431 Vindicate me, O God , and plead my case against an ungodly e nation ; O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man ! 2 For You are the God of my strength ; why have You rejected me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy ? 3 O send out Your light and Your truth , let them lead me; Let them bring me to Your holy hill And to Your dwelling places . 4 Then I will go to the altar of God , To God my exceeding joy ; And upon the lyre I shall praise You, O God , my God . 5 Why are you in despair , O my soul ? And why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God , for I shall again praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God .
441 O God , we have heard with our ears , Our fathers have told us The work that You did in their days , In the days of old . 2 You with Your own hand drove out the nations ; Then You planted them; You afflicted the peoples , Then You spread them abroad. 3 For by their own sword they did not possess the land , And their own arm did not save them, But Your right hand and Your arm and the light of Your presence , For You favored them. 4 You are my King , O God ; Command victories for Jacob . 5 Through You we will push back our adversaries ; Through Your name we will trample down those who rise up against us. 6 For I will not trust in my bow , Nor will my sword save me. 7 But You have saved us from our adversaries , And You have put to shame those who hate us. 8 In God we have boasted all day long, And we will give thanks to Your name forever . Selah .
9 Yet You have rejected us and brought us to dishonor , And do not go out with our armies . 10 You cause us to turn back from the adversary ; And those who hate us have taken spoil for themselves. 11 You give us as sheep to be eaten And have scattered us among the nations . 12 You sell Your people cheaply e , And have not profited by their sale . 13 You make us a reproach to our neighbors , A scoffing and a derision to those around us. 14 You make us a byword among the nations , A laughingstock e among the peoples . 15 All day long my dishonor is before me And my humiliation e has overwhelmed me, 16 Because of the voice of him who reproaches and reviles , Because of the presence of the enemy and the avenger .
17 All this has come upon us, but we have not forgotten You, And we have not dealt falsely with Your covenant . 18 Our heart has not turned back , And our steps have not deviated from Your way , 19 Yet You have crushed us in a place of jackals And covered us with the shadow of death . 20 If we had forgotten the name of our God Or extended our hands to a strange god , 21 Would not God find this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart . 22 But for Your sake we are killed all day long; We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered . 23 Arouse Yourself, why do You sleep , O Lord ? Awake , do not reject us forever . 24 Why do You hide Your face And forget our affliction and our oppression ? 25 For our soul has sunk down into the dust ; Our body cleaves to the earth . 26 Rise up, be our help , And redeem us for the sake of Your lovingkindness .
451 My heart overflows with a good theme ; I address my verses to the King ; My tongue is the pen of a ready writer . 2 You are fairer than the sons of men ; Grace is poured upon Your lips ; Therefore e God has blessed You forever . 3 Gird Your sword on Your thigh , O Mighty One , In Your splendor and Your majesty ! 4 And in Your majesty ride on victoriously , For the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness ; Let Your right hand teach You awesome things . 5 Your arrows are sharp ; The peoples fall under You; Your arrows are in the heart of the King's enemies .
6 Your throne , O God , is forever and ever ; A scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom . 7 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness ; Therefore e God , Your God , has anointed You With the oil of joy above Your fellows . 8 All Your garments are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia ; Out of ivory palaces stringed instruments have made You glad . 9 Kings' daughters are among Your noble ladies; At Your right hand stands the queen in gold from Ophir .
10 Listen , O daughter , give attention and incline your ear : Forget your people and your father's house ; 11 Then the King will desire your beauty . Because He is your Lord , bow down to Him. 12 The daughter of Tyre will come with a gift ; The rich among the people will seek your favor . 13 The King's daughter is all glorious within ; Her clothing is interwoven with gold . 14 She will be led to the King in embroidered work ; The virgins , her companions who follow her, Will be brought to You. 15 They will be led forth with gladness and rejoicing ; They will enter into the King's palace . 16 In place of your fathers will be your sons ; You shall make them princes in all the earth . 17 I will cause Your name to be remembered in all generations ; Therefore e the peoples will give You thanks forever and ever .
