June 25

Psalm 143:1-12
This is a psalm of depression. My study Bible heads this as "A psalm of David". When I read it, I can absolutely tell that David knew a dark side.
Right now, several of my friends are wandering about in that dark. It is very hard for fixer Sylvia just to be with them and not try to make it all better. But reading this psalm and remembering my own paths reminds me that I really can offer nothing but an ear to listen (and an occasional prompt to get up out of bed and into the shower).
I once heard a radio announcer say that depression is a modern happenstance. I disagree. Read this psalm and know that another walked that rocky, dark road.

Acts 16:16-40
Flogging is an act of torture. Usually it is done with a whip that has the ends separated. Sometimes nails or other bits of metal are embedded into the ends. This makes the whipping deeper and more severe.
People die from flogging. And they die from the infections that being severely whipped and then thrust into a filthy jail cell with no bathroom facilities. This was no casual punishment.
Paul makes the statement that the officials did not know he and Silas were Roman citizens. Here are some privileges that a Roman citizen was afforded:

"It can get complicated and differs a bit between location and time. I glanced through Sherwin-White’s The Roman Citizenship and found some goodies. I probably am missing some things, but here goes:

1) Voting
2) Candidate for office
3) Freedom to chose between local and Roman jurisdiction
4) Immunity from some local laws
5) Marriage rights, and rights of citizenship to children
6) Migration within Empire
7) Migration outside Res Publica and granting rights equivalent of foreign citizenship (probably only useful early in Roman history, I suppose, such as immigrating to Greek city-states when they were still independent)
8 ) Not to be tortured
9) Appeal
10) Roman law, that gave some special rights (litigation, some taxes etc.)

There are others, too, that were not specifically enshrined in law. Sherwin-White talks about “the passive value of the Roman citizenship” such as:
1) Protection in the provinces and abroad (some “soft power” of sorts – basically don’t mess with a Roman citizen)
2) Treatment during and after military service (discipline, pay, booty, veteran’s colonies)
3) Business possibilities (Provincial tax-farming contracts only went to Roman citizens, for instance)
David J. Cord
www.davidcord.com"

#8 is a pretty big privilege. So that leads me to the question, why didn't Paul SAY he was a Roman citizen? I certainly would have. He does at other times. Why not here?
I think it is the God glory that must have kept his mouth shut. And what a glory it was.
We don't know the real end of this story. We don't know if the jailer continued to learn about God and Jesus. He isn't named like Lydia and others. And we don't always know the end of the story when we allow God the glory rather than try to be Fixer Sylvia. Maybe just being there IS enough. Something to think about.

And the proverb? "it is not good to punish an innocent man or to flog officials for their integrity." What a great one for the scriptures today.