201 Jehovah doth answer thee, In a day of adversity, The name of the God of Jacob doth set thee on high, 2 He doth send thy help from the sanctuary, And from Zion doth support thee, 3 He doth remember all thy presents, And thy burnt-offering doth reduce to ashes. Selah. 4 He doth give to thee according to thy heart, And all thy counsel doth fulfil. 5 We sing of thy salvation, And in the name of our God set up a banner. Jehovah doth fulfil all thy requests.
6 Now I have known That Jehovah hath saved His anointed, He answereth him from His holy heavens, With the saving might of His right hand. 7 Some of chariots, and some of horses, And we of the name of Jehovah our God Make mention. 8 They—they have bowed and have fallen, And we have risen and station ourselves upright. 9 O Jehovah, save the king, He doth answer us in the day we call!
211 Jehovah, in Thy strength is the king joyful, In Thy salvation how greatly he rejoiceth. 2 The desire of his heart Thou gavest to him, And the request of his lips Thou hast not withheld. Selah. 3 For Thou puttest before him blessings of goodness, Thou settest on his head a crown of fine gold. 4 Life he hath asked from Thee, Thou hast given to him—length of days, Age-during—and for ever. 5 Great 'is' his honour in Thy salvation, Honour and majesty Thou placest on him. 6 For Thou makest him blessings for ever, Thou dost cause him to rejoice with joy, By Thy countenance.
7 For the king is trusting in Jehovah, And in the kindness of the Most High He is not moved. 8 Thy hand cometh to all Thine enemies, Thy right hand doth find Thy haters. 9 Thou makest them as a furnace of fire, At the time of Thy presence. Jehovah in His anger doth swallow them, And fire doth devour them. 10 Their fruit from earth Thou destroyest, And their seed from the sons of men. 11 For they stretched out against Thee evil, They devised a wicked device, they prevail not, 12 For Thou makest them a butt, When Thy strings Thou preparest against their faces. 13 Be Thou exalted, O Jehovah in, Thy strength, We sing and we praise Thy might!
221 My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me? Far from my salvation, The words of my roaring? 2 My God, I call by day, and Thou answerest not, And by night, and there is no silence to me. 3 And Thou 'art' holy, Sitting—the Praise of Israel. 4 In Thee did our fathers trust—they trusted, And Thou dost deliver them. 5 Unto Thee they cried, and were delivered, In Thee they trusted, and were not ashamed. 6 And I 'am' a worm, and no man, A reproach of man, and despised of the people. 7 All beholding me do mock at me, They make free with the lip—shake the head, 8 'Roll unto Jehovah, He doth deliver him, He doth deliver him, for he delighted in him.' 9 For thou 'art' He bringing me forth from the womb, Causing me to trust, On the breasts of my mother. 10 On Thee I have been cast from the womb, From the belly of my mother Thou 'art' my God.
11 Be not far from me, For adversity is near, for there is no helper. 12 Many bulls have surrounded me, Mighty ones of Bashan have compassed me, 13 They have opened against me their mouth, A lion tearing and roaring. 14 As waters I have been poured out, And separated themselves have all my bones, My heart hath been like wax, It is melted in the midst of my bowels. 15 Dried up as an earthen vessel is my power, And my tongue is cleaving to my jaws. 16 And to the dust of death thou appointest me, For surrounded me have dogs, A company of evil doers have compassed me, Piercing my hands and my feet. 17 I count all my bones—they look expectingly, They look upon me, 18 They apportion my garments to themselves, And for my clothing they cause a lot to fall. 19 And Thou, O Jehovah, be not far off, O my strength, to help me haste. 20 Deliver from the sword my soul, From the paw of a dog mine only one. 21 Save me from the mouth of a lion:—And—from the horns of the high places Thou hast answered me!
22 I declare Thy name to my brethren, In the midst of the assembly I praise Thee. 23 Ye who fear Jehovah, praise ye Him, All the seed of Jacob, honour ye Him, And be afraid of Him, all ye seed of Israel. 24 For He hath not despised, nor abominated, The affliction of the afflicted, Nor hath He hidden His face from him, And in his crying unto Him He heareth. 25 Of Thee my praise 'is' in the great assembly. My vows I complete before His fearers. 26 The humble do eat and are satisfied, Praise Jehovah do those seeking Him, Your heart doth live for ever. 27 Remember and return unto Jehovah, Do all ends of the earth, And before Thee bow themselves, Do all families of the nations, 28 For to Jehovah 'is' the kingdom, And He is ruling among nations. 29 And the fat ones of earth have eaten, And they bow themselves, Before Him bow do all going down to dust, And he 'who' hath not revived his soul. 30 A seed doth serve Him, It is declared of the Lord to the generation. 31 They come and declare His righteousness, To a people that is borne, that He hath made!
211 And it came to pass, at our sailing, having been parted from them, having run direct, we came to Coos, and the succeeding 'day' to Rhodes, and thence to Patara, 2 and having found a ship passing over to Phenicia, having gone on board, we sailed, 3 and having discovered Cyprus, and having left it on the left, we were sailing to Syria, and did land at Tyre, for there was the ship discharging the lading. 4 And having found out the disciples, we tarried there seven days, and they said to Paul, through the Spirit, not to go up to Jerusalem; 5 but when it came that we completed the days, having gone forth, we went on, all bringing us on the way, with women and children, unto the outside of the city, and having bowed the knees upon the shore, we prayed, 6 and having embraced one another, we embarked in the ship, and they returned to their own friends. 7 And we, having finished the course, from Tyre came down to Ptolemais, and having saluted the brethren, we remained one day with them;
8 and on the morrow Paul and his company having gone forth, we came to Cesarea, and having entered into the house of Philip the evangelist—who is of the seven—we remained with him, 9 and this one had four daughters, virgins, prophesying. 10 And we remaining many more days, there came down a certain one from Judea, a prophet, by name Agabus, 11 and he having come unto us, and having taken up the girdle of Paul, having bound also his own hands and feet, said, 'Thus saith the Holy Spirit, The man whose is this girdle—so shall the Jews in Jerusalem bind, and they shall deliver 'him' up to the hands of nations.' 12 And when we heard these things, we called upon 'him'—both we, and those of that place—not to go up to Jerusalem, 13 and Paul answered, 'What do ye—weeping, and crushing mine heart? for I, not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem, am ready, for the name of the Lord Jesus;' 14 and he not being persuaded, we were silent, saying, 'The will of the Lord be done.'
15 And after these days, having taken 'our' vessels, we were going up to Jerusalem, 16 and there went also of the disciples from Cesarea with us, bringing with them him with whom we may lodge, a certain Mnason of Cyprus, an aged disciple.
17 And we having come to Jerusalem, the brethren did gladly receive 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.
