So this morning I was reading selected verses that went along with Thanksgiving and Worship.  As is my usual habit, I began to dissect each passage to see what God had for me in it.  Well, let me tell you, Acts 16:25-26 hit me like never before.  Check this out.

“But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying 
and singing hymns of praise to God,
and the prisoners were listening to them; 
and suddenly there came a great earthquake, 
so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; 
and immediately all the doors were opened 
and everyone’s chains were unfastened.” 

You might be thinking, “Yeah,  I know this story – prison, praying, singing, earthquake, freedom.”  That’s where I was too…at first.  But as I dissected these verses, God opened my understanding, making this so powerful to me.  How?  I’m glad you asked (haha).  God used the phrase “singing hymns of praise (to God)”. The Greek word for “singing hymns of praise” is <hymneo>, which means celebrating God in song, or singing a religious ode. 

For a bit of background information, when people of that time used <hymneo>, they were referring to the paschal hymns, which were Psalms 113-118, otherwise known as the “great hallel”.  These chapters were of huge importance to the Jewish people.  They were memorized and included in the morning service on Jewish holidays, Rosh Chodesh (the new moon), and Passover eve.  So that would have been the reason Paul and Silas knew them by heart.  

Ok, that’s the end of the “history lesson”. Getting back on track.  

Here are Paul and Silas, chained up and locked in a prison cell (and not like our prisons of today would be with their tvs, bunks with comfy mattresses, heat and AC, etc.), awaiting their death, and they were praying and singing.  That alone would be a stretch for me.  How about you?  But what really impacted me though, was what they were singing — the great hallel.  

Use your imagination with me for a minute.  You’re in this dark, damp prison.  You’re feeling a sense of hopelessness.  You know you deserve to be where you are.  But then, you hear these two guys singing.  As you listen, you hear lyrics like, 

Praise the Lord!  Praise, O servants of the Lord, Praise the name of the Lord.
Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forever.
From the rising of the sun to its setting the name of the Lord is to be praised.
The Lord is high above all nations; His glory is above the heavens
Who is like the Lord our God, who is enthroned on high? (113:1-5)

When Israel went forth from Egypt,
The house of Jacob from a people of strange language,
Judah became His sanctuary, Israel, His dominion.
The sea looked and fled; the Jordan turned back.
The mountains skipped like rams, The hills, like lambs.
Tremble, O earth, before the Lord, before the God of Jacob,
Who turned the rock into a pool of water, 
The flint into a fountain of water. (114:1-8)

Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Your name give glory
Because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your truth.
Why should the nations say, “Where, now, is their God?”
But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases. 

O Israel, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield.
O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield.
You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord;
He is their help and their shield.
The Lord has been mindful of us; He will bless us;

May you be blessed of the Lord, Maker of heaven and earth.
The heavens are the heavens of the Lord,
The dead do not praise the Lord, nor do any who go down into silence;
But as for us, we will bless the Lord from this time forth and forever.
Praise the Lord! (115:1-3, 9-11, 15-18)

I love the Lord, because He hears my voice and my supplications.
Because He has inclined His ear to me,
Therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live.
The cords of death encompassed me and the terrors of Sheol came upon me;
I found distress and sorrow.
Then I called upon the name of the Lord: “O Lord, I beseech You, save my life!”
Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; Yes, our God is compassionate.
The Lord preserves the simple; I was brought low, and He saved me.
Return to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
For You have rescued my soul from death,
My eyes from tears, My feet from stumbling. 
Praise the Lord! (116:1-8, 19)

Praise the Lord, all nations; laud Him, all peoples!
For His lovingkindness is great toward us,
And the truth of the Lord is everlasting.
Praise the Lord! (117)

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His lovingkindness is everlasting.

Oh let Israel say, “His lovingkindness is everlasting.”
Oh let the house of Aaron say,“His lovingkindness is everlasting.”
Oh let those who fear the Lord say, “His lovingkindness is everlasting.”
From my distress I called upon the Lord; 
The Lord answered me and set me in a large place.
The Lord is for me; I will not fear; What can man do to me?

This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
O Lord, do save, we beseech You; O Lord, we beseech You. (118:1-6, 24-25)

And then if these lyrics weren’t enough to give these prisoners a glimmer of hope, unexpectedly, an earthquake occurred!  Prison foundations wavered!  Prison doors opened!  Chains came loose!! 

God not only heard the praises and prayers of these men, but He showed up in a powerful way! Can you imagine how impactful that had to have been to the other prisoners?!!

These Psalms about God shifted the focus from the present situation all these men were facing and onto God, who not only “could” save them but “DID” save them!!  

I see two main factors in rising to the surface in this study.  The first being that whatever “prison” you find yourself in today, you too can choose to pray and praise, shifting your focus away from “thoughts and feelings” about your circumstances and toward “facts” about your God!  The second being the fact that others are around you, watching how you respond to your trying circumstances.  What are they going to see?  

We serve the same God today as Paul and Silas did back then.  Let’s determine today to respond to our hard times by reminding ourselves of God’s truth!  

“His lovingkindness is great toward (me).”

“From my distress I will call upon the Lord.
The Lord is for me; I will not fear.”

“This is the day which the Lord has made; 
(I will) rejoice and be glad in it”.