A SONG AT MIDNIGHT

Let’s look in Acts 16 at the familiar story about the Apostles Paul and Silas. “And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying.” (Acts 16:16) There are many demons, devils, evil spirits, unclean spirits, and other such spirits that are all enemies of their Creator God. God forbids us to have anything to do with them. This spirit of divination is one of those enemies of God that we should shun. Spirits of divination are behind all the various kinds of fortune telling and future telling. Have nothing to do with them. Sinful mankind just has a curious, nosey yearning to know what the future holds. But God keeps most of our future life hidden from us. We should gladly accept that and place our lives totally in His Loving Caring, knowing we are safe there. The Bible prophesies much of what will occur on this planet earth in the future. It behooves us all to study the Bible thoroughly and to be receptive to God’s Holy Spirit leading us to do certain things in our own personal lives regarding Bible prophecy. But we are not to go to demons, devils, spirits of divination and fortune telling, or to any unclean spirits to inquire about anything. That is because all such spirits are God’s enemies and therefore are our enemies also. We should have absolutely nothing to do with them. We should completely shun them and strongly oppose them.

“Heavenly Father, help me to shun and oppose all spirits that are Thine enemies. Please protect me from these evil spirits. I pray this for all other people also. Amen.”

This damsel described here had a spirit of divination inside her body, likely inside her head. That spirit was the power behind her soothsaying (fortune telling). That spirit could tell people past, present, and likely future things about themselves. That certainly impressed people who came to her to have their fortunes told and it brought her masters much money. Likewise, present-day people will pay money to a fortuneteller and be greatly amazed at what that soothsayer can tell them. “She knew things about me that no one knows!” That is because she is possessed with an evil spirit, an enemy of God, who is revealing those things to her for her to tell them to you to get your money. God commands us to shun such people and have nothing to do with them.

There is a large variety of “games” that involve divination. Many such games are geared for and aimed at children. They are exciting to one’s sinful nature of flesh. People of all ages play them because of the great excitement they bring. Tho they are called games, there is nothing innocent about them at all. They come from Satan. They are of the enemy. And the purpose of them is to entrap people in Satan’s power. God holds you responsible to protect your children from them. God forbids us to believe every spirit, but rather commands us to try the spirits. “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they, are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.” (I John 4:1-3) All spirits that are opposed to God are antichrist spirits. You can ask any person possessed of such spirits if Jesus Christ is Almighty God come in the flesh, and they will deny that. By that confession of theirs, we can know that the spirit in them is antichrist and that they are false prophets. Therefore they are enemies of God and thus are also enemies of us Christian believers. God commands us to have nothing to do with them. You must be vigilant to guard your children against antichrist spirits that are so numerous in books, comics, games, and all kinds of electronic games and equipment. This world of evil spirits is very exciting and attractive to children. So always keep in mind that those spiritual enemies are set on our destruction. Therefore we Christian believers should oppose them and shun them.

“Lord God, please teach me how to obey Thy command to try the spirits and guide me to always do that when I should. Give me keen spiritual discernment about evil spirits. Please teach me and guide me into setting the proper spiritual guard around my household. Please help me to always fight against our enemy as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. I pray this for all other people also. Amen.”

Let’s continue with the story of Paul and Silas. “The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation.” (Acts 16:17) She spoke the truth about Paul and the others. But she did not do it to glorify God, but rather did it repeatedly for many days to harass and weary those apostles. God’s archenemy, Satan, always viciously wars against us trying to wear out the saints of the Most High God. Let us fight back against his attacks with close fellowship with our Lord in order to always have our hearts full of the joy of the Lord, which is our strength. (Nehemiah 8:10)

“And this she did many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour.” (Acts 16:18) The Lord Jesus Christ is Almighty God. Therefore there is Unlimited Power in His Name. It is the Name above all names. It is the Name at which every knee is soon to bow and every tongue is to confess that He is The Lord. Use that Name often. Call upon that Name any and every time you need help and, in faith toward Almighty God, believe Christ to fight for you in God’s Power and give you victory.

The Name of the Lord Jesus Christ has All Power over all devils, demons, unclean spirits, and evil spirits. So when Paul commanded that spirit of divination in the Name of Jesus Christ to come out of that damsel, glory to God that evil spirit came out of her the same hour. The Japanese people worship demons and devils in their satanic religions of Buddhism and Shintoism. Therefore a good number of the Japanese people around me are demon possessed. One time, about 15 Japanese children were attending a Christian service I was conducting. At the start of the service, I prayed to my Lord Jesus, in His Name, calling out that Name above all names. And immediately demons came out of 2 of those children. I did not know that any of those children were demon possessed, so as I prayed I was not commanding the demons to come out of them. But those demons could not stand being in my presence as I called out that Name above all names and prayed to my Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore those demons came out of those children in order to flee from that room where the Name of Jesus Christ was being proclaimed in prayer. Fellow Christian, use that Name regularly. In firm, unwavering faith call that High, Holy, and Powerful Name out vocally frequently. Sing that Precious Name aloud in songs of praise often, and thereby gain great victories over Satan and his army of fallen angels and all kinds of evil spirits.

“And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains were gone, they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers. (16:19) Now that the spirit of divination has fled out of the damsel at Paul’s command in the Name of Jesus Christ to come out of her, she can no longer divine as a soothsayer. That power has instantly vanished. Her masters, who had been raking in much filthy lucre from her soothsaying now see that hope of gaining money is gone and that they can no longer use her to heap up money for themselves. Of course, they instantly become outraged over that. They sinfully loved money and monetary gain, as so many people do. And anyone who gets in the way of such people’s moneymaking and brings it to nought will be fought against and possibly killed. On the island of Guam, I have preached much in front of bars, saloons, and houses of prostitution. Oh, how angry the owners of those dens of iniquity got with me out of fear of losing customers (and money) because I was there preaching righteousness. They warred against me, and it was only by the grace of God that I was not killed or stopped by some other means. To God be the glory. Oh how grievously people sin against their Creator God by loving money; committing any and every sin they want to in order to gain money, and violently opposing any decent, upright person who opposes their sinful ways of gaining filthy lucre.

