A Duet From The Dungeon

Sunday, July 25, 2010
Verse for Today

Acts 16:25 - About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.

When we put our trust in God for all our present and future situations, we will be able to sing songs even in tribulations of bitter type. At such times, songs of praise and comfort flow into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who lives in us. These songs come out irrespective of whether it is sunshine, rain, pain, misery, weariness, persecution, bereavement or any other human experience. The Spirit gives us the right song to sing for each occasion. These are songs of the soul that we sing. They are often addressed to the Lord as a prayer or praise for the privilege He has given us to suffer for His name' sake. Sometimes they are songs of comfort to strengthen and reassure our souls in our trials. At other times, these are songs to testify to the faithfulness of our Lord who has called us to suffer for His sake. When the Lord suffered unexplainable cruel experiences for us, it is only appropriate for us to suffer for His sake as a response to His sufferings for us. We are called upon to sing even in the midst of deep persecution, whether it is physical, financial, mental or emotional or even social. We can sing when we are socially outcast, gossiped about or falsely accused. We can sing when we are rejected and resented. We sing often with tears in our eyes as a result of the grief created by the situations or people around us. We have a Lord who listens to our songs of tears and comes in to comfort us and wipe our tears. But as we sing, there is an unsaved crowd outside which is listening to us and these songs are great messages of testimony of our faith to them.

Dear friend, do you get the grace to sing songs of praise, prayer or consolation when you go through pain and misery thrust upon you by the circumstances? Such songs are a gift for us to strengthen ourselves in the midst of trials. Some of the greatest songs in our hymn books have come out of intense sufferings by God's people. Many of the golden psalms written by King David, Sons of Korah, Asaph and Moses are songs which were formed and shaped in the midst of fiery experiences. That is the reason why they are so powerfully felt by us when we sing these in our times of intense pressure and tension. Remember, when we go through difficulties in the midnights of our lives, there are always songs in the night that we receive as a gift from the Lord either to sing or to write. These are the spiritual songs of the fruit of the Spirit we sing in times of adversity. It is not very difficult to sing when everything goes well for us. But to sing when you are in the dens of lions or in the fiery furnace during those lonely hours needs special grace. Let us thank the Lord for giving us these songs of praise, prayer and testimony which will convey the love of a God who wipes our tears to those who suffer in the same manner. Let our singing and praise tell the world that we have a Lord who enables us to sing even in the midst of greatest trials. He is the never changing Lord come what may. When we sing in sufferings, the chains of misery with which the world binds us will fall away from our hearts and we are able to sing as if we are no more in chains. Such is the victory the Lord is pleased to grant us as a mark of His faithfulness to His faithfulness.

Psalms 40:3 - He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.

Thought for Today
Hymns of faith flow from godly hearts when there is rain, cloud and pain even in the cold valleys of life at midnight.

This message of comfort from the Word of God comes to you from Brother Oommen Philip. If you have prayer points to share, desire any spiritual help, have questions for which you need answers or have any counseling needs, please send it to todayintheword@gmail.com. All correspondence is kept confidential and your e-mail address is not shared with any one else. If you would like others to receive this mail, please send their i.d or feel free to forward.