201 To the chief Musician. A Psalm of David. Jehovah answer thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob protect thee; 2 May he send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion; 3 Remember all thine oblations, and accept thy burnt-offering; Selah. 4 Grant thee according to thy heart, and fulfil all thy counsels. 5 We will triumph in thy salvation, and in the name of our God will we set up our banners. Jehovah fulfil all thy petitions!
6 Now know I that Jehovah saveth his anointed; he answereth him from the heavens of his holiness, with the saving strength of his right hand. 7 Some make mention of chariots, and some of horses, but we of the name of Jehovah our God. 8 They are bowed down and fallen; but we are risen and stand upright. 9 Save, Jehovah! Let the king answer us in the day we call.
211 To the chief Musician. A Psalm of David. The king shall joy in thy strength, Jehovah; and in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice. 2 Thou hast given him his heart's desire, and hast not withholden the request of his lips. Selah. 3 For thou hast met him with the blessings of goodness; thou hast set a crown of pure gold on his head. 4 He asked life of thee; thou gavest [it] him, length of days for ever and ever. 5 His glory is great through thy salvation; majesty and splendour hast thou laid upon him. 6 For thou hast made him to be blessings for ever; thou hast filled him with joy by thy countenance.
7 For the king confideth in Jehovah: and through the loving-kindness of the Most High he shall not be moved. 8 Thy hand shall find out all thine enemies; thy right hand shall find out those that hate thee. 9 Thou shalt make them as a fiery furnace in the time of thy presence; Jehovah shall swallow them up in his anger, and the fire shall devour them: 10 Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth, and their seed from among the children of men. 11 For they intended evil against thee; they imagined a mischievous device, which they could not execute. 12 For thou wilt make them turn their back; thou wilt make ready thy bowstring against their face. 13 Be thou exalted, Jehovah, in thine own strength: we will sing and celebrate thy power.
221 To the chief Musician. Upon Aijeleth-Shahar. A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? [why art thou] far from my salvation, from the words of my groaning? 2 My God, I cry by day, and thou answerest not; and by night, and there is no rest for me: 3 And thou art holy, thou that dwellest amid the praises of Israel. 4 Our fathers confided in thee: they confided, and thou didst deliver them. 5 They cried unto thee, and were delivered; they confided in thee, and were not confounded. 6 But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and the despised of the people. 7 All they that see me laugh me to scorn; they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, [saying:] 8 Commit it to Jehovah—let him rescue him; let him deliver him, because he delighteth in him! 9 But thou art he that took me out of the womb; thou didst make me trust, upon my mother's breasts. 10 I was cast upon thee from the womb; thou art my God from my mother's belly.
11 Be not far from me, for trouble is near; for there is none to help. 12 Many bulls have encompassed me; Bashan's strong ones have beset me round. 13 They gape upon me with their mouth, [as] a ravening and a roaring lion. 14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is become like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. 15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaveth to my palate; and thou hast laid me in the dust of death. 16 For dogs have encompassed me; an assembly of evil-doers have surrounded me: they pierced my hands and my feet. 17 I may count all my bones. They look, they stare upon me; 18 They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture. 19 But thou, Jehovah, be not far [from me]; O my strength, haste thee to help me. 20 Deliver my soul from the sword; my only one from the power of the dog; 21 Save me from the lion's mouth. Yea, from the horns of the buffaloes hast thou answered me.
22 I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee. 23 Ye that fear Jehovah, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and revere him, all ye the seed of Israel. 24 For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him: but when he cried unto him, he heard. 25 My praise is from thee, in the great congregation; I will pay my vows before them that fear him. 26 The meek shall eat and be satisfied; they shall praise Jehovah that seek him: your heart shall live for ever. 27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn unto Jehovah, and all the families of the nations shall worship before thee: 28 For the kingdom is Jehovah's, and he ruleth among the nations. 29 All the fat ones of the earth shall eat and worship; all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him, and he that cannot keep alive his own soul. 30 A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. 31 They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done [it].
211 And when, having got away from them, we at last sailed away, we came by a direct course to Cos, and on the morrow to Rhodes, and thence to Patara. 2 And having found a ship passing over into Phoenicia, we went on board and sailed; 3 and having sighted Cyprus, and left it on the left hand, we sailed to Syria, and made the land at Tyre, for there the ship was to discharge her cargo. 4 And having found out the disciples, we remained there seven days; who said to Paul by the Spirit not to go up to Jerusalem. 5 But when we had completed the days, we set out and took our journey, all of them accompanying us, with wives and children, till [we were] out of the city. And kneeling down upon the shore we prayed. 6 And having embraced one another, we went on board ship, and they returned home. 7 And we, having completed the voyage, arrived from Tyre at Ptolemais, and having saluted the brethren, we remained one day with them.
8 And leaving on the morrow, we came to Caesarea; and entering into the house of Philip the evangelist, who was of the seven, we abode with him. 9 Now this man had four virgin daughters who prophesied. 10 And as we stayed there many days, a certain man, by name Agabus, a prophet, came down from Judaea, 11 and coming to us and taking the girdle of Paul, and having bound his own hands and feet, said, Thus saith the Holy Spirit, The man whose this girdle is shall the Jews thus bind in Jerusalem, and deliver him up into the hands of [the] Gentiles. 12 And when we heard these things, both we and those of the place besought [him] not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 But Paul answered, What do ye, weeping and breaking my heart? for I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. 14 And when he would not be persuaded, we were silent, saying, The will of the Lord be done.
15 And after these days, having got our effects ready, we went up to Jerusalem. 16 And [some] of the disciples from Caesarea went with us, bringing [with them] a certain Mnason, a Cyprian, an old disciple, with whom we were to lodge.
17 And when we arrived at Jerusalem the brethren gladly received us.
(Read Acts 21:1-7)
Providence must be acknowledged when our affairs go on well. Wherever Paul came, he inquired what disciples were there, and found them out. Foreseeing his troubles, from love to him, and concern for the church, they wrongly thought it would be most for the glory of God that he should continue at liberty; but their earnestness to dissuade him from it, renders his pious resolution the more illustrious. He has taught us by example, as well as by rule, to pray always, to pray without ceasing. Their last farewell was sweetened with prayer.
(Read Acts 21:8-18)
Paul had express warning of his troubles, that when they came, they might be no surprise or terror to him. The general notice given us, that through much tribulation we must enter into the kingdom of God, should be of the same use to us. Their weeping began to weaken and slacken his resolution Has not our Master told us to take up our cross? It was a trouble to him, that they should so earnestly press him to do that in which he could not gratify them without wronging his conscience. When we see trouble coming, it becomes us to say, not only, The will of the Lord must be done, and there is no remedy; but, Let the will of the Lord be done; for his will is his wisdom, and he doeth all according to the counsel of it. When a trouble is come, this must allay our griefs, that the will of the Lord is done; when we see it coming, this must silence our fears, that the will of the Lord shall be done; and we ought to say, Amen, let it be done. It is honourable to be an old disciple of Jesus Christ, to have been enabled by the grace of God to continue long in a course of duty, stedfast in the faith, growing more and more experienced, to a good old age. And with these old disciples one would choose to lodge; for the multitude of their years shall teach wisdom. Many brethren at Jerusalem received Paul gladly. We think, perhaps, that if we had him among us, we should gladly receive him; but we should not, if, having his doctrine, we do not gladly receive that.
