Ridgell's Originals

What songs do you sing in prison?  Or during a pandemic?

It had to be a horrible time for Paul and Silas.  Their ministry disrupted.  Reputation in tatters.  Beaten.  Thrown in jail in maximum security.

Depressed, afraid, uncertain of the future.  At the very least.

And at midnight, they are singing and praying.

I don't think they were singing songs of lament from the Psalms.

I think they were singing praise songs.  Maybe from the Psalms.  Maybe contemporary hymns of the day.  Maybe songs they were making up as they went along.

Because believers sing.  And I think if Paul and Silas were in the middle of this pandemic I think they would still sing songs of praise.  Social isolation, economic distress, quarantines, afraid, depressed, uncertain of the future.

What would they sing today?  Maybe the same songs I find myself singing -- a lot -- these days.  In the shower, in the backyard, at my computer, in my truck, watching on-line worship.

So here are four songs I keep coming back to over and over.

It Is Well
 Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, It Is Well, It Is Well with My Soul

Eye of the Storm 
Your love surrounds in the eye of the storm

In Christ Alone
Till he returns or calls me home, here in the power of Christ I stand

Raise a Hallelujah
I'm gonna sing, in the middle of the storm, Louder and louder, you're gonna hear my praises roar.
I raise a hallelujah.

Check these out.  Add your favorites for this time.

Sing them often.

And who knows, God may put someone in your life who wants to know about the Jesus that keeps us singing no matter what.