I have rediscovered worship and all that happens to the human soul when it's brought before mighty God even in the worst of situations.  One night in early June, I was succumbing to sorrow and having a very tough time breaking through it.  I found these words in one of my readings.  They describe the setting and circumstances Paul and Silas found themselves when the broke into worship at midnight in a Roman jail.

A Roman prison was a place of nearly instant mental illness; it only took a few nights in this fetid, black place to lose one's mind. Set down in the belly of the earth, it was a place that reeked of urine and vomit. Prisoners received only one meal per day that consisted of moldy bread and tepid, dirty water that had already been used for other, unmentionable things. Each time a guard would bring food, he would make sure to kick the prisoner in a place that it would do the most damage and bring the most pain. Roman prisoners would sit in their own excrement day after endless day. And then there were the varmints and insects that continually crawled over the body of a prisoner.

At about midnight, when most people give up in despair and sink into depression, Paul and Silas found joy! They discovered it in the putrid smell of prison and in the dank and damp of hopelessness. They discovered joy with their feet bound in purposeless and in the sewage of their own existence.  Paul and Silas chose to worship Jesus at the very worst moment of their life. Paul and Silas found joy! Now ... what's your excuse?!  As Christians, we have a responsibility ... yes ... a divine duty even ... to meet the very worst that life offers with a joy that is defiant!  When you choose to break out into unrestrained worship at the midnight hour of your life, watch out! Heaven may begin to rock the foundations of your life in order to set you free from the circumstances that bind you.

I remember diving into worship that evening in spite of all that I was feeling.  It was such a great moment and the momentum of that night continues to push me forward with praise and thanksgiving.