281 "Surely there is a mine for silver And a place where they refine gold . 2 "Iron is taken from the dust , And copper is smelted from rock . 3 "Man puts an end to darkness , And to the farthest limit he searches out The rock in gloom and deep shadow . 4 "He sinks a shaft far from habitation , Forgotten by the foot ; They hang and swing to and fro far from men . 5 "The earth , from it comes food , And underneath it is turned up as fire . 6 "Its rocks are the source of sapphires , And its dust contains gold . 7 "The path no bird of prey knows , Nor has the falcon's eye caught sight of it. 8 "The proud beasts have not trodden it, Nor has the fierce lion passed over it. 9 "He puts his hand on the flint ; He overturns the mountains at the base . 10 "He hews out channels through the rocks , And his eye sees anything precious . 11 "He dams up the streams from flowing , And what is hidden he brings out to the light . 12 "But where can wisdom be found ? And where is the place of understanding ? 13 " Man does not know its value , Nor is it found in the land of the living .
14 "The deep says , 'It is not in me'; And the sea says , 'It is not with me.' 15 " Pure gold cannot be given in exchange for it, Nor can silver be weighed as its price . 16 "It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir , In precious onyx , or sapphire . 17 " Gold or glass cannot equal it, Nor can it be exchanged for articles of fine gold . 18 "Coral and crystal are not to be mentioned ; And the acquisition of wisdom is above that of pearls . 19 "The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it, Nor can it be valued in pure gold .
20 " Where then does wisdom come from? And where is the place of understanding ? 21 "Thus it is hidden from the eyes of all living And concealed from the birds of the sky . 22 " Abaddon and Death say , 'With our ears we have heard a report of it.' 23 " God understands its way , And He knows its place . 24 "For He looks to the ends of the earth And sees everything under the heavens . 25 "When He imparted weight to the wind And meted out the waters by measure , 26 When He set a limit for the rain And a course for the thunderbolt e , 27 Then He saw it and declared it; He established it and also searched it out. 28 "And to man He said , 'Behold , the fear of the Lord , that is wisdom ; And to depart from evil is understanding .' "
291 And Job again took up his discourse and said , 2 "Oh e that I were as in months gone by, As in the days when God watched over me; 3 When His lamp shone over my head , And by His light I walked through darkness ; 4 As I was in the prime of my days , When the friendship of God was over my tent ; 5 When the Almighty was yet with me, And my children were around me; 6 When my steps were bathed in butter , And the rock poured out for me streams of oil !
7 "When I went out to the gate of the city , When I took my seat in the square , 8 The young men saw me and hid themselves, And the old men arose and stood . 9 "The princes stopped talking And put their hands on their mouths ; 10 The voice of the nobles was hushed , And their tongue stuck to their palate . 11 "For when the ear heard , it called me blessed , And when the eye saw , it gave witness of me, 12 Because I delivered the poor who cried for help , And the orphan who had no helper . 13 "The blessing of the one ready to perish came upon me, And I made the widow's heart sing for joy . 14 "I put on righteousness , and it clothed me; My justice was like a robe and a turban . 15 "I was eyes to the blind And feet to the lame . 16 "I was a father to the needy , And I investigated the case which I did not know . 17 "I broke the jaws of the wicked And snatched the prey from his teeth .
18 "Then I thought , 'I shall die in my nest , And I shall multiply my days as the sand . 19 'My root is spread out to the waters , And dew lies all night on my branch . 20 'My glory is ever new with me, And my bow is renewed in my hand .' 21 "To me they listened and waited , And kept silent for my counsel . 22 "After my words they did not speak again , And my speech dropped on them. 23 "They waited for me as for the rain , And opened their mouth as for the spring rain . 24 "I smiled on them when they did not believe , And the light of my face they did not cast down . 25 "I chose a way for them and sat as chief , And dwelt as a king among the troops , As one who comforted the mourners .
131 Now there were at Antioch , in the church that was there, prophets and teachers : Barnabas , and Simeon who was called Niger , and Lucius of Cyrene , and Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch , and Saul . 2 While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting , the Holy Spirit said , "Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." 3 Then , when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away .
