Psalm 140; Acts 16:16-40

Psalm 140
This psalm is a prayer for protection from evil and violent people as well as from those who plot against us in their hearts and slander us with their tongues.  We have recently seen evidence of violence against Christians in the Middle East and other places. Satan is surely behind these attacks. Perhaps not so obvious are the threats we face here. Our enemies can do great harm to us by their gossip or criticism or other trouble-making ways. v. 1-3. Sometimes Satan sets traps for us, hoping to lure and capture us. v. 5

David calls on God for mercy, protection, and rescue. v. 6-8. He asks God to bring down judgment on his enemies. Remember that the Old Testament saints did not have Jesus' teaching to pray for our enemies. But they did know about God's holiness, power, and justice. We have the same God today, and He will hear the prayers of the weak and helpless. David ended this psalm with confidence that the Lord would help those who are persecuted and give justice to the poor. The poor often have no resources to protect themselves. However, they always have Someone on their side if they will call on Him! This should be a comfort to all of us.

Acts 16:16-40
Yesterday we met Lydia, the seller of expensive fabric, who was saved at Philippi after hearing the Good News from Paul and company. Today we meet a slave girl, a fortune teller (through the power of a demon) who made a lot of money for her masters. Paul, through the power of the name of Jesus Christ, cast the demon out of her. The scripture here does not specifically tell us that once she was delivered from this evil power, she came to trust Jesus, but it's highly possible that she did.

This scripture seems to be focusing on her masters, who instead of rejoicing that she was delivered from demon possession, were furious about financial losses. Because of their own greed, they could not hear the truth of the Gospel, and they did not care about the welfare of the girl. In fact, they were so incensed that they dragged Paul and Silas before the authorities and accused them of causing an uproar and teaching illegal practices. v. 16-21

As a result they were beaten and thrown into prison. According to his orders "the jailer put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in the stocks." v. 24. I love the next verse, "Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening." This is pretty amazing when you remember that Paul and Silas were real people like you and me. Are we able to pray and sing when we're in a tight spot? I won't lie to you--it's very hard, and I often fail even though I've never been beaten or chained in a prison dungeon!

This time of praying and singing was the exact time that God chose to work a miracle. v 26. He sent an earthquake, the prison doors were opened, and the prisoners' chains fell off. The jailer was so alarmed that he would have killed himself had Paul not intervened. "The jailer called for lights and ran to the dungeon and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" They replied with that beautiful message which is just as true today, "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, along with everyone in your household." It's understood that the members of the household would also believe. (see v. 34) They ministered to Paul and Silas; they were baptized; and they offered hospitality.

When the authorities realized that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens they were allowed, even encouraged, to leave the city peacefully. They returned to Lydia's home where they met with the believers and encouraged them.