So these sinful masters of the damsel seized Paul and Silas for the good deed they did in freeing that damsel from an evil spirit. “And brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city, And teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans.” (16:20-21) So those godly apostles, who are doing the good and upright work that God called them to do, are decreed to be the troublemakers. Throughout the Bible, you can read numerous such accounts. As God stood His leaders, kings, judges, prophets, preachers, teachers, disciples, apostles, and such God-called people before the masses to decree and declare unto them “Thus saith the Lord God,” the wicked, ungodly people who heard them denounced them as being the ones who were the troublemakers. But the exact opposite is true. It is the devil’s wicked crowd who are the troublemakers here on the face of God’s earth. May God help us Christians to boldly and courageously continue to stand for our Lord and God, forever proclaiming, “Thus saith the Lord God,” and with God’s Help may we never cower under to nor give in to the devil’s noisy crowd of rabble who lie and falsely accuse us of being the troublemakers. The devil’s crowd is the troublemakers here on earth, and they have much trouble coming their way when they soon stand before the Judgment Bar of Almighty God.

“These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city.” That is a lie. They did a most wonderful deed for that damsel of your city by setting her free from slavery to that spirit of divination.

“And teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans.” That is also a lie. Paul and Silas were servants of the Most High God, showing unto them the One and Only Way of Salvation. They were proclaiming words of God that are applicable (and most direly necessary) to the entire human race. You who reject those words are going to perish forever in the Lake of Fire. The words of Jehovah God cut across all territorial, cultural, racial, and religious boundaries. The Lord Jesus Christ is the One True God Who created all human creatures. He is the Saviour of the World and the Only Way for any person to escape going to Hell and instead go to Heaven after this life. God’s words in the Bible call on all people everywhere to repent to God and to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. The Christian believers throughout the world who proclaim the words of God’s Holy Bible are doing a far greater service to human mankind than anyone else is. Still, children of the devil, who have set themselves against their Creator God in sinful rebellion, will quickly label those servants of righteousness as troublemakers. Look at them saying that Paul and his fellow preachers “do exceedingly trouble our city.” They soon reaped the punishment of that lie when their life here on earth ended and they were turned into an eternal Hell of fire and brimstone for setting themselves against their Creator God. If you are now outside of Christ, I promise you that you do not want to be among them forever. Repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for eternal salvation.

In 1973, God sent me from my homeland in the U.S. to the other side of this globe to live in Japan to there show unto the Japanese people the way of salvation of the Most High God. Many of the Japanese people look on me as a foreign troublemaker who has come from afar to push my strange and foreign religious customs onto them. They tell me, “We have our own religions. We have our own temples and shrines. We have our own gods.” And as I proclaim The One True God to them, I am labeled as the troublemaker. Please pray with me, that many of them will turn from their idols to serve the living God.

“And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them.” (16:22) “Punish those troublemakers,” their father the devil screams in into their reprobate minds. So, in obedience to their father of lies, that mob rises up in unison to inflict torturous punishment to those upright apostles by first ripping off their clothes in order for the beating to be most painful to the bare flesh.

“And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely.” (16:23) No trial, no judge, no jury, no lawyer for the defense, no human rights or humane treatment at all for these soldiers of the Cross. Just beat them half to death and then cast them into prison to put an end their troublemaking. Make sure to lay many strips on them, because that is exactly what such troublemakers deserve. Of all the nerve of them to trouble us so exceedingly. Such is typically the earthly reward for godly people who go about the most high and noble calling that exists. But when each of those reprobate sinners soon breathed their last breath, they immediately learned what it really means to be exceedingly troubled when they found themselves in Hell fire being tormented by never ending flames and to never have a drop of water to cool their parched tongues. You do not want to join them there in Hell. The one thing you must do is to repent to the Most High God and trust in Him to save you from going to Hell.

“Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.” (16:24) Having received such a straight, forceful charge, that jailor must ensure that he fails not, to do his duty. If he were to let such dangerous troublemakers escape, likely he would be executed for such dereliction of his grave duty. So thrust them into the innermost prison in order for it to be the most difficult thing to try to escape. And on top of that, lock their feet sound and fast into those stocks so they cannot even move. Now we money loving, God hating, reprobate sinners can go merrily along on our way to the eternal torments of Hell without being troubled by these peculiar men troubling us by teaching customs which are not lawful for us to receive or to observe. Problem solved.

So take a good look at Paul and Silas. Stripped of their clothes, their backs bleeding from being beaten to a pulp with many stripes, thrust into an inner prison, and stocks fastened securely over their feet and ankles to keep them from moving. And then darkness falls and night comes on. There was no electrical lighting in that ancient dungeon. Likely there were no torches, lamps, candles, or any kind of light. The inner recesses of that dungeon would have been plenty dark during the daytime. And at night it would be pitch black with darkness. Those prisoners would be able to see nothing. What a fate and reward for their noble service and work for Almighty God. And if you serve your Lord God as zealously as Paul and Silas did, expect to receive a similar fate and reward while here on this earth.

The Bible mentions nothing of them having been fed or given water to drink after being seized by that angry mob. So as the night passes with them hungry and thirsty, beaten and bloody, in awful pain from the beating and the tight stocks fastened onto their feet, just how do those two apostles react to such excruciating painful torments and abuse, and to being locked away in dark isolation? Did it make crybabies out of them? Did they sob and cry on each other’s shoulders and wallow in their misery over such an awful fate? Did they cry about how innocent they were and totally undeserving of such unjust punishment? No, they certainly did not! They did just the opposite and readily manifested their triumphant victory in Jesus! “And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.” (Acts 16:25)

Praise our Almighty God for victory in Jesus. “This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” (I John 5:4) Praise His High and Holy Name for making us more than conquerors in Christ. Praise our Lord Jesus for His Perfect, Never failing, Ever present Peace with which He fills the hearts of us believers. Thank God for His Peace that the world cannot give and that the world CANNOT take away. As Paul and Silas lay there bleeding and bound in that dark dungeon, they had an eternal home in God’s blissful Heaven waiting for them. As they go about doing God’s Will here on earth, little does it matter to them what harsh adversity besets them on their earthly journey to that Heavenly Home. Being beaten, bloodied, and bound in darkness for Christ’s sake is no cause for crying in self-pity. It is a cause to pray and sing praises unto God for being counted worthy to suffer for Christ’s sake. No need for you to feel sorry for Paul and Silas as they lie bloodied and bound in that bleak dungeon. The joy of the Lord is filling their hearts to overflowing while at the same time angels in Heaven are filling each of their mansions to overflowing with eternal treasures that Paul and Silas have been enjoying for about 2000 years now, and will enjoy forever. Always bear in mind Christ’s words to us concerning such. “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” (Matthew 5:11-12)

The people who rightly deserve our pity are the wicked children of the devil who had the gall to lay hands on and so terribly abuse these chosen servants of God who were most dearly loved, cherished, and watched over by their Lord. “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.” (Isaiah 57:17) What a glorious heritage this is. May God help us Christians to obey His commands to love our enemies, pray for those who hate us and spitefully use us, intercede to God for their salvation, and do all we can in love for their lost souls to lead them to salvation in Christ. Bear in mind that not so very long before Paul lay beaten, bloody, and bound in this inner prison, he was killing Christian believers and persecuting Christians in this same manner. We Christians are not like the followers of the devil’s many religions that kill people who will not join their religion. Here is one clear distinction between the True God and the devil’s religions. The True God teaches us Christians to love our enemies. The devil’s religions teach their followers to hate and kill their enemies.

