In the Midnight Hour

Archeologists believe they’ve discovered the dungeon in Philippi where Paul and Silas were imprisoned. If so, we would know that it was basically a small, windowless room so there could be no escape. Needless to say, there were no sanitation facilities.

What would you do if you ended up in a place like that? What did Paul and Silas do? We read that “at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them” (Acts 16:25).

This was a sacrifice of praise. There was nothing circumstantially to rejoice about. How easily we could have read that Paul and Silas groaned at midnight. We would understand that. Or we could have read that they cursed the men who beat them, or they cursed the jailer. But instead we read that they sang praises to God.

When you are in pain, the midnight hour is not the easiest time for a worship service. But the Bible promises that God can give songs in the night. We are told in Psalm 42:8, “But each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me, and through each night I sing his songs, praying to God who gives me life.”

There is something about nighttime that can amplify our problems. When you’re getting ready to go to sleep, your problems can suddenly crowd in on you and seem worse than they really are. It’s a great burden to carry. We should pray and commit these things to the Lord. The Bible tells us, “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you” (1 Peter 5:7).

We need to realize that God is in control in the day and in the night. And we need to offer our thanksgiving to Him.