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Tim Maas
Supporter
First, I would say that, by my reading of the cited passage, Paul and Silas did not start singing and praying at midnight, but had been doing so continuously for some time previous (as they might have been expected to do in response to preachings from Jesus such as found in Matthew 5:11-12) -- not to mention the fact that, by my understanding of manner in which they were confined, sleep would have been all but impossible. Instead, midnight was the time that God chose to act in response to their situation. In that respect, the timing of His deliverance may have been designed to bring to mind the exodus from Egypt, when the Bible specifically records that the final plague that God inflicted upon Egypt (the death of the firstborn) in order to deliver Israel from their bondage there occurred at midnight (Exodus 12:29). Also, since midnight is figuratively associated with the greatest levels of both inactivity and darkness, it seems to me that God chose that hour to emphatically witness to everyone else involved that He (as a Being of Light and the controller of events) was not limited by either natural or human constraints or habits, but was capable of acting on behalf of His servants at any time and in any manner.
Janet Hegna
Supporter
The word says to praise Him in the good times as well as the bad, and I believe they were doing just that as an example for the world.The HOLY BIBLE is God's word, but it also means He Only Left You Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. It's really sad to see society repeating His-story again and again. Be blessed.
Jack Gutknecht
Supporter
The prison guard [probably] was confused by two things-- a. Because of the singing of the prisoners (Acts16:25): He hears Paul and Silas praising God. b. Because of the shaking of the prison (Acts 16:26): God sends an earthquake that frees all the inmates. H. Wilmington Why did Paul and Silas start praying and hymns at midnight? What is it about midnight? First, I'd like to ask myself, how would I have felt if I'd been falsely accused, beaten, and put in stocks in a dark prison cell. Like quitting missionary work, like praying and singing, like crying my eyes out, like suing for police brutality? Or like thanking God for the honor of suffering for him? Serendipity Bible. I admit I'd probably feel like suing for police brutality. But I should be aware that the jailor could be very open to the gospel if I took my unjust suffering patiently as Peter says to to do in 1 Peter 2:20. -- "But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God." I like, too, what Warren Wiersbe says about this hour: "When you are in pain, the midnight hour is not the easiest time for a sacred concert, but God gives 'songs in the night' (Job 35:10; also see Ps. 42:8). 'Any fool can sing in the day,' said Charles Haddon Spurgeon. 'It is easy to sing when we can read the notes by daylight; but the skilful stager is he who can sing when there is not a ray of light to read by … Songs in the night come only from God; they are not in the power of men.'” Occasionally God calls one of His children to give his or her life as an act of sacrifice and witness for Him. One such believer was John Harper, a Scotsman who was traveling on the Titantic en route to Chicago. Harper was scheduled to become pastor of the Moody Memorial Church in Chicago, but he never made it. However, another Scotsman who survived the disaster later told how Harper, clinging to a piece of debris, called out to his fellow countryman, “Are ye saved, mon? He then quoted Acts 16:31 just before he drowned. The young man was not saved physically, but he took Harper’s invitation to heart and put his faith in Christ. Today in the Word, November 26, 1997
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