“Touch not mine anointed”

Listen to me my lost friend, well contented to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season and then suffer in Hell fire forever. You are in big trouble because of the eternal torments that await you because you have chosen to reject Christ and to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a very short season. But if you also choose to fight against Christians who call on everyone to do right, you thereby heap much more untold misery upon the big trouble you are in already. “He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes; Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.” (Psalms 105:14-15) Listen to me you children of the devil who reject Christ, Almighty God in Heaven dearly loves His children who He redeemed unto Him with His Own shed blood. His children are most precious to Him and He is extremely jealous over them. So if you know what is good for you, you will take heed to this warning of His and refrain from touching His anointed and harming His prophets. Paul and Silas were not to be pitied. The children of the devil who touched them and harmed them are to be pitied. If you bad mouth, ridicule, and fight against Christian believers because of their faith in God, you are a most pitiful being. While it is still the day of salvation, I exhort you to do as Saul of Tarsus and repent of rebelling against God and repent of opposing Christians believers because of their faith in God, and trust in Christ to be saved from the awful punishment of those sins. Eternal torments and sufferings in Hell await you if you do not.

“Everyone’s bands were loosed”

Keep in mind to Whom Paul and Silas were singing praises, Almighty God in Heaven. And He heard them. He always hears every sound we make and is always highly pleased when we sing praises to Him, especially in trying times. God on His Throne in Glory took great delight in this praise rising up at midnight from that pitch-black dungeon to Him high up in the third Heaven. So, just how did God respond to His bloodied but victorious soldiers bound in stocks but yet singing praises to Him at midnight? “And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bands were loosed.” (Verse 26) Glory to God! God set the captives free. Praise God for the way He fights for us from Heaven when we are true and faithful soldiers of His. My fellow Christian soldier, as we do spiritual battle for our Lord Who is a Man of War, we fight from victory not for victory. Our Lord has already won our victory for us by His death, burial, and resurrection. So let us faithfully stand for Him in this victory and watch Him fight from Heaven for us.

“They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera.” (Judges 5:20) God certainly reproved Captain Sisera for touching His anointed by destroying that wicked military leader. This Scripture says that even the stars fought against him. When we faithfully stand for our Lord, He will bring His entire creation to bear against our enemies and to obliterate them. Praise God for victory in Jesus! Stand faithfully for your Lord, no matter how fierce the battle, and see what marvelous things God in Heaven will do for you.

Please pay close attention to the Scriptures and meditate deeply on what a powerful spiritual weapon is voicing praise aloud and singing praise aloud to Almighty God on His High and Lofty Throne. In response to Paul and Silas singing praise to Him in that darkness of midnight, God sent the earthquake to shake the foundations of that prison, open the doors, and even loose their bands. That is miraculous when each prisoner’s bands are also loosened. God set all the prisoners in that dungeon free. Singing of praise amidst bloodied, harsh conflict brought on that miracle. “And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the Lord; for his mercy endureth for ever. And when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.” (II Chronicles 20:21-22) Read that entire passage about Israel warring and rejoice in God giving them the victory when they broke out in songs of praise. Praise God for this most powerful and victorious spiritual weapon we always have readily available to us for doing warfare for our Lord and by which we can win daily victories. How simple it is to use this most powerful spiritual weapon of singing praise to the Living God in Heaven. God forbid that we fail or neglect to use it. I cannot emphasize to you enough; the power of singing praise aloud to God and what a great eternal shame it is for us to neglect to use this weapon daily.

“Lord God, please reveal to me just what a powerful spiritual weapon is that of singing praise aloud to Thee. Instill within me a desire to sing praises aloud to Thee as often as Thou desirest that I do. I pray this for all other people also. Amen.”

“Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord.”

All the while we are here on this earth, we Christian believers are in constant spiritual warfare, fighting an unseen enemy that fights us by striving to bind our heart and spirit by every means possible. Discouragement. Despair. Depression. Unbelief. Grief. Sorrow. Physical sickness and weakness. Hardship. Failure. Poverty. Friends and family disappoint, fail, and hurt us. The list could go on endlessly. The devil uses many of these adversities as weapons of his to bind our hearts and spirits with the goal of rendering us useless for doing spiritual battle for our Lord of War. How do we fight victoriously against these fierce assaults of the enemy? It is essential to use our weapon of singing aloud praise to God. Singing praise loosens, snaps, and breaks all those bands of the enemy binding our heart and spirit, just like it loosed all those prison shackles and opened those prison doors in the dark of midnight. One of the most grievous mistakes a Christian can made during this life on earth is to fail to regularly use this powerful weapon of singing praises to Almighty God. I cannot emphasize that point enough.

“Heavenly Father, please reveal to me the powerful spiritual weapon that singing praise aloud to Thee is. Please help me not to neglect this weapon as I battle for Thee. I pray this for all other people also. Amen.”

“And at midnight”

“Midnight” represents the times when we are at our lowest point. Life’s problems, sufferings, and battles have completely overwhelmed and defeated us, bringing us to our lowest point, making us feel that all is hopeless, and that we should just give up the fight, and lie down and die or whatever. What are we supposed to do then? Surrender? NO! Bring out our ultimate spiritual weapon and sing aloud praises to Almighty God on High and just watch Him snap all those evil bands binding us and watch Him set our spirits free. “But Brother Richard, at times as that, I just don’t have it in me to break forth singing praise.”

