"Then Paul and Silas were thrown into jail, and the jailer was ordered to guard them carefully. When he heard this order, he put them far inside the jail and pinned their feet down between large blocks of wood. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing songs to God as the other prisoners listened".
Acts 16:23-25.
In this world, we live every day with trouble (Job 5:7). How should believers in Christ cope with this reality?
In Paul’s missionary travels recorded in Acts 16, God directed Silas and him to Philippi, where they found themselves beaten, tortured, and left for dead in a dungeon. Yet, they reacted to this trouble by singing praises to God! What enabled them to respond this way? The answer—they filtered their dire situation through two awesome realities found in Psalm 100:
“Know that the Lord is God. He made us, and we belong to him; we are his people, the sheep he tends. Come into his city with songs of thanksgiving and into his courtyards with songs of praise. Thank him and praise his name. The Lord is good. His love is forever, and his loyalty goes on and on".
Psalm 100:3-5.
The full verse of Psalm 100:3 reads, “Know that the Lord is God. He made us, and we belong to him; we are his people, the sheep he tends.” Paul lived life knowing that Yahweh was the potter and he was the clay, just an earthen vessel employed in the Lord’s service (2 Corinthians 4:7). Although Paul faced countless trials, he didn’t “fear” evil, for the Shepherd’s “rod and staff” comforted him (Psalm 23:4). Our Shepherd, like Paul’s, is a loving and caring Shepherd. (Psalm 78:13).
Not only did Paul know that Yahweh is God, he also knew that “the LORD is good” (Psalm 100:5). God’s steadfast love motivates all He does. Both truths are preceded with the following injunctions to praise God: “Make a joyful noise” (v. 1), “serve the LORD with gladness” (v. 2), “come before his presence with singing” (v. 2), “enter into his gates with thanksgiving” (v. 4), and “be thankful unto him” (v. 4).
Like with Paul and Silas in prison, praise and thanksgiving should characterize all believers who truly know that Yahweh is God and Yahweh is good.
(Days of Praise)