the author of The Hiding Place, an excellent book of God’s amazing love and grace in a concentration camp, told of having to stand for roll call from 3:30 – 6:30 A.M. on cold mornings. Such unbelievable suffering was hard to take in as the guards exercised their cruelty. It was at such a time a skylark appeared in the sky and began singing! Corrie said the attention of the prisoners was drawn in an upward gaze to watch as the lark flew above them singing. It no doubt had a liberating effect on their worn spirits as their attention was drawn to the vast sky above where there were no chains or prisons! Paul and Silas did not have their eyes on the prison surroundings either, for something higher had caught their attention! Their gaze was on heaven and the Savior! And though we may feel at times bound to our circumstances here below, yet our eyes can escape and ascend to the regions that our bodies are unable to – “set your affection on things above, not on things on earth” Paul would write. It was then that as the bird sang its beautiful song, she felt God’s love. It was as if at such a time when unspeakable atrocities were taking place, and she could not sing, the Lord sent a bird to sing for her. What a comfort! The Lord was letting her know that He was still there, even in the midst of a concentration camp. And, as Corrie noted, that same skylark showed up at the same time during roll call for three weeks!
Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.
FROM MY HEART TO YOU 