The Saturday after Cantate Sunday
Posted on May 24, 2025 by under
Scripture: Acts 16:25-36 (NKJV)
16:25 But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed. 27 And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. 28 But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.”
29 Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. 34 Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household.
35 And when it was day, the magistrates sent the officers, saying, “Let those men go.”
36 So the keeper of the prison reported these words to Paul, saying, “The magistrates have sent to let you go. Now therefore depart, and go in peace.”
Devotion
What hymns did Paul and Silas sing? Were they even more beautiful than Gerhard hymns or Bach cantatas? J. S. Bach was sometimes called “the fifth evangelist” because of how beautifully he set the words of Scripture to music. Whatever they sang, the other prisoners were listening. It should remind us that others are always listening to our witness, especially our children.
When the earthquake came and all the prisoners’ chains fell away, they no doubt connected their miraculous freedom to the hymn-singing of Paul and Silas. No doubt, those hymns were about the Gospel message. They prayed to God and sang about His mighty deeds. They displayed otherworldly calmness and courage in the face of suffering. These were divinely powerful and important men, even though they looked common. It must have been that impression they gave that kept all the other prisoners from fleeing. It is also what caused the jailor to fall down at their feet. He believed these things happened because of the God they were singing about. This powerful witness is what convinced him and his whole house to believe and be baptized. Lord, let us be Your humble witnesses as well.
Collect: O God, Who makest the minds of the faithful to be of one will: Grant unto Thy people that they may love what Thou commandest, and desire what Thou dost promise; that, among the manifold changes of this world, our hearts may there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