“By reason of the multitude of oppressions they make the oppressed to cry: they cry out by reason of the arm of the mighty. But none saith, Where is God my maker, who giveth songs in the night…?” (Job 35:9-10) I understand that you don’t have it in you to break forth singing praise to God when you are oppressed and depressed. That ability and power comes from above. You have to ask God for it because He is the Giver of all good things. Likely no other human creature has ever been as severely tested, oppressed, and brought as low as Job was. Job certainly experienced the pitch-blackness of midnight. But praise God; Job also knew the definite reality of his Maker giving him songs in the night. God our Maker is a God Who giveth us songs in the night, in the darkest, most desperate times you can possibly experience. No matter how low adversities bring you, your Maker is always standing by during your darkest hour to give you songs of deliverance. Open your mouth wide and let Him fill it. Ask God to give you a song.

“Lord God, praise Thy Great Name that you are our Maker Who gives us songs in the night, in the darkest, most troubled, most hopeless times of our lives. You are with us to give us songs of deliverance in the night. Praise Thy Name for that. Please help me to always take the songs you give me in my darkest hours and sing them out aloud from my being. I pray all other people will do this also. Let everything that hath breath praise our Lord God Almighty. Amen.”

When I awoke from brain surgery for an aneurysm that had hemorrhaged inside my head, I was severely depressed from the surgical work inside my skull and from the strong anesthesia that poisoned my body. Life held virtually no meaning for me. Nothing interested me. I had no motivation to do anything. Praise God He constantly ministered Divine healing to my entire being and with time brought me back close to “normal.” At first, I had no desire to sing aloud to God. But I knew how important it was. So I sang aloud “out of duty,” so to speak. At first, it bought no joy that I could feel. But I just kept singing, till with passing time, I was singing with a heart’s desire and experiencing God’s joy from it filling my being. I firmly believe that singing aloud much praise to God speeded my recovery and gave me a better recovery. The Japanese doctors who attended to me marveled at my good and speedy recovery and dismissed me from the hospital much sooner than they had planned at first. I told them that my Lord Jesus had given me healing and a speedy recovery.

When you have been brought so low you feel like you can’t possibly sing praise, call on your Maker for Help and just sing anyway. Then watch that praise break all those bands and set you free. “I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord.” (Psalms 40:1-3) Thanks be unto God for the songs of victory and praise that He puts in our hearts and mouths even at the darkest hour of midnight. Praise God that we are more than conquerors thru Jesus Christ Who loves us.

For each of us who have been redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb, God has put a new song in our mouth. You notice I keep speaking of singing “aloud” as opposed to just singing silently within our hearts. There is extra power in voicing praise to God aloud. Do it regularly as God leads you to do so.

The natural reaction of our weak, sinful flesh to adversity typically is to take on a defeated attitude. We want to give up the fight and wallow in self-pity. Don’t do it. You have this powerful spiritual weapon of singing praise aloud readily available at all times. Also, it is most simple to put this weapon into action just by opening your mouth and letting eternal praises ring out. So please do it much and often. God forbid that you neglect such a powerful weapon that is so simple to use. How foolish that would be of you.

“Lord Jesus, please guard me from neglecting to use this powerful spiritual weapon of praise. Help me to be like victorious Paul and Silas and sing praises to Thee all the time, especially in the darkness of midnight. I pray that all other people will do this also. Amen.”

“Their idols are…the work of men’s hands”

Only the One True Living God Who is our Maker has the ability to give us a song at the darkest hour of our life. Only He can put songs of victory and praise in our mouth. One trademark of all the false religions in this world is an extremely limited amount of singing. What little “singing” they do is typically just vain repetitious chanting of a few short, meaningless lines. Idolaters’ dead idols have no life in them. Thus they have no ability to impart living songs of praise to their worshippers. Contrast that to the uncountable numbers of songs of praise that have been composed and sung to Jehovah God down thru the ages all over the world by most every tribe in their own languages. When any person tries to push his false religion onto you, ask him or her to just haul off and sing the song of praise to their god that is foremost in their heart and mouth. Likely it will be interesting to observe their clutched reaction.

“Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat. They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.” (Psalms 115:4-8) We who trust in the Lord Jesus Christ are so blessed to know the One True and Living God our Maker, Who giveth us living, inspirational songs of victory and praise in the darkest hour of midnight, when life and the enemy brings us to our lowest point of despair. May our mouths constantly be filled with His songs of praise.

“Heavenly Father, cause me to fully comprehend just how wonderful it is for us believers to constantly sing songs of living praise to Thee. Praise Thy Name that we have something that no false religions can give their followers, true and living praise to the One True Living God. Reveal to all Christians just how shameful it is of us to neglect singing praise aloud unto Thee. Help all us Christians to be faithful to broadcast that praise constantly to the multitudes of people around us. Praise Thy Name for the victory that praise brings. Amen.”

“He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God.” Our Creator puts this new song of praise unto Him into the mouth of each Christian believer when He makes them into a new creature upon them repenting and trusting in Christ to save them. By all means, do not let your song of praise to God lie idle and go unused throughout your life here on earth. What a tragic regret that would be forever. You will miss out on many great spiritual victories in this life by failing to sing praise aloud to God. Be like King David and let everyone around you hear that new song of praise to God, and therewith testify to everyone that you are a new creation and are a child of God.

“Lord God, save me from standing before Thee in Judgment ashamed because I neglected to do such an easy thing as singing praises aloud to Thee. I pray this for all other people also. Amen.”

“And the prisoners heard them”

Let’s back up to verse 25 of Acts 16 to look at another wonderful point. “And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.” What an attention getter. Nothing could be seen by the natural eye in that midnight pitch-black darkness inside that dungeon, but sound traveled unhindered. What were the various thoughts that came to those prisoners’ minds as they heard Paul and Silas pray and sing praises to God? “I’ve never heard anything like this. When men are beaten half to death, then thrown in here and bound fast in stocks, usually they are cursing God, men, their fate, and everything else. But these men are praying and singing praise to God. That is amazing! I sure would like to have victory like that in my life. There sure must be something to their religion. I want to know more about their God. Sure would be wonderful if He were my God also.” No doubt such thoughts flowed thru those prisoners’ minds as they listened to those songs of praise in the midnight darkness of that awful dungeon. Oh what a glorious, powerful testimony is Victory in Jesus, undimmed by but rather made brighter by adversity!

