A Profession of Trust

311 To the chief Musician. A Psalm of David. In thee, Jehovah, do I trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness. 2 Incline thine ear to me, deliver me speedily; be a strong rock to me, a house of defence to save me. 3 For thou art my rock and my fortress; and, for thy name's sake, thou wilt lead me and guide me. 4 Draw me out of the net that they have hidden for me; for thou art my strength. 5 Into thy hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, Jehovah, [thou] God of truth. 6 I have hated them that observe lying vanities; and as for me, I have confided in Jehovah. 7 I will be glad and rejoice in thy loving-kindness, for thou hast seen mine affliction; thou hast known the troubles of my soul, 8 And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy: thou hast set my feet in a large place.

9 Be gracious unto me, Jehovah, for I am in trouble: mine eye wasteth away with vexation, my soul and my belly. 10 For my life is spent with sorrow, and my years with sighing; my strength faileth through mine iniquity, and my bones are wasted. 11 More than to all mine oppressors, I am become exceedingly a reproach, even to my neighbours, and a fear to mine acquaintance: they that see me without flee from me. 12 I am forgotten in [their] heart as a dead man; I am become like a broken vessel. 13 For I have heard the slander of many—terror on every side—when they take counsel together against me: they plot to take away my life. 14 But I confided in thee, Jehovah; I said, thou art my God. 15 My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from my persecutors. 16 Make thy face to shine upon thy servant; save me in thy loving-kindness. 17 Jehovah, let me not be ashamed; for I have called upon thee: let the wicked be ashamed, let them be silent in Sheol. 18 Let the lying lips become dumb, which speak insolently against the righteous in pride and contempt.

19 [Oh] how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee, [which] thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee, before the sons of men! 20 Thou keepest them concealed in the secret of thy presence from the conspiracies of man; thou hidest them in a pavilion from the strife of tongues. 21 Blessed be Jehovah; for he hath shewn me wondrously his loving-kindness in a strong city. 22 As for me, I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes; nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee. 23 Love Jehovah, all ye his saints. Jehovah preserveth the faithful, and plentifully requiteth the proud doer. 24 Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all ye that hope in Jehovah.

The Blessedness of Forgiveness

321 Blessed is he [whose] transgression is forgiven, [whose] sin is covered! 2 Blessed is the man unto whom Jehovah reckoneth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile! 3 When I kept silence, my bones waxed old, through my groaning all the day long. 4 For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me; my moisture was turned into the drought of summer. Selah. 5 I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity I covered not; I said, I will confess my transgressions unto Jehovah, and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah. 6 For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee at a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they will not reach him.

7 Thou art a hiding-place for me; thou preservest me from trouble; thou dost encompass me with songs of deliverance. Selah. 8 I will instruct thee and teach thee the way in which thou shalt go; I will counsel [thee] with mine eye upon thee. 9 Be ye not as a horse, as a mule, which have no understanding: whose trappings must be bit and bridle, for restraint, or they will not come unto thee. 10 Many sorrows hath the wicked; but he that confideth in Jehovah, loving-kindness shall encompass him. 11 Rejoice in Jehovah, and be glad, ye righteous; and shout for joy, all ye upright in heart.

16 But Paul's sister's son, having heard of the lying in wait, came and entered into the fortress and reported [it] to Paul. 17 And Paul, having called one of the centurions, said, Take this youth to the chiliarch, for he has something to report to him. 18 He therefore, having taken him with [him], led him to the chiliarch, and says, The prisoner Paul called me to [him] and asked me to lead this youth to thee, who has something to say to thee. 19 And the chiliarch having taken him by the hand, and having gone apart in private, inquired, What is it that thou hast to report to me? 20 And he said, The Jews have agreed together to make a request to thee, that thou mayest bring Paul down to-morrow into the council, as about to inquire something more precise concerning him. 21 Do not thou then be persuaded by them, for there lie in wait for him of them more than forty men, who have put themselves under a curse neither to eat nor drink till they kill him; and now they are ready waiting the promise from thee. 22 The chiliarch then dismissed the youth, commanding [him], Utter to no one that thou hast represented these things to me.

Paul Sent to Felix the Governor

23 And having called to [him] certain two of the centurions, he said, Prepare two hundred soldiers that they may go as far as Caesarea, and seventy horsemen, and two hundred light-armed footmen, for the third hour of the night. 24 And [he ordered them] to provide beasts, that they might set Paul on them and carry [him] safe through to Felix the governor, 25 having written a letter, couched in this form: 26 Claudius Lysias to the most excellent governor Felix, greeting. 27 This man, having been taken by the Jews, and being about to be killed by them, I came up with the military and took out [of their hands], having learned that he was a Roman. 28 And desiring to know the charge on which they accused him, I brought him down to their council; 29 whom I found to be accused of questions of their law, but to have no charge laid against him [making him] worthy of death or of bonds. 30 But having received information of a plot about to be put in execution against the man [by the Jews], I have immediately sent him to thee, commanding also his accusers to say before thee the things that are against him. [Farewell.] 31 The soldiers therefore, according to what was ordered them, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris, 32 and on the morrow, having left the horsemen to go with him, returned to the fortress. 33 And these, having entered into Caesarea, and given up the letter to the governor, presented Paul also to him. 34 And having read [it], and asked of what eparchy he was, and learned that [he was] of Cilicia, 35 he said, I will hear thee fully when thine accusers also are arrived. And he commanded him to be kept in Herod's praetorium.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Acts 23:16-35

Commentary on Acts 23:12-24

(Read Acts 23:12-24)

False religious principles, adopted by carnal men, urge on to such wickedness, as human nature would hardly be supposed capable of. Yet the Lord readily disappoints the best concerted schemes of iniquity. Paul knew that the Divine providence acts by reasonable and prudent means; and that, if he neglected to use the means in his power, he could not expect God's providence to work on his behalf. He who will not help himself according to his means and power, has neither reason nor revelation to assure him that he shall receive help from God. Believing in the Lord, we and ours shall be kept from every evil work, and kept to his kingdom. Heavenly Father, give us by thy Holy Spirit, for Christ's sake, this precious faith.

Commentary on Acts 23:25-35

(Read Acts 23:25-35)

God has instruments for every work. The natural abilities and moral virtues of the heathens often have been employed to protect his persecuted servants. Even the men of the world can discern between the conscientious conduct of upright believers, and the zeal of false professors, though they disregard or understand not their doctrinal principles. All hearts are in God's hand, and those are blessed who put their trust in him, and commit their ways unto him.