30 Then the sailors made attempts secretly to get away from the ship, letting down a boat as if they were about to put down hooks from the front of the ship; 31 But Paul said to the captain and his men, If you do not keep these men in the ship, you will not be safe. 32 Then the armed men, cutting the cords of the boat, let her go. 33 And when dawn was near, Paul gave them all orders to take food, saying, This is the fourteenth day you have been waiting and taking no food. 34 So I make request to you to take food; for this is for your salvation: not a hair from the head of any of you will come to destruction. 35 And when he had said this and had taken bread, he gave praise to God before them all, and took a meal of the broken bread. 36 Then they all took heart and did the same. 37 And we were, in the ship, two hundred and seventy-six persons. 38 And when they had had enough food, they made the weight of the ship less, turning the grain out into the sea.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Acts 27:30-38
Commentary on Acts 27:30-38
(Read Acts 27:30-38)
God, who appointed the end, that they should be saved, appointed the means, that they should be saved by the help of these shipmen. Duty is ours, events are God's; we do not trust God, but tempt him, when we say we put ourselves under his protection, if we do not use proper means, such as are within our power, for our safety. But how selfish are men in general, often even ready to seek their own safety by the destruction of others! Happy those who have such a one as Paul in their company, who not only had intercourse with Heaven, but was of an enlivening spirit to those about him. The sorrow of the world works death, while joy in God is life and peace in the greatest distresses and dangers. The comfort of God's promises can only be ours by believing dependence on him, to fulfil his word to us; and the salvation he reveals must be waited for in use of the means he appoints. If God has chosen us to salvation, he has also appointed that we shall obtain it by repentance, faith, prayer, and persevering obedience; it is fatal presumption to expect it in any other way. It is an encouragement to people to commit themselves to Christ as their Saviour, when those who invite them, clearly show that they do so themselves.