431 Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation; deliver me from the deceitful and unrighteous man. 2 For thou art the God of my strength: why hast thou cast me off? why go I about mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? 3 Send out thy light and thy truth: they shall lead me, they shall bring me to thy holy mount, and unto thy habitations. 4 Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto the God of the gladness of my joy: yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God, my God. 5 Why art thou cast down, my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God; for I shall yet praise him, [who is] the health of my countenance, and my God.
441 To the chief Musician. Of the sons of Korah. An instruction. O God, with our ears have we heard, our fathers have told us, the work thou wroughtest in their days, in the days of old: 2 Thou, by thy hand, didst dispossess the nations, but them thou didst plant; thou didst afflict the peoples, but them didst thou cause to spread out. 3 For not by their own sword did they take possession of the land, neither did their own arm save them; but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst delight in them. 4 Thou thyself art my king, O God: command deliverance for Jacob. 5 Through thee will we push down our adversaries; through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us. 6 For I will not put confidence in my bow, neither shall my sword save me. 7 For thou hast saved us from our adversaries, and hast put them to shame that hate us. 8 In God will we boast all the day, and we will praise thy name for ever. Selah.
9 But thou hast cast off, and put us to confusion, and dost not go forth with our armies; 10 Thou hast made us to turn back from the adversary, and they that hate us spoil for themselves; 11 Thou hast given us over like sheep [appointed] for meat, and hast scattered us among the nations; 12 Thou hast sold thy people for nought, and hast not increased [thy wealth] by their price; 13 Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbours, a mockery and a derision for them that are round about us; 14 Thou makest us a byword among the nations, a shaking of the head among the peoples. 15 All the day my confusion is before me, and the shame of my face hath covered me, 16 Because of the voice of him that reproacheth and blasphemeth; by reason of the enemy and the avenger.
17 All this is come upon us; yet have we not forgotten thee, neither have we dealt falsely against thy covenant: 18 Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from thy path; 19 Though thou hast crushed us in the place of jackals, and covered us with the shadow of death. 20 If we had forgotten the name of our God, and stretched out our hands to a strange ·god, 21 Would not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart. 22 But for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are reckoned as sheep for slaughter. 23 Awake, why sleepest thou, Lord? arise, cast [us] not off for ever. 24 Wherefore hidest thou thy face, [and] forgettest our affliction and our oppression? 25 For our soul is bowed down to the dust; our belly cleaveth unto the earth. 26 Rise up for our help, and redeem us for thy loving-kindness' sake.
451 To the chief Musician. Upon Shoshannim. Of the sons of Korah. An instruction;—a song of the Beloved. My heart is welling forth [with] a good matter: I say what I have composed touching the king. My tongue is the pen of a ready writer. 2 Thou art fairer than the sons of men; grace is poured into thy lips: therefore God hath blessed thee for ever. 3 Gird thy sword upon [thy] thigh, O mighty one, [in] thy majesty and thy splendour; 4 And [in] thy splendour ride prosperously, because of truth and meekness [and] righteousness: and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things. 5 Thine arrows are sharp—peoples fall under thee—in the heart of the king's enemies.
6 Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever; a sceptre of uprightness is the sceptre of thy kingdom: 7 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated wickedness; therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy companions. 8 Myrrh and aloes, cassia, are all thy garments; out of ivory palaces stringed instruments have made thee glad. 9 Kings' daughters are among thine honourable women; upon thy right hand doth stand the queen in gold of Ophir.
10 Hearken, daughter, and see, and incline thine ear; and forget thine own people and thy father's house: 11 And the king will desire thy beauty; for he is thy Lord, and worship thou him. 12 And the daughter of Tyre with a gift, the rich ones among the people, shall court thy favour. 13 All glorious is the king's daughter within; her clothing is of wrought gold: 14 She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of embroidery; the virgins behind her, her companions, shall be brought in unto thee: 15 With joy and gladness shall they be brought; they shall enter into the king's palace. 16 Instead of thy fathers shall be thy sons; princes shalt thou make them in all the earth. 17 I will make thy name to be remembered throughout all generations; therefore shall the peoples praise thee for ever and ever.
27 And when the fourteenth night was come, we being driven about in Adria, towards the middle of the night the sailors supposed that some land neared them, 28 and having sounded found twenty fathoms, and having gone a little farther and having again sounded they found fifteen fathoms; 29 and fearing lest we should be cast on rocky places, casting four anchors out of the stern, they wished that day were come. 30 But the sailors wishing to flee out of the ship, and having let down the boat into the sea under pretext of being about to carry out anchors from the prow, 31 Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, Unless these abide in the ship ye cannot be saved. 32 Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the boat and let her fall. 33 And while it was drawing on to daylight, Paul exhorted them all to partake of food, saying, Ye have passed the fourteenth day watching in expectation without taking food. 34 Wherefore I exhort you to partake of food, for this has to do with your safety; for not a hair from the head of any one of you shall perish. 35 And, having said these things and taken a loaf, he gave thanks to God before all, and having broken it began to eat. 36 And all taking courage, themselves also took food. 37 And we were in the ship, all the souls, two hundred and seventy-six. 38 And having satisfied themselves with food, they lightened the ship, casting out the wheat into the sea.
39 And when it was day they did not recognise the land; but they perceived a certain bay having a strand, on which they were minded, if they should be able, to run the ship ashore; 40 and, having cast off the anchors, they left [them] in the sea, at the same time loosening the lashings of the rudders, and hoisting the foresail to the wind, they made for the strand. 41 And falling into a place where two seas met they ran the ship aground, and the prow having stuck itself fast remained unmoved, but the stern was broken by the force of the waves. 42 And [the] counsel of the soldiers was that they should kill the prisoners, lest any one should swim off and escape. 43 But the centurion, desirous of saving Paul, hindered them of their purpose, and commanded those who were able to swim, casting themselves first [into the sea], to get out on land; 44 and the rest, some on boards, some on some of the things [that came] from the ship; and thus it came to pass that all got safe 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.
