David
told in Psalm 32:7, "You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from
trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah" Here
David is proclaiming the power of worshipping God with song. It has the power
to set us free and break our chains of bondage. Lifting up God's name will
bring us our freedom, but in doing so will show the world what He has done for
us. It not only is it a tool to free us, but is also a tool for evangelism.
This is
best illustrated in Acts 16 when Paul and Silas are imprisoned at Philippi.
Here in their imprisonment, they are singing hymns of praise in their most
desperate hour. All of a sudden, the earth shook and all of the chains were
broken and all of the cell doors were opened. And Paul and Silas were shown
their freedom. In the midst of prisoner being freed, the guard awoke from his
sleep to see that all of the prisoners were escaping. Thinking that he had
failed, he raised his sword to take his own life. Paul calls to him with a loud
voice, "Do yourself no harm, for we are all here."
The
prison guard ran for them and fell down before Paul and Silas. He asked them,
"What must do to be saved?" They told him, "Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household." Right there
and then, the guard was saved and his whole family had been saved. He and his
family were immediately baptized.
This
event shows us the great power in singing song of praise. We can't think that
Paul and Silas were just sitting in their cells, so desperate because of the
obstacles they faced, singing songs out of hopelessness. They sang out of hope
and they sang out of their faith. They knew that God could release them at any
moment, but they chose to sit their cells and sing praise to God. And God used
their singing to bring the Gospel to this guard. God used their circumstances
to bring people to Him.
Here we
learn that worship is a key to breakthrough evangelism. The power of worship
unleashed God's power to free them and give them the opportunity to lead the
guard to Christ. Singing songs to God allow us to be used by God in ways we
could never comprehend. Worship is the key to break us free from the bondage of
our sins, and it frees us to bring the Gospel to the rest of the world.
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