401 When I was waiting quietly for the Lord, his heart was turned to me, and he gave ear to my cry. 2 He took me up out of a deep waste place, out of the soft and sticky earth; he put my feet on a rock, and made my steps certain. 3 And he put a new song in my mouth, even praise to our God; numbers have seen it with fear, and put their faith in the Lord. 4 Happy is the man who has faith in the Lord, and does not give honour to the men of pride or to those who are turned away to deceit. 5 O Lord my God, great are the wonders which you have done in your thought for us; it is not possible to put them out in order before you; when I would give an account of them, their number is greater than I may say.
6 You had no desire for offerings of beasts or fruits of the earth; ears you made for me: for burned offerings and sin offerings you made no request. 7 Then I said, See, I come; it is recorded of me in the roll of the book, 8 My delight is to do your pleasure, O my God; truly, your law is in my heart. 9 I have given news of righteousness in the great meeting; O Lord, you have knowledge that I have not kept back my words. 10 Your righteousness has not been folded away in my heart; I have made clear your true word and your salvation; I have not kept secret your mercy or your faith from the great meeting.
11 Take not away your gentle mercies from me, O Lord; let your mercy and your faith keep me safe for ever. 12 For unnumbered evils are round about me; my sins have overtaken me, so that I am bent down with their weight; they are more than the hairs of my head, my strength is gone because of them. 13 Be pleased, O Lord, to take me out of danger; O Lord, come quickly and give me help. 14 Let those who go after my soul for its destruction have shame and trouble together; let them be turned back and made foolish who take pleasure in my trouble. 15 Let those who say to me, Aha, aha! be surprised because of their shame. 16 Let all those who are looking for you be glad and have joy in you; let the lovers of your salvation ever say, May the Lord be great. 17 Though I am poor and in need, the Lord has me in mind; you are my help and my saviour; let there be no waiting, O my God.
411 Happy is the man who gives thought to the poor; the Lord will be his saviour in the time of trouble. 2 The Lord will keep him safe, and give him life; the Lord will let him be a blessing on the earth, and will not give him into the hand of his haters. 3 The Lord will be his support on his bed of pain: by you will all his grief be turned to strength. 4 I said, Lord, have mercy on me; make my soul well, because my faith is in you.
5 My haters say evil against me, When will he be dead, and his name come to an end? 6 If one comes to see me, deceit is in his heart; he keeps a store of evil, which he makes public in every place. 7 All my haters are talking secretly together against me; they are designing my downfall. 8 They say, He has an evil disease, which will not let him go: and now that he is down he will not get up again. 9 Even my dearest friend, in whom I had faith, who took bread with me, is turned against me. 10 But you, O Lord, have mercy on me, lifting me up, so that I may give them their punishment. 11 By this I see that you have pleasure in me, because my hater does not overcome me. 12 And as for me, you are my support in my righteousness, giving me a place before your face for ever. 13 May the Lord God of Israel be praised, through eternal days and for ever. So be it. So be it.
421 Like the desire of the roe for the water-streams, so is my soul's desire for you, O God. 2 My soul is dry for need of God, the living God; when may I come and see the face of God? 3 My tears have been my food day and night, while they keep saying to me, Where is your God? 4 Let my soul be overflowing with grief when these things come back to my mind, how I went in company to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with the song of those who were keeping the feast. 5 Why are you crushed down, O my soul? and why are you troubled in me? put your hope in God; for I will again give him praise who is my help and my God.
6 My soul is crushed down in me, so I will keep you in mind; from the land of Jordan and of the Hermons, from the hill Mizar. 7 Deep is sounding to deep at the noise of your waterfalls; all your waves have gone rolling over me. 8 But the Lord will send his mercy in the daytime, and in the night his song will be with me, a prayer to the God of my life. 9 I will say to God my Rock, Why have you let me go from your memory? why do I go in sorrow because of the attacks of my haters? 10 The cruel words of my haters are like a crushing of my bones; when they say to me every day, Where is your God? 11 Why are you crushed down, O my soul? and why are you troubled in me? put your hope in God; for I will again give him praise who is my help and my God.
