Acts 16:25-26(NKJV) 25But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed.
Yesterday we looked at the definition of the word “glory.” We found that it meant “the defining characteristics of a person.” In the Lord’s case, we are talking about things like power, holiness and love. We also defined glory as God’s power and presence in manifestation. To glorify God is to live in such a way that his defining characteristics are in manifestation in our lifestyle and ministry.
Today we want to look more closely at the idea of giving glory to God. This is what Abraham did that strengthened his faith. The end result of which was that he was successful in receiving the promise. Everyone who chooses to believe God for a specific promise will find times when their faith needs strengthening. If we do what Abraham did, we will have the same results he had.
When we speak of giving glory to God, we must look at some other aspects of the definition of glory. The Old Testament word carries the idea of “heavy in weight.” By extension, the idea of wealth was included. This is the same as our perception that something that has some weight to it is of higher quality than something that is very light.
Holman’s Bible Dictionary points out that this word can also mean to give “weight or value to someone.” So we might say, to give glory to anyone is to ascribe weight and value to them. Therefore, if we are going to give glory to God we are placing weight and value in him. How does this strengthen our faith?
As we look at the problems we face in life, to what do we give greater weight or value? If we are honest in our evaluation, we will have to come to the conclusion that we usually consider the problem of greater weight than the promise. We do not think of it that way, but if we are worrying, that is exactly what we are doing.
Worry puts the focus on every possible negative outcome to the problem. Worry causes us to run possible negative scenarios in our mind until they produce fear. None of these things has happened. They are just possibilities. When we allow the negative possibilities to remain in our mind, we are giving weight or value to them. They become more real the longer we dwell on them. Finally, we see them as true.
The way to counter that is to declare the glory, or weight and value of God. It is a powerful thing when we choose to stand in the face of a difficult situation and declare the greatness of God. I am not talking so much about meditating on or confessing the promise. I am talking about declaring the greatness of God, independent of the promise or the problem. There is something powerful about ignoring the whole situation and taking time to remind ourselves that he is the most powerful, the most important being in the universe.
Sometimes I like to declare that, “The Lord is great and mighty. There is none like him. He is the almighty God. He is the holy one. There is nothing he cannot do!” When I do that, I am giving him glory. I am making him more important in my eyes than the problem.
Today’s scripture is one of the more familiar stories in the Bible. Paul and Silas had been taken prisoner in Philippi for preaching the gospel. They had stirred up the some local people by casting the devil out of a slave girl who told fortunes. Her masters made money off her demonically inspired ability and they were not happy. They demanded Paul and Silas be arrested.
After they had been whipped, they were put in the worst part of the prison. In those days, there was no assurance you would get a speedy trial, so there was no guarantee how long they would be there. (Roman citizens did have such assurance, but they did not know Paul was a Roman citizen.)
I cannot think of a situation that would be much worse than that of Paul and Silas. They were beaten and imprisoned. This had happened to them because they were doing what God had asked them to do. They really had no defense except that the Lord told them to case out devils. This would not have had much influence in the Philippian court. What are they going to do? How are they going to strengthen their faith?
The Bible says that they were singing hymns at midnight. What is a hymn? It is a song that gives glory to God. They chose to give more weight and value to God than to the problem. They had no hope except in the Lord just as Abraham had no hope. Right in the middle of the prison, they began to sing about the greatness and power of God.
I do not know what the other prisoners thought, but I am sure Paul and Silas did not care. It does not seem that anyone tried to stop them, so it seems to me that their singing must have had a positive effect on the other prisoners as well. The more they ascribed value to God instead of to the situation, the stronger their faith became and the less they worried about the future.
Soon, the jail began to shake and every chain on every prisoner fell off. The doors to the jail opened and they were free. Praise God! Giving glory to God will always result in freedom. I find what happened next to be the most interesting part of all.
The prisoners did not try to run away. Their chains were off and the doors were open, but when the jailer came to see what had happened they were still in the prison. Maybe they just had not had the time to escape, but why not push past the jailer. There was no indication he was not alone. I believe that giving glory to God did more than just free them from physical chains.
I believe that giving glory to God made the temporary condition of being in jail less important than the greatness of God himself. They hardly noticed when they were free from the prison because they were freed inwardly first. The prison was no longer so important.
Second, giving glory to God made the will of God more important than Paul and Silas’ physical freedom. They stayed because they knew the jailer would forfeit his life for losing them. They stayed in the physical situation until they were able to preach the Gospel to him. The result was that the jailer and his whole house were saved.
Not only that, Paul was able to exert his Roman citizenship, which forced the magistrates to come and personally apologize to him. What do you suppose Paul would have done when the magistrate came? I think he probably preached the gospel to him.
When you choose to give glory to God in the midst of trials, your faith will gain strength, however, much more will happen as well. The problems you face will become less and less important. You will gain freedom from them, but you will gain freedom in your heart first. That is more important. You will also facilitate the will of God gaining ascendency in your life. When you glorify God, you want to serve him. Glorifying God will release the Power of God in every dimension of your life. Why not begin right now?
Practical Wisdom from the Word of God 