Acts 16 - 8.13.26
S: Acts 16:25 - 34
“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!” The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.”
O: I absolutely love Acts 16. In the portion I’ve chosen from Acts 16, verses 25 to 34, we see Paul and Silas in prison. They have been brutally beaten and imprisoned for casting out a demon from a woman who was making profit for her slave owners from her fortune telling. They are imprisoned in the deepest confine of the prison and in the most violent way possible. They are in their prison cell, in pain and in torture, and what do they do? They “pray and sing hymns,”
to who?
To GOD.
In a moment where they could be brainstorming how to get out of this situation, their hearts and their minds are on ministering to the Lord. Seeking His heart and worshipping Him in the confinement of their prison cell. Through this action, they were operating in freedom while in the midst of physical captivity.
Then, as they are praying and singing hymns to God - an earthquake erupts and all the prison gates fling open. This miracle of divine intervention, a “But, God moment” is what brings a prison guard to Jesus and changes the trajectory of how the prison guard lives his life. All of this, after Paul and Silas sing to God. Their situation was changed, a community of people experience a move of God, and salvation breaks through; all as a result of true and proper praise.
What were Paul and Silas singing? Unlike our belief that we can fall into that we need someone to lead us in worship, they had psalms and God’s character to sing and worship. There was no elevation worship to play on their phones to guide them in worship and there was no lyrics on a screen to read that helped them worship, but it is suggested that when Paul and Silas were sitting in that prison, they sang Psalms of trust and deliverance—songs that pointed them back to who God is in the midst of their suffering and trial.
And you have access to that same kind of worship. If you flip through the Psalms, you can worship God with the very same words that His people have used for generations. You can declare, “God, You are my refuge. You are faithful. You are near to the brokenhearted. You are my deliverer. You are good.”
But you can also sit with God, become aware of His presence, and worship Him in your own voice - in spirit and in truth. You can exalt His name by declaring what is true about His character, even when your circumstances don't feel good.
In the depths of suffering, they sang hymns and prayers that blessed God and declared who He is. They did not focus on how to get out, but they instead focused on who was in the midst of the prison with them and sang to HIM. It was while others may have been brainstorming an exit plan, Paul and Silas focused on exaltation. Is this not what we are to do as well? In the midst of suffering, in the midst of claustrophobic trials that feel like a prison, we must exalt the name Jesus. We must come back to true and proper worship, which is Christ being exalted.
What is on the other side of praise and exaltation of Jesus? True fixation on Him, worship of Him, singing of psalms and scripture over our situations? Intimacy with Jesus and deliverance. On the other side of exaltation was not just personal deliverance for Paul and Silas, but the entire atmosphere of the prison shook and more than just their prison cell flung open. The way Paul and Silas respond to being imprisoned is with faith and assurance that God is within the prison cell with them and they begin to praise Him within the prison cell, the result is not just their deliverance but corporate deliverance and salvation.
What does this teach us? To worship Him. To exalt Him. To lift Him up.
A: This Sunday when worship is happening at church, intentionally bring yourself continually back to worship’s true calling - exaltation of the man and the name Jesus. During worship, have your bible open. As songs are sung, read and sing Psalms in your own voice - this is a powerful weapon to guard your heart and your mind in the midst of trials. Take after Paul and Silas and worship God and God alone in the midst of your situation and see how the atmosphere shifts, see how prison doors fling open when Christ is exalted and lifted up.
P: Jesus, my focus and worship is unto you. Bring me back to the heart of deliverance, you. Jesus bring me back to focus on you in the midst of my storms and my prison cells. Thank you for being the king of all kings and the compassionate father you are. I love you Lord, Amen.
- Tess Schrupp
