Singing at midnight in a Philippian prison: Paul, Silas and the jailer in Acts 16
Beaten, bleeding and chained in the inner cell of a Roman prison, two men did something unexpected at midnight: they sang. The other prisoners listened. Then the ground shook, and the story of the Philippian jailer began.
Philippi
Paul and Silas had travelled to Philippi, a Roman colony in Macedonia, where Lydia, a seller of purple cloth, became the first recorded convert in Europe. A slave girl with a spirit of divination followed them for many days, shouting that they were servants of the most high God. Paul, troubled, commanded the spirit to leave her. Her owners, seeing their income gone, dragged Paul and Silas before the magistrates.
Midnight songs
The crowd attacked them, and the magistrates had them stripped and beaten with rods, then thrown into prison. The jailer put them in the inner prison and fastened their feet in stocks. “And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.” Suddenly there was a great earthquake. The foundations of the prison shook, all the doors opened and everyone’s chains came loose.
The jailer
The jailer woke, saw the doors open and drew his sword to kill himself, assuming the prisoners had escaped. Under Roman practice, he could have faced death for losing them. Paul shouted: “Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.” The jailer called for a light, ran in trembling and fell before Paul and Silas.
He brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They answered, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”
Released
The jailer washed their wounds, and he and his household were baptised immediately. He brought them into his house, set food before them and rejoiced with all his family. The next day, the magistrates ordered their release. Paul pointed out that they were Roman citizens who had been beaten without trial, and the officials came to apologise.
The prisoners heard Paul and Silas singing. They were not singing for an audience, yet their praise in the dark was noticed. Many believers take from this that faith shown in hard places speaks louder than faith shown in comfort.