27 But when the fourteenth night came , as we were being driven about in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight e the sailors began to surmise that they were approaching some land . 28 They took soundings and found it to be twenty fathoms ; and a little farther on they took another sounding and found it to be fifteen fathoms . 29 Fearing that we might run aground somewhere on the rocks , they cast four anchors from the stern and wished for daybreak . 30 But as the sailors were trying to escape from the ship and had let down the ship's boat into the sea , on the pretense of intending to lay out anchors from the bow , 31 Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers , "Unless e these men remain in the ship , you yourselves cannot e be saved ." 32 Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the ship's boat and let it fall away . 33 Until the day was about to dawn , Paul was encouraging them all to take some food , saying , "Today is the fourteenth day that you have been constantly watching and going without eating , having taken nothing . 34 "Therefore I encourage you to take some food , for this is for your preservation , for not a hair from the head of any of you will perish ." 35 Having said this , he took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of all , and he broke it and began to eat . 36 All of them were encouraged and they themselves also took food . 37 All of us in the ship were two hundred and seventy-six e persons . 38 When they had eaten enough e , they began to lighten the ship by throwing out the wheat into the sea .
39 When day came , they could not recognize the land ; but they did observe a bay with a beach , and they resolved to drive the ship onto it if they could . 40 And casting off the anchors , they left them in the sea while at the same time they were loosening the ropes of the rudders ; and hoisting the foresail to the wind , they were heading for the beach . 41 But striking a reef where two seas met , they ran the vessel aground ; and the prow stuck fast and remained immovable , but the stern began to be broken up by the force of the waves. 42 The soldiers' plan was to kill the prisoners , so that none e of them would swim away and escape ; 43 but the centurion , wanting to bring Paul safely through , kept them from their intention , and commanded that those who could swim should jump overboard first and get to land , 44 and the rest should follow, some on planks , and others e on various things from the ship . And so it happened that they all were brought safely to land .
(Read Acts 27:21-29)
They did not hearken to the apostle when he warned them of their danger; yet if they acknowledge their folly, and repent of it, he will speak comfort and relief to them when in danger. Most people bring themselves into trouble, because they do not know when they are well off; they come to harm and loss by aiming to mend their condition, often against advice. Observe the solemn profession Paul made of relation to God. No storms or tempests can hinder God's favour to his people, for he is a Help always at hand. It is a comfort to the faithful servants of God when in difficulties, that as long as the Lord has any work for them to do, their lives shall be prolonged. If Paul had thrust himself needlessly into bad company, he might justly have been cast away with them; but God calling him into it, they are preserved with him. They are given thee; there is no greater satisfaction to a good man than to know he is a public blessing. He comforts them with the same comforts wherewith he himself was comforted. God is ever faithful, therefore let all who have an interest in his promises be ever cheerful. As, with God, saying and doing are not two things, believing and enjoying should not be so with us. Hope is an anchor of the soul, sure and stedfast, entering into that within the veil. Let those who are in spiritual darkness hold fast by that, and think not of putting to sea again, but abide by Christ, and wait till the day break, and the shadows flee away.
(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.
(Read Acts 27:39-44)
The ship that had weathered the storm in the open sea, where it had room, is dashed to pieces when it sticks fast. Thus, if the heart fixes in the world in affection, and cleaving to it, it is lost. Satan's temptations beat against it, and it is gone; but as long as it keeps above the world, though tossed with cares and tumults, there is hope for it. They had the shore in view, yet suffered shipwreck in the harbour; thus we are taught never to be secure. Though there is great difficulty in the way of the promised salvation, it shall, without fail, be brought to pass. It will come to pass that whatever the trials and dangers may be, in due time all believers will get safely to heaven. Lord Jesus, thou hast assured us that none of thine shall perish. Thou wilt bring them all safe to the heavenly shore. And what a pleasing landing will that be! Thou wilt present them to thy Father, and give thy Holy Spirit full possession of them for ever.
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