Joy at Midnight

Introduction

Not everyone likes and enjoys music but music is one of God’s great gifts. The ability to hear melodies that create beauty. Hearing some of the great composers found in classical music can make the inner person experience a wealth of emotions. There are certain songs that remind us of periods of life. I grew up listening to music. My parents had a fairly large record collection. Most of those were of great singers and big bands: Frank Sinatra, the Ink Spots, The Platters, Tommy Dorsey, Glen Miller, The Mills Brothers and so many more. There are certain songs that remind me of my youth. Songs that remind me of driving my car with the windows down. I remember songs sung at our wedding. Music plays a part in life.

Have you ever thought what hymns come to mind during different times of life? With the advancement of Christian music for some we listen to songs that we will not sing here but songs that influence and affect our lives. There are songs that are joyful. Songs that are reflective. Songs of praise. Songs of conviction. Do you find yourself humming or whistling a hymn as you go through your day? Have you thought about songs you want at your funeral? Your family will want to know. Those songs will reflect something about you and your faith. Not everyone appreciates corporate singing, but the beauty of singing hymns together solidifies our faith and love as well as praising God.

So what song do you sing when your life is in turmoil and chaos? What song do you sing when you feel cut off from others? What song do you sing when the prognosis is not good? What song do you sing when you have doubts? What songs did Paul and Silas sing in a Philippian jail?

A Night in Jail

Paul and Silas have been in Philippi preaching. According to 16:10, they are here because God led them here. Lydia and others have been saved. Other than a pesky teenager they have been having good success in Philippi. But that pesky teenager isn’t right. She is enslaved by a spirit of divination and she is enslaved by men who use her for their own gain. Luke uses a word which NIV translates as “predicted the future” which means that she is connected to the god, Apollo. It was believed that Apollo was the god who predicted the future. Supposedly, this teenage girl could “speak the truth of the future from Apollo.” She is following Paul and Silas proclaiming that they are servants of the Most High God. To the pagan ear this phrase would have been associated with Zeus not Jesus. This is the reason why Paul is troubled and he heals her. Setting her free from the spirit of divination means that she is worthless to her owners. Start messing with a person’s finances and you quickly discover what is important.

Now Paul and Silas are awaiting sentencing. There is no trial. There is no attempt to learn the truth. They are at the mercy of their captors. They are beaten with a cane. This was an illegal punishment for Roman citizens but it was considered a minor punishment. Done publicly it was intended to bring shame to Paul and Silas and to any who would give thought to their teaching. They are handed over to a hardened uncaring jailer whose main responsibility was to make sure no prisoners escaped.

Paul and Silas are chained. They would be seated on the ground probably with some straw under them. Their feet would have been placed in wooden stocks so that they could not move easily and their hands would have been secured with chains secured to the wall.

We have already heard the story read. We know that Paul and Silas are getting ready to sing, but just for a moment put yourself in their stocks. What would you do? We have been there. We have had things go badly when we thought we were doing God’s will. We want to follow God’s direction and then something catastrophic happens. What do you do? Pray for deliverance? Sure. Complain? Probably. Sing? Have we forgotten to sing? Have we forgotten the song that Jesus put into our hearts so long ago? It is much easier to voice our complaints against what is happening. As a human being, we do not like to suffer. We do not like for things to go wrong. But where is the song? Where is the song that says thank you? Where is the song that praises God? Where is the song of faith? Have we lost our song? We sing when we feel good. We sing when things are going well. But when we are deflated does our song leave us? Why?

If anyone had a right not to sing, it was Paul and Silas. Wouldn’t you like to know what they sang? What song would you sing? Maybe Paul and Silas sang Psalm 107, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He brought them out of darkness and the deepest gloom and broke away their chains. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men, for he breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron.”

Whatever they were singing, they had an audience. 16:25 says the other prisoners were listening. But not the hardened jailer. He was asleep and the earthquake shook him awake. Assuming the worst, he knows that his life will be taken for letting his prisoners escape, so he plans on killing himself. But the prisoners remain.

Joy

Verse 29 tells us that the jailer is pretty shaken by this turn of events. He isn’t used to being out of control. Doesn’t his question strike you as interesting? He doesn’t ask “what happened?” “How come all you guys are still here?” Nor does he order them back to their cells. “What must I do to be saved?” Some want to suggest that the jailer is now convicted of his sin and that he is ready to turn his life over to God. That doesn’t fit. He is convicted that Paul and Silas have something which no previous prisoner had. He is convicted that they have something which he needs. Paul’s answer in verse 31 should not be understood as being a test of faith but the beginning of a process of further convincing this jailer that God loves him. Because it is after their baptism that joy is found in his house.

When we have a song to sing, we look at life differently. Paul had something the jailer didn’t—joy. An attitude of confidence and assurance when hell is breaking out all around. Paul is under the control of God and is free. The jailer controls the lives of others and is enslaved. Paul sings when things are bad; the jailer sleeps to avoid truth. Which one do you identify with? Let me tell you a point in this story that is convicting. Paul and Silas go where God leads them. They preach God’s message. They help others to hear the good news. They do God’s will and end up in jail. But when bad things happen in our lives, God is not through using them or us. We assume the earthquake was to release Paul and Silas. But the magistrates in verse 35 were going to release Paul and Silas the next morning. The damage had already been done. Do you think God didn’t know that the magistrates were going to release Paul and Silas? Was God sitting in his throne room looking down and saying to the angels around him, “Man, I didn’t see that coming!! I didn’t need to send an earthquake. The officials were going to let them go anyway.” Of course not. What’s the point?

We assume the earthquake was for Paul and Silas. I would submit that the earthquake was for the jailer. God takes the bad that happens in our lives and uses it to bring about his will and purpose. Because Paul and Silas had a song to sing, they were already safe. Prison didn’t break their spirit or bury their faith. But the jailer—the jailer needed to wake up. And God shook him awake. Maybe you are here today and you have been here so many times. You know the songs by heart and the order before we even start. Your eyes are open but your mind is closed. This is just routine. Listen to me. God loves you so much that he is even now giving you one more opportunity to hear him. God is interested in your eternal future. He wants to be in relationship with you. To the Christian, what is your song to sing during the tough times? If you don’t have a song, let God give you one. Invitation.

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