4 So , being sent out by the Holy Spirit , they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus . 5 When they reached Salamis , they began to proclaim the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews ; and they also had John as their helper . 6 When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos , they found a magician , a Jewish false prophet whose name was Bar-Jesus , 7 who was with the proconsul , Sergius Paulus , a man of intelligence . This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God . 8 But Elymas the magician (for so his name is translated ) was opposing them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith . 9 But Saul , who was also known as Paul , filled with the Holy Spirit , fixed his gaze on him, 10 and said , "You who are full of all deceit and fraud , you son of the devil , you enemy of all righteousness , will you not cease to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord ? 11 "Now , behold , the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and not see the sun for a time ." And immediately a mist and a darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking those who would lead him by the hand . 12 Then the proconsul believed when he saw what had happened , being amazed at the teaching of the Lord .
13 Now Paul and his companions e put out to sea from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia ; but John left them and returned to Jerusalem .
14 But going on from Perga , they arrived at Pisidian Antioch , and on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down . 15 After the reading of the Law and the Prophets the synagogue officials sent to them, saying , "Brethren e , if you have any word of exhortation for the people , say it." 16 Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said , "Men of Israel , and you who fear God , listen : 17 "The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt , and with an uplifted arm He led them out from it. 18 "For a period of about forty years He put up with them in the wilderness . 19 " When He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan , He distributed their land as an inheritance -all of which took about four hundred and fifty years . 20 "After these things He gave them judges until Samuel the prophet . 21 "Then they asked for a king , and God gave them Saul the son of Kish , a man of the tribe of Benjamin , for forty years . 22 "After He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king , concerning whom He also testified and said , ' I HAVE FOUND DAVID the son of Jesse , A MAN AFTER MY HEART , who will do all My will .' 23 " From the descendants of this man , according to promise , God has brought to Israel a Savior , Jesus , 24 after John had proclaimed before His coming e a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel . 25 "And while John was completing his course , he kept saying , 'What do you suppose that I am ? I am not He. But behold , one is coming after me the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie .'
(Read Acts 13:1-3)
What an assemblage was here! In these names we see that the Lord raises up instruments for his work, from various places and stations in life; and zeal for his glory induces men to give up flattering connexions and prospects to promote his cause. It is by the Spirit of Christ that his ministers are made both able and willing for his service, and taken from other cares that would hinder in it. Christ's ministers are to be employed in Christ's work, and, under the Spirit's guidance, to act for the glory of God the Father. They are separated to take pains, and not to take state. A blessing upon Barnabas and Saul in their present undertaking was sought for, and that they might be filled with the Holy Ghost in their work. Whatever means are used, or rules observed, the Holy Ghost alone can fit ministers for their important work, and call them to it.
(Read Acts 13:4-13)
Satan is in a special manner busy with great men and men in power, to keep them from being religious, for their example will influence many. Saul is here for the first time called Paul, and never after Saul. Saul was his name as he was a Hebrew; Paul was his name as he was a citizen of Rome. Under the direct influence of the Holy Ghost, he gave Elymas his true character, but not in passion. A fulness of deceit and mischief together, make a man indeed a child of the devil. And those who are enemies to the doctrine of Jesus, are enemies to all righteousness; for in it all righteousness is fulfilled. The ways of the Lord Jesus are the only right ways to heaven and happiness. There are many who not only wander from these ways themselves, but set others against these ways. They commonly are so hardened, that they will not cease to do evil. The proconsul was astonished at the force of the doctrine upon his own heart and conscience, and at the power of God by which it was confirmed. The doctrine of Christ astonishes; and the more we know of it, the more reason we shall see to wonder at it. Those who put their hand to the plough and look back, are not fit for the kingdom of God. Those who are not prepared to face opposition, and to endure hardship, are not fitted for the work of the ministry.
(Read Acts 13:14-31)
When we come together to worship God, we must do it, not only by prayer and praise, but by the reading and hearing of the word of God. The bare reading of the Scriptures in public assemblies is not enough; they should be expounded, and the people exhorted out of them. This is helping people in doing that which is necessary to make the word profitable, to apply it to themselves. Every thing is touched upon in this sermon, which might best prevail with Jews to receive and embrace Christ as the promised Messiah. And every view, however short or faint, of the Lord's dealings with his church, reminds us of his mercy and long-suffering, and of man's ingratitude and perverseness. Paul passes from David to the Son of David, and shows that this Jesus is his promised Seed; a Saviour to do that for them, which the judges of old could not do, to save them from their sins, their worst enemies. When the apostles preached Christ as the Saviour, they were so far from concealing his death, that they always preached Christ crucified. Our complete separation from sin, is represented by our being buried with Christ. But he rose again from the dead, and saw no corruption: this was the great truth to be preached.