Paul and Silas were prisoners of men. But YET they were FREE INDEED. “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” (John 8:36) True freedom is gained by trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ. Beatings, prison bars, shackles, stocks, and midnight darkness cannot possibly take away that freedom. Even death cannot rob the Christian believer of that true freedom that our Lord Jesus gives us, complete freedom and peace of one’s soul and spirit. Faith is our victory that gives us this bedrock, steadfast freedom that is ours forever. God graciously and freely bestows this everlasting freedom on all who put their trust in Christ. Praise God for His Unspeakable Gift. That is why Paul and Silas could pray and sing praises to God in the blackness of midnight after being beaten and bound fast in stocks. The content of their prayers is not mentioned. But I do not believe they were praying, “Lord, have pity on us in our misery.” Likely they were thanking God for being counted worthy of suffering for His Namesake. We Christians should unceasingly give thanks to the Son of God for making us free indeed. And we should always sing praise to His High and Holy and Worthy Name.

“Lord Jesus, I thank Thee for the true freedom of mind, soul, and spirit Thou hast given to me. I praise Thy Name that this freedom from Thee is ever present, unchanged and unmoved by any and all circumstances, and that the enemy cannot possibly rob me of it. I pray that all people would come to know this freedom. And I pray that Thou wouldest give me a joy and a zeal to always sing aloud praises of this Victory in Jesus for all the people around me to hear. Amen.”

“And the prisoners heard them.” Listen to me, my fellow Christian, all around you and I are multitudes of prisoners, people enslaved to the idol god of Self, prisoners of sin and Satan, lost souls who are headed straight for the torments of Hell fire to be imprisoned there forever in that suffering with no possibility for escape. Lost people are the most pitiful prisoners that exist. God desires that they all hear you and I pray and victoriously sing praises to the Living God, just as those prisoners in that dark dungeon heard Paul and Silas praying and singing. What a strong testimony is our singing to prisoners of the devil, especially when we sing out amidst adversity and fierce persecution, and even when facing martyrdom. History records 1^st century Christian martyrs singing praises to God with glowing faces as they were burned at the stake or as they faced killer lions in an arena. Pagan crowds, who gathered to be entertained by and to glory in the death of the Christians, were so deeply touched by the Christians being victorious in death that numbers in the crowd would exclaim, “They sure have something to live for!” “I want what they have!” History tells us that at times, the murderers ceased killing the Christians before crowds of spectators, because the inspiration of the victorious Christians caused many of those who came to watch, to turn to Christ and trust in Him. What great and glorious victory is our Faith in Christ. Of a certainty, we are free indeed, because Almighty God has set us free. Sing praise aloud to set your own spirit free, and watch God use that powerful testimony to change lives of “prisoners” of the devil around you.

“Heavenly Father, please reveal to me just what a powerful testimony it is for lost souls around us to hear Christians singing praises to Thee. Please help us to constantly sing the much praise that Thou desirest us to do for Thy Glory and for the salvation of lost souls. Amen.”

As we go our way rejoicing in these most wonderful and marvelous things that God has done for us Christian believers, what does it behoove us to do daily? We should do just as Paul and Silas did, let all the prisoners of the devil around us hear us singing. In the past, when people lived that natural live that God ordained that we live, it was just “natural” for people to sing aloud as they went about their daily affairs. Nowadays, few people sing aloud because the devil has gained a monumental spiritual victory by putting an end to much of our singing by means of his evil high tech world He has so cleverly imprisoned us in. Daily singing praises to God was common among the Christian family on God’s old-fashioned “prison” farm. The farmer would sing as he followed his horse drawn plow. His wife would sing to God as she went about her housework. The children would sing hymns, knowing few other songs than the ones they heard in church, before the age of audio recording and broadcasting.

When the devil’s phonograph record player and radio came along, the housewife soon came to sing along with it, then to hum along with it, and then just to listen only; ceasing to sing to God from her living being as God ordained we do. Score a BIG victory for the devil. Also, the devil gave the farmer a world-made tractor to replace his God created plow horse or mule. That brought much joy to the farmer, because he no longer had to toil so. Just ride the tractor and plow over 10 times more ground than he could with the horse. But the noisy tractor was not conducive to singing, so gradually the farmer came to cease much of his singing of praise to God. Score another BIG victory for the devil. To make a long story short, the devil filled his world (in which we have become imprisoned) with an unlimited number of electronic devices that broadcast audio and video, by which he has just about completely eliminated the Christian who sings praises aloud to God as he or she goes about his or her daily life. Instead, the devil entices us to silently listen to and stare at those evil electronic devices all the time. Also multitudes of people go about like zombies with earphones plugged into their ears piping the devil’s music into their beings. Score a MOUMENTAL victory for our enemy and God’s enemy, the devil. He has done a thorough job in shutting down the fountain of living water that God ordained to flow from our living being and in silencing our living voices, tho God decreed, “Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.” (Psalms 150:6)

It doesn’t surprise me at all, knowing they are blind, ignorant, spiritual dummies, for unsaved children of the devil to think it ridiculous of me to daily sing praises to God and to preach outdoors on a crowded street. But I marvel at fellow Christians being taken aback when they observe me singing praises to God as I go about my daily affairs. Recently while in the States, I was in the home of a most godly pastor and godly wife. As they were going about their affairs in their own house, I was singing aloud. The wife asked me, “Do you sing specials?” I replied, “I hope all my singing is special to God?” If you ever hear me singing, you will readily understand why no one ever asks me to sing a special song in their steeple house. In man’s thinking, I do not have a “singing voice.” But I do have a God created voice and God given breath, and I have an unlimited number of songs of praise bubbling up in my heart (something most Christians apparently lack for some unknown reason). Therefore I am well qualified (even commanded) to sing praises to God because I have breath. (Psalms (150:6) Anyway, that pastor’s wife apparently thought it somewhat odd for me just to go about singing for no apparent reason. (And she is one of the best Christians I know.)

Fellow Christians, we have succumbed to being so terribly dumbed down by the devil. He has cunningly brainwashed us and programmed us to believe that the only time it is appropriate to sing praises to God on High is when we are gathered in a steeple house and the song leader says, “Take your songbooks and open them to number 187. Sing it from the heart like you really mean it!” Then we mechanically go thru our weekly routine of pretending to sing it from the heart like we really mean it, and heave a sigh of relief when the song is finished and we can close our songbook and sit down again, having finished that loathsome task. How far from God we are.

“Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith”

God inspired Paul to write that to professing Christian believers. This command is not directed to lost people, children of the devil. This commandment is directed to church people, professing Christians. If you are void of the desire and the tendency to regularly go about singing praises to our Almighty Creator Who decreed, “Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord,” then it would greatly behoove you to examine yourself and also let God’s Holy Spirit thoroughly and freely examine you to discover the exact reason for your sinful disobedience to God. Examine yourself to see if you are in the faith or not. Do you believe it was a good thing for Paul and Silas to sing praises to God at midnight when bound fast in stocks in that dark dungeon with their torn, bloody backs aflame with pain as those backs rubbed against whatever rough surface they rested against? “Yes, Brother Richard, that certainly was a good thing for Paul and Silas to do. What an inspiring example they left to all mankind.” Then just why do you not do the same thing as you freely go about your daily routine, on top of the world so to speak, free of torture and adversity? Just why do you not aspire to leave the same inspiring example to all of mankind? You are in good health. You are not beaten and bound in stocks in a dark dungeon. Each day you enjoy God’s most abundant provisions for your necessities (and many desires) of life. So just what excuse do you have for not singing praises like Paul and Silas and letting all the prisoners of the devil around you hear that glorious, victorious music.

“But Brother Richard, I can’t sing. I don’t have a singing voice. Everyone would laugh at me.” Join the club. I know just what you mean. I can’t sing. I don’t have a singing voice. But praise God, I just haul off and sing anyway. You do the same thing. Down thru the years, tens of thousands of people have laughed at me as I sing praises to my Precious Lord out in public. God created in each of us a free will to choose what we do. If they choose go on laughing at me forever, that is their choice to live with. By God’s Grace, I have determined to sing praise to Almighty God forever, and how I rejoice over and glory in that choice. Make that your choice also, and you will never regret it for all eternity.

“Heavenly Father, please help me to do Thy Will in this and not be ashamed to sing aloud praises to my Saviour in public among the devil’s crowd. Give me the courage to let everyone know of my love for my Lord Jesus. I pray this for all other Christians also. Amen.”

“Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith.” (II Corinthians 13:5) If you consider yourself to be a Christian believer, but there are no songs of praise bubbling forth from your heart and mouth, it would behoove you to examine yourself to see what the spiritual problem is. We would do well to examine ourselves now and remedy this deplorable unspiritual condition, instead of waiting till we are judged for it on Judgment Day.

“Lord Jesus, please help me to seriously consider how vastly different I am from Paul and Silas who joyfully sang praise to Thee from that dark dungeon at midnight bound in stocks after being harshly beaten with many stripes. Show me the exact reason I seldom or never break forth singing praise to my Creator God. I pray this for all other people also. Amen.”

“His praise shall continually be in my mouth”

Seriously and earnestly compare yourself with these Bible examples of Paul and Silas and see how well you measure up to them. Let’s go on to another good Bible example also. And who would be a better example than shepherd boy and king David, a man after God’s own heart? What inspiration and challenge did David leave us? “I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.” (Psalms 34:1) That is one of the main things that made David the spiritual giant he was. You want to cop out and excuse your worthless Christian life by deceiving yourself with such lies as, “Back in Bible days, people had a special ability to be close to God that we do not have now. God particularly chose great things for Bible characters like David to make them Biblical examples for us who come after. But we do not have the chance they had to get close to God and be used greatly by God like they were.” So you calmly excuse your sinful love for the things of the world while keeping your head soaked in all the devil’s electronic devices while refusing to bless the Lord at all times and have His praise continually in your mouth. And therefore your life on this earth is worthless to your Lord and God. There is only 1 reason you are not spiritually great like David. YOU HAVE FREELY CHOSEN NOT TO BE.

Note carefully that David said God’s praise shall continually be in his mouth. That means that David voiced that praise aloud in prayer, words, and song. No doubt but many prisoners of the devil heard his voice as he did so. “My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.” (Verse 2) Because people heard it, we know that David spoke and sang aloud his soul’s boasting in the Lord. You sure boast about many different things, don’t you? Then just why do you fail to boast about the One and Only Thing worth boasting in, Almighty God on High? Tho many people scorn and ridicule our boasting of our Lord, when that boasting falls on ears connected to an humble heart, that heart is made glad. Brothers and Sisters, let’s SING IT OUT!

“O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.” (Verse 3) Thru David, your Creator gave you an eternal, inspired invitation to join David in magnifying the Lord and exalting His Name by blessing God at all times and having His praise continually in your mouth. So, just what have you done with that wonderful invitation? What has been your response? “I just don’t have a singing voice.” That excuse will be of no value or help to you come Judgment Day. “Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord.” That includes all the creatures that “just don’t have a singing voice.”

“Almighty God, please help me not to take any of Thy Scriptures lightly. Help me not to just pass on by this invitation you gave me thru King David and deceive myself by saying it has no application to me. Help me to be fully aware that you will hold me accountable on Judgment Day, regarding what I do with this wonderful invitation. I pray that I will join in with David in magnifying my Precious Lord and in exalting His High and Lofty Name. I pray that all other Christians will also respond favorably to this glorious invitation instead of sinfully ignoring it. Amen.”

Keep in mind just what kind of people will be glad when they hear your soul boasting in the Lord, the humble. I, too, do not have a singing voice. Still, people who are truly humble are glad when they hear me singing praises to Almighty God out in public. During the thousands of hours I have stood out in public singing praises to God, I have observed tens of thousands of sinfully proud people laugh at me. God used my “not a singing” voice to judge each one of them in their sinful pride. Matthew 5:12 promises me that I have great reward awaiting me in Heaven because of that. God will richly reward you in this life and in the life to come, for singing praises to Him from your heart in front of anyone and everyone you can. I urge you to take King David up on his honourable invitation God inspired him to give to you. “O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.” So, just what is your excuse for refusing that God-breathed invitation?

“Lord Jesus, help me to think seriously on how wonderful this invitation is. Please cause me to fully realize and comprehend just how eternally regretfully it would be for me to spurn that glory filled invitation and refuse to join King David and the great company of believers who have magnified and exalted Thy Name down thru the ages by continually praising Thee with their voice in words and songs. Please help me to do Thy Will concerning this. I pray this for all other people also. Amen.”

“I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.” (Psalms 34:4) I have experienced the truth of this. Constantly singing aloud praise to God is a miraculous means by which to be delivered from all fears.

