Photo by Valentin Müller on Unsplash
We can sing because our God still reigns, and our God will deliver.
Desiring God
One of my favorite websites is desiringGod.org and can be found at https://desiringgod.org. One of its sayings comes from its founder John Piper. “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.” I have always found that no matter how difficult my circumstances, e when I take my eyes off myself and put the on Jesus, I can find joy. My joy is not because of my circumstances, but because of my Jesus. I can’t help but think that finding joy in my Jesus despite my difficult circumstances gives God glory.
Paul’s and Silas’s Response to Suffering
I was reading an article today in desiringGod.org from December 3, 2021, by Scott Hubbard. I highly recommend that you read it, too at https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/someone-is-listening-to-your-suffering. The article is called, “Someone is Listening to Your Suffering”. It is about how we are told in Acts 16 of the suffering of Paul and Silas and their response to it. Paul and Silas had done nothing wrong, yet they were beaten severely with rods and thrown in prison. It does not surprise us that we find them praying. We, too, pray when we suffer. But they also sang hymns to God. They sang believing and trusting in God.
Meeting Darkness with a Melody
Scott Hubbard wrote the this. “Praying we can fathom. Who among us would not cry out for deliverance from such an unjust dungeon? Yet Paul and Silas not only prayed but sang. They tuned their heartache with a hymn and met the darkness of midnight with a melody.And as they did, they joined a great chorus of saints who sung by faith and not by sight. They joined King Jehoshaphat, who walked into war with praises rising (2 Chronicles 20:20–21). They joined Jeremiah, who gave his most bitter lamentation a tune (Lamentations 1–5). They joined psalmist after psalmist who, though feeling afflicted and forgotten, raised a “song in the night” (Psalm 77:6).”
They Believed God Still Reigns and He Will Deliver Them
Paul and Silas believed Jesus. They placed their hope and trust in him. They believed their God reigned. They believed that their God could and would rescue and deliver them. They placed their complete trust in Jesus, and because of this, they could sing. Their God reigned.
Prisoners Listened to Their Song
Acts 16:25 “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.” We don’t know if the jailor heard their song, but soon the jailor and all his household were saved.
Others Listen to Us
People listen to us when we are suffering. Will we sing? Will they hear our song declaring our God reigns? Will they be drawn to the God we love? To our God who can and will deliver us?
Psalm 66 Could Be Our Song
1 Shout for joy to God, all the earth;
2 sing the glory of his name;
give to him glorious praise!
3 Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds!
So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you.
4 All the earth worships you
and sings praises to you;
they sing praises to your name.” Selah
5 Come and see what God has done:
he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man.
6 He turned the sea into dry land;
they passed through the river on foot.
There did we rejoice in him,
7 who rules by his might forever,
whose eyes keep watch on the nations—
let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah
8 Bless our God, O peoples;
let the sound of his praise be heard,
9 who has kept our soul among the living
and has not let our feet slip.
10 For you, O God, have tested us;
you have tried us as silver is tried.
11 You brought us into the net;
you laid a crushing burden on our backs;
12 you let men ride over our heads;
we went through fire and through water;
yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance.
13 I will come into your house with burnt offerings;
I will perform my vows to you,
14 that which my lips uttered
and my mouth promised when I was in trouble.
15 I will offer to you burnt offerings of fattened animals,
with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams;
I will make an offering of bulls and goats. Selah
16 Come and hear, all you who fear God,
and I will tell what he has done for my soul.
17 I cried to him with my mouth,
and high praise was on my tongue.
18 If I had cherished iniquity in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened.
19 But truly God has listened;
he has attended to the voice of my prayer.
20 Blessed be God,
because he has not rejected my prayer
or removed his steadfast love from me!
Please Read Scott Hubbard’s Article
Scott Hubbard had many good things to say, and he said them so well in his article. I wanted to quote the whole thing. Please read it yourself at https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/someone-is-listening-to-your-suffering .
Invest in a Hymnal
When I have been depressed, I take the hymnal off my shelves and begin to sing the hymns that I know. It calms me, takes my eyes off myself, and helps me see my God. I recommend investing in a hymnal or Christian song book if you do not already own one.
Sing
Sing.
Just sing.
Sing in the rain.
Sing through your pain.
Sing for our God.
Know that he reigns.