My Loss, My Gain

A Broken Hallelujah

Sharon W. Betters

Today’s Treasure

Let’s go back to that prison cell where Paul and Silas sang and praised God at midnight. What do you think they hoped to accomplish with their singing? Some people teach that if we have enough faith God is obligated to heal us, or send us money, or change our circumstances. Based on the teachings of Paul throughout Scripture, we can be confident that was not their purpose. We know their physical pain did not disappear because after they experience a miraculous deliverance, the jailer dressed their wounds. 

Oh, how I wish we knew the words of the hymns – that might give us a clue as to their motivation. Did they sing Psalms? We know they were not singing petitions for themselves but praise of God. These were songs of worship, sung loudly, so loudly that the other prisoners listened intently. The word for “listening” in this passage indicates strong, attentive listening. Paul and Silas definitely didn’t hide their light under a bushel!

My personal conclusion, rooted not just in this passage but other writings of Paul, is that they were not singing a song begging for deliverance (which is what I would be singing!) but rather songs that expressed their contentment in bondage. Anyone can sing when the prison doors swing open and they are set free, but the presence of Jesus in our lives and a growing intimacy with Him through a deeper understanding of the character of God gives us the power to sing praises to Him while we are IN prison.

Madame Guyon was imprisoned from 1896 through 1703 on trumped-up charges, including the writing of A Short and Very Easy Method of Prayer. While jailed, she continued writing. One of her poems, in particular, describes how singing while imprisoned actually breaks the bars of the cell and frees us. As you read these words and review the words of Today’s Treasure, look for the theology that drove Paul and Silas to sing “to Him who placed them there.”

A Little Bird

Madame Guyon

A little bird am I

Shut from the fields of air;

And in my cage I sit and sing

To Him who placed me there;

Well pleased a prisoner to be

Because, my God, it pleaseth thee.

Nought have I else to do;

I sing the whole day long;

And He who most I love to please,

Doth listen to my song;

He caught and bound my wandering wing,

But still, He bends to hear me sing.

Though has an ear to hear;

A heart to love and bless;

And though my notes were e’er so rude,

Though wouldst not hear the less;

Because Thou knowest, as they fall,

That same, sweet Love, inspires them all.

My cage confines me round;

Abroad I cannot fly;

But though my wing is closely bound,

My heart’s at liberty.

My prison walls cannot control

The flight, the freedom of the soul.

Oh, it is good to soar

These bolts and bars above,

To Him Whose purpose I adore,

Whose providence I love;

And in Thy mighty will to find

The joy, the freedom of the mind.

PRAYER

Oh Lord, may we sing with joy, praises to you, just like the little bird in a cage.

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