“All the day”

Look at another Scripture that shows David’s heart’s yearnings that made him a man after God’s own heart. “Let me mouth be filled with thy praise and with thy honour all the day.” (Psalms 71:8) If you have no such desire, that is one main reason you are so unlike King David in spiritual greatness. Anyone can have that desire. Ask God to save you from loving the world and the things of the world and to cause you to love Him with all your heart. When you arrive at that plateau, you will find your heart filled with God’s praise all the day long.

“Heavenly Father, please help me to forsake loving everything that is not of Thee. Help me to love Thee with all my heart. Please bring me to this high spiritual plateau where I desire for my mouth to be filled with thy praise and thy honour all the day. I pray this for all other people also. Amen.”

“A perpetual backsliding”

About 1990, I was in a Sunday night church service in a rural Alabama fundamental Baptist church. As the congregation was standing and singing a hymn together, I observed the pastor’s teenage daughter. She was standing with her arms folded. She held no hymnbook and her mouth remained closed all the time most of the congregation sang the hymn of praise to God. The look on her face said to me, “I’m as bored as I can be.” Her mother (pastor’s wife) stood right beside this silent pastor’s daughter at their pew near the front of the sanctuary. The pastor was on the platform in front of them, close, with a good view of his silent daughter. And each soul in that congregation seemed to have the attitude that, “All is well and normal in the church.”

And we are naïve enough to sit around in stunned amazement as a tidal wave of sin, death, and destruction engulfs this world and still we wonder why the church is so powerless to do anything against it. The reason is because all is “normal” in the church. Christians’ mouths are not filled with praise to God all the day and that is “normal.” Much earlier in this sermon, I related how that some Christians appear to believe that the only appropriate time to sing to God is when they are gathered in church and the song leader stands before them and calls on them to sing. But in that church service, the pastor’s teenage daughter was silent (and looking bored) even as the congregation sang.

I am not certain exactly what action that called for from the pastor, but it seems like something along these lines would have been appropriate for the pastor to proclaim. “Brothers and sisters of my flock, those of you who will, please come forward at this time and join me in the altar for a time of desperate prayer, for we presently have a crisis on our hands in this church. You may not have noticed, but as we sang that last congregational song, my own daughter stood here silently in front of her pew without a hymnbook, with her arms folded and a bored look on her face. I must regretfully confess that is clear evidence that I do not have my own house in order and therefore in God’s Sight, I am not qualified to lead this flock of His as your pastor. So would you please gather in the altar with me now and pray with me for my family. If hearts aren’t changed and this deplorable situation is not made right, I feel that I must resign as your pastor and instead become a farmer.” But would such a pastor ever do that? No. He and most all the congregation are content to let things go on as “normal.” Get the boring Sunday night church service over with so we can head elsewhere to enjoy things that our hearts truly love. Some folks head from church to restaurants to worship the god of their bellies. Some go home to enjoy soaking their heads in numerous moving images of the devil’s electronic world. No one gives any thought to King David’s high and lofty exultation, “O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.” Almighty God will soon remedy this deplorable situation. I can see intense persecution right up the road ahead. Masses of Christian believers are likely to be slaughtered, and the ones left alive will be bound in an inner prison like Paul and Silas. Will they start singing praise to God then???

“Lord Jesus, please show us just far we are from Thee, content in our spiritual coldness with no praises to Thee flowing from our mouths. Please save us from this horrible sin and set our souls on fire, filled to overflowing with constant praise to Thee. Amen.”

“Made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus”

May God open the eyes of all us Christian believers to see the threefold glorious majesty of continually singing praise to God aloud with our voices. (1) It greatly glories our Almighty Creator God. It is 1 of the main purposes for Him creating our voice. (2) It rewards the singer with untold spiritual benefits and maintains a victorious life. (3) Around you are many prisoners of the devil, lost souls on their way to Hell who will hear your praise and will benefit from it. May praises to God be continually in our mouths.

“Grant it, Lord, please. Send revival into our souls. Set our souls afire with constant living praise to our Living God. Amen.”

It is disastrous and suicidal for any military leader to send his soldiers out to battle lacking in weapons and firepower. Our Captain, the Lord Jesus Christ, would never do that. He arms us with spiritual weapons that are much more powerful than any weapons of the enemy. We are assured of victory if only we will use these weapons our Lord gives us. Singing praises aloud is an Ultimate Weapon with unlimited power that the enemy cannot possibly withstand. Used properly, it is always victorious. How foolish (and suicidal) that most Christian believers choose not to use this powerful weapon. What a tragic failure on our part. Singing praise is so simple, yet so powerful. May God save you from neglecting it.

“Lord Jesus, please do save me from such tragic failure. I pray this for all other Christian soldiers also. Amen.”

“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” (II Corinthians 11:3) The important things are ever so simple. God ordained it thus to be. You have no reason or excuse for refusing to do such a simple thing as singing praise aloud to God. The basic reason for not doing it is your lack of love for God. “Brother Richard, it would be embarrassing to go about singing praise to God in the presence of anyone and everyone who is around me.” Think on the source of that embarrassment. It stems from your sinful idolatry of worshipping Self. You think so much of your own dear little self that it hurts your feelings for anyone to ridicule and scorn you. God commands us to mortify (put to death) our members, crucify our flesh, and to live and walk in the Spirit. It is impossible to hurt the feelings of a dead person, because his feelings are dead. Thus nothing can affect them.

“For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” (Colossians 3:3) We Christian believers are to live in this spiritual reality of being dead to the world and alive in Christ. If you will make Him your one and only joy, then it will not matter to you how other people react to you continually singing praise to your Lord. If we are embarrassed to sing praise to God before the world, then we are ashamed of our Precious Lord Jesus. The Apostle Paul boldly proclaimed that he was not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ (Romans 1:16) Our Lord loved us so that He hid not His Face from the shame and spitting and such. Rather our Precious Saviour set His Face like a flint and for the joy that was set before Him gladly took the brutal punishment of our sins in order to purchase our salvation. Meditate on His Great Love for you while calling on Him to save you from loving Self and to help you to love Him enough to joyfully sing praise to Him before the devil’s crowd. Naïve Christians who vainly seek the “Deeper Life” easily get deceived into believing that trivial things are the deeper life. The deeper spiritual life is daily having your mouth filled with the praises of God.