271 And when the decision had been made that we were to go by sea to Italy, they gave Paul and certain other prisoners into the care of a captain named Julius, of the Augustan band. 2 And we went to sea in a ship of Adramyttium which was sailing to the sea towns of Asia, Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, being with us. 3 And on the day after, we came to Sidon; and Julius was kind to Paul, and let him go to see his friends and take a rest. 4 And sailing again from there, we went on under cover of Cyprus, because the wind was against us. 5 And having gone across the sea off Cilicia and Pamphylia we came to Myra, in Lycia. 6 And there the captain came across a ship of Alexandria, sailing for Italy, and put us in it. 7 And when we had gone on slowly for a long time, and had had hard work getting across to Cnidus, for the wind was against us, we went under cover of Crete, in the direction of Salmone; 8 And sailing down the side of it, as well as we were able, we came to a certain place named Fair Havens, near which was the town of Lasea. 9 And as a long time had gone by, and the journey was now full of danger, because it was late in the year, Paul put the position before them, 10 Saying, Friends, I see that this journey will be one of great damage and loss, not only to the goods and the ship, but to ourselves. 11 But the captain gave more attention to the master and the owner of the ship than to what Paul said.
12 And as the harbour was not a good one in which to be for the winter, the greater number of them were for going out to sea, in order, if possible, to put in for the winter at Phoenix, a harbour of Crete, looking to the north-east and south-east.
13 And when the south wind came softly, being of the opinion that their purpose might be effected, they let the ship go and went sailing down the side of Crete, very near to the land. 14 But after a little time, a very violent wind, named Euraquilo, came down from it with great force. 15 And when the ship got into the grip of it, and was not able to make headway into the wind, we gave way, and went before it. 16 And, sailing near the side of a small island named Cauda, we were able, though it was hard work, to make the ship's boat safe: 17 And having got it up, they put cords under and round the ship; but fearing that they might be pushed on to the Syrtis, they let down the sails and so went running before the wind. 18 And, still fighting the storm with all our strength, the day after they made a start at getting the goods out of the ship; 19 And on the third day, they let all the sailing apparatus go over the side. 20 And as we had not seen the sun or stars for a long time, and a great storm was on us, all hope of salvation was gone.
21 And when they had been without food for a long time, Paul got up among them and said, Friends, it would have been better if you had given attention to me and not gone sailing out from Crete, to undergo this damage and loss. 22 But now, I say to you, be of good heart, for there will be no loss of life, but only of the ship. 23 For this night there came to my side an angel of the God who is my Master and whose servant I am, 24 Saying, Have no fear, Paul, for you will come before Caesar, and God has given to you all those who are sailing with you. 25 And so, O men, be of good heart, for I have faith in God that it will be as he said to me. 26 But we will be sent on to a certain island.
(Read Acts 27:1-11)
It was determined by the counsel of God, before it was determined by the counsel of Festus, that Paul should go to Rome; for God had work for him to do there. The course they steered, and the places they touched at, are here set down. And God here encourages those who suffer for him, to trust in him; for he can put it into the hearts of those to befriend them, from whom they least expect it. Sailors must make the best of the wind: and so must we all in our passage over the ocean of this world. When the winds are contrary, yet we must be getting forward as well as we can. Many who are not driven backward by cross providences, do not get forward by favourable providences. And many real Christians complain as to the concerns of their souls, that they have much ado to keep their ground. Every fair haven is not a safe haven. Many show respect to good ministers, who will not take their advice. But the event will convince sinners of the vanity of their hopes, and the folly of their conduct.
(Read Acts 27:12-20)
Those who launch forth on the ocean of this world, with a fair gale, know not what storms they may meet with; and therefore must not easily take it for granted that they have obtained their purpose. Let us never expect to be quite safe till we enter heaven. They saw neither sun nor stars for many days. Thus melancholy sometimes is the condition of the people of God as to their spiritual matters; they walk in darkness, and have no light. See what the wealth of this world is: though coveted as a blessing, the time may come when it will be a burden; not only too heavy to be carried safely, but heavy enough to sink him that has it. The children of this world can be prodigal of their goods for the saving their lives, yet are sparing of them in works of piety and charity, and in suffering for Christ. Any man will rather make shipwreck of his goods than of his life; but many rather make shipwreck of faith and a good conscience, than of their goods. The means the sailors used did not succeed; but when sinners give up all hope of saving themselves, they are prepared to understand God's word, and to trust in his mercy through Jesus Christ.
(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.
