They couldn't sing... We can
There's this tension between Psalm 137, the Israelites in exile, and the New Testament, the Christians in exile: different approaches entirely. And in the Psalm, we read this in verses 3 and 4: “Our captors asked for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy. They said, sing us one of the songs of Zion. How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?” is what the Israelites wrote.
Songs in Chains
They didn't want to worship. They were captives. They thought God had abandoned them, and so they didn't sing the songs. But the early Christians always had a song in their hearts.
In Acts chapter 16 we read the famous story of Paul and Silas being dragged before the magistrates for preaching the gospel, being stripped and beaten and flogged and thrown into prison. The jailer, we read, fastened their feet in stocks. Here were these men, no doubt in a great deal of physical pain, chained up in an old prison.
Singing in Adversity
And in verse 25 we read about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. What a contrast to the Israelites, who in their captivity wept and refused to sing! Paul and Silas prayed and sang, even though their feet were in stocks.
Now, which do we resemble? When times are tough and we are in chains, as Christian exiles in a world that is against God, do we throw up our hands and say “there is no point in singing because of the evil around us?”
Or do we like Paul and Silas pray and sing hymns gladly to the God who loves us, even if we are in chains? What an incredible witness we could have if we, even in our darkest hours, sang! Not denying our pain, not pretending that everything is okay, but even in our tears and sadness and struggle, we pray and we sing songs of praise.
The verse said that the other prisoners were listening to Paul and Silas as they sang. They must have been thinking how can these guys have such joy in their hearts? But oh, they did!
Keep Singing Songs
And so my prayer for you friends is that today whatever chains you are in, and as you live as a Christian exile in this world, you will not lose your song, but that your heart will always be singing songs to God, whatever you are going through.
