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Sing to the Lord in the Honor of Joy!

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Sing to the Lord in the Honor of Joy!

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In the book of Acts, there is an incredible story about two of God's servants, Paul and Silas.On one particular Sabbath day, in the city of Philippi, Paul cast out a spirit of divination from a girl who was following them.

When the spirit was cast out of her, the master of the possessed slave girl had them beaten and laid in prison (Acts 16:16-24). "But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake," and their chains were released (Acts 16:25-26). If this miracle wasn't enough, God then used this opportunity to call the prison guards to repentance and baptism. They all "rejoiced, having believed in God" and became a part of the body of Christ (Acts 16:34).

These servants of God truly found joy in tribulation by singing and acknowledging that only God could save them from oppression. Even if God chose not to save them, they sang a song of faith, submission and trust in the will of God. I can't help but imagine Paul and Silas harmonizing to a beautiful hymn with words similar to Psalm 59:16-17: "But I will sing of Your power; yes, I will sing aloud of Your mercy in the morning; for you have been my defense and refuge in the day of my trouble. To you, O my Strength, I will sing praises for God is my defense, my God of mercy." Each line must have carried victorious tones of confidence in God's great glory and power over all. What a humbling and purifying way to serve the living God in harmony!

"So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while. These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold. So if your faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him, you trust him; and even now you are happy with a glorious, inexpressible joy. Your reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls" (1 Peter 1:6-9, NLT).

Let’s sing His name with great honor and thanks as the special children of God.