“Lord Jesus, save me from being ashamed of Thee. Help me to think seriously on Thy Great and Perfect Love for me and on the great sacrifice that you gladly made for me in giving Thy Own Life to provide a way of salvation for me. Help me to truly love Thee with all my heart and to not be ashamed to sing praises to Thee before anyone and everyone. I pray this for all other Christians also. Amen.”

“Train up a child in the way he should go”

Christian parents, one of the most beneficial things you can do for your children is to have the praise of God continually in your mouth, voicing it in word and song. If your children hear that from the time they are conceived till they are grown and leave the nest, it will permeate their beings and become a most strong fortress against the wiles of the devil. Evil spirits are ever present around us. They constantly strive to harass, annoy, and weary us. The younger a person is, the more vulnerable he is to these evil attacks, I believe. If you have audio and video in your home, it is a super highway of access for evil spirits to enter your house and harass everyone, especially little children. You would be most wise to get rid of that mess and constantly fill your house with your living voice singing praise to God on High. Evil spirits will flee from that, and God will reward you by setting up barriers and guards against the enemy’s attacks upon your family.

I believe it is a most wonderful (and spiritually powerful) thing to sing the Scriptures, and especially to train your children to do so. Choose the most salient Scriptures and sing them aloud. Make up your own “tune” as you go along. That usually necessitates singing them solo. When your family daily reads the Bible together, consider also turning to a Psalm and let each person take turns singing solo a verse at a time. It matters not what tune comes forth from each person’s being, as long as it is done seriously and not in jest. Oh, that is such a glorious thing to do. Mother, when you are in your home with your children, frequently say to a child who is old enough to read, “James, sing me a Psalm.” And let him open his Bible to the Psalm of his choosing and just start singing it with the tune that God gives to him. All the hosts of Heaven will gladly listen to that praise with great joy. Oh, what spiritual value such would be for your children. Think on this and do as God directs you to do concerning it. May God save us all from our sinful silence and our lack of praise to Almighty God Who is most worthy to be praised constantly.

“Heavenly Father, please teach me the truth of all these things written here and help me to do Thy Will concerning them. I pray this for all other people also. Amen.”

Constantly singing praise is most simple to do. God purposefully ordained that to be. Therefore we are without excuse for failing to be like Paul and Silas and King David, and we will have much remorse at the Judgment Bar of God if we neglect to have our mouths filled with songs of praise to Him while we sojourney here on this earth. What excuse could you possibly offer to the Judge of the Universe for your mouth being constantly filled with the things of the world for all your days on this earth while you neglected to sing praises to Almighty God??? All around us, the masses of the people of the world are in a constant roar with words and songs about worldly things. God forbid that we Christian believers be silent and void of audible praise to Almighty God on High.

Are your children like that pastor’s teenage daughter who stood silently in a fundamental church service with her arms folded, looking bored to death, and keeping her mouth shut during congregational singing? If so, somewhere along the way, you have failed miserably in obeying their Creator’s command to train them up in the way they should go. It is far past time for you to get on your knees crying out in earnest for God to help you to right that grievous wrong done by you.

“Heavenly Father, please help me to train up my children in the way they should go. Reveal to me the grave importance of my children hearing the praise of God continually from my mouth. Help me not to fail to do Thy Will concerning this. I pray this for all other people also. Amen.”

We are living in the very end of time when sin, death, and destruction are daily increasing in mammoth proportions. It will overwhelm and defeat you unless you live in the Victory that is in our Lord Jesus Christ. Constantly singing praise to our Lord is a major key to living this victorious life in Christ. “O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.” This is Almighty God’s personal invitation to you, my friend. King David, Paul, Silas, and a great host of other believers are gazing down from Heaven at you, keenly observing if you will follow their worthy example of singing praise to God during this life on earth. Moreover, your Lord is always watching and listening to you to catch all the praise you offer up to Him as a sweet smelling incense. May you not be a disappointment to your Lord of Glory or to any of the Heavenly hosts observing you. May you not shirk your duty to the many prisoners of the devil around you who need to hear praises being sung to their Creator Who is the only Hope and Help available to them to set them free.

“Lord Jesus, please cause me to seriously think on how sinful I am in that my mouth is constantly filled with selfish, vain, foolish, proud, worldly, sinful words and almost never filled with praise to Thee. Reveal to me the great magnitude of this sin of mine and help me to repent of it and forsake it. Please save me from using my mouth for the sin of multiplied vanities and failing to use it to praise Thee. I pray this for all other people also. Amen.”

My fellow Christian, you have no promise of another minute of life here on this earth. Death could come any second. Or Christ could come and rapture us believers out of this life at any second. If, by the grace of God, you live to be 80 or 90 years old, you well know how fast that time will pass and then you will go to your eternal abode. When this short life on earth ends, we Christian believers will immediately be ushered into the Presence of Almighty God high up in the third Heaven. There we will behold God’s Great Glory and the beings around the Throne that cease not to cry, “Holy, Holy, Holy.” We will be completely overawed at the magnitude of the Greatness of Almighty God and His Glory. And that will make us so ashamed and regretful that while in this life on earth we did no more than we did in response to King David’s inspired and wonderful invitation, “O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together.” Right now, start exercising your spiritual eyesight to look on the things that are not seen. Ask God to give you a vision of His Great Glory. And may your mouth be filled with praises to God all the day long.

“Lord God, please show me Thy Great Glory. Please help me to think on how short this life on earth is and that soon will be ended my chance to praise Thee before sinful mankind. Please help me to constantly praise Thee in this life. When I enter Thy Presence in Heaven, I do not want to be ashamed because I was silent and void of praise to Thee in this life. Please save me from such an awful sin of omission. I pray this for all other people also. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain. Amen.”

“And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.” What infinite, spiritual wealth is contained in that Holy Scripture. It has blessed me and enriched my life here on earth beyond measure. Let each of us thoroughly and deeply meditate on it and call on God to work it into our beings to the full measure that He desires it to do.

“Almighty God, please help me to fully submit myself to Thee for this marvelous Scripture of Thine to have total freedom to work in my being, and by Thy Unlimited Power please cause me to do all that Thou desirest I do in regard to this Scripture. Help me to fervently desire for my mouth to always be filled with living praise to the One True Living God, my Creator. I pray this for all other people also. Please lead many people to read this sermon and use it to greatly change their lives for the better. Amen and Amen.”

(This is the end of the sermon, A Song at Midnight.)

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