Psalms 43; Psalms 44; Psalms 45; Acts 27:27-44

1 Judge me, O God, and plead my case against an ungodly nation. Rescue me from deceitful and unjust people.

2 You are my fortress, O God! Why have you rejected me? Why must I walk around in mourning while the enemy oppresses me?

3 Send your light and your truth. Let them guide me. Let them bring me to your holy mountain and to your dwelling place.

4 Then let me go to the altar of God, to God my [highest] joy, and I will give thanks to you on the lyre, O God, my God.

5 Why are you discouraged, my soul? Why are you so restless? Put your hope in God, because I will still praise him. He is my savior and my God.

1 O God, we have heard it with our own ears. Our ancestors have told us about the miracle you performed in their day, in days long ago.

2 By your power you forced nations [out of the land], but you planted our ancestors [there]. You shattered many groups of people, but you set our ancestors free.

3 It was not with their swords that they took possession of the land. They did not gain victory with their own strength. It was your right hand, your arm, and the light of your presence [that did it], because you were pleased with them.

4 You alone are my king, O God. You won those victories for Jacob.

5 With you we can walk over our enemies. With your name we can trample those who attack us.

6 I do not rely on my bow, and my sword will never save me.

7 But you saved us from our enemies. You put to shame those who hate us.

8 All day long we praise our God. We give thanks to you forever. Selah

9 But now you have rejected and disgraced us. You do not even go along with our armies.

10 You make us retreat from the enemy. Those who hate us rob us at will.

11 You hand us over to be butchered like sheep and scatter us among the nations.

12 You sell your people for almost nothing, and at that price you have gained nothing.

13 You made us a disgrace to our neighbors and an object of ridicule and contempt to those around us.

14 You made our [defeat] a proverb among the nations so that people shake their heads at us.

15 All day long my disgrace is in front of me. Shame covers my face

16 because of the words of those who insult and slander us, because of the presence of the enemy and the avenger.

17 Although all of this happened to us, we never forgot you. We never ignored your promise.

18 Our hearts never turned away. Our feet never left your path.

19 Yet, you crushed us in a place for jackals and covered us with the shadow of death.

20 If we forgot the name of our God or stretched out our hands to pray to another god,

21 wouldn't God find out, since he knows the secrets in our hearts?

22 Indeed, we are being killed all day long because of you. We are thought of as sheep to be slaughtered.

23 Wake up! Why are you sleeping, O Lord? Awake! Do not reject us forever!

24 Why do you hide your face? Why do you forget our suffering and misery?

25 Our souls are bowing in the dust. Our bodies cling to the ground.

26 Arise! Help us! Rescue us because of your mercy!

1 My heart is overflowing with good news. I will direct my song to the king. My tongue is a pen for a skillful writer.

2 You are the most handsome of Adam's descendants. Grace is poured on your lips. That is why God has blessed you forever.

3 O warrior, strap your sword to your side with your splendor and majesty.

4 Ride on victoriously in your majesty for the cause of truth, humility, and righteousness. Let your right hand teach you awe-inspiring things.

5 Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies. Nations fall beneath you.

6 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter in your kingdom is a scepter for justice.

7 You have loved what is right and hated what is wrong. That is why God, your God, has anointed you, rather than your companions, with the oil of joy.

8 All your robes are [fragrant] with myrrh, aloes, and cassia. From ivory palaces the music of stringed instruments delights you.

9 The daughters of kings are among your noble ladies. The queen takes her place at your right hand and wears gold from Ophir.

10 Listen, daughter! Look closely! Turn your ear [toward me]. Forget your people, and forget your father's house.

11 The king longs for your beauty. He is your Lord. Worship him.

12 The people of Tyre, the richest people, want to win your favor with a gift.

13 The daughter of the king is glorious inside [the palace]. Her dress is embroidered with gold.

14 Wearing a colorful gown, she is brought to the king. Her bridesmaids follow her. They will be brought to you.

15 With joy and delight they are brought in. They enter the palace of the king.

16 Your sons will take the place of your father. You will make them princes over the whole earth.

17 I will cause your name to be remembered throughout every generation. That is why the nations will give thanks to you forever and ever.

27 On the fourteenth night we were still drifting through the Mediterranean Sea. About midnight the sailors suspected that we were approaching land.

28 So they threw a line with a weight on it into the water. It sank 120 feet. They waited a little while and did the same thing again. This time the line sank 90 feet.

29 Fearing we might hit rocks, they dropped four anchors from the back of the ship and prayed for morning to come.

30 The sailors tried to escape from the ship. They let the lifeboat down into the sea and pretended they were going to lay out the anchors from the front of the ship.

31 Paul told the officer and the soldiers, "If these sailors don't stay on the ship, you have no hope of staying alive."

32 Then the soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it drift away.

33 Just before daybreak Paul was encouraging everyone to have something to eat. "This is the fourteenth day you have waited and have had nothing to eat.

34 So I'm encouraging you to eat something. Eating will help you survive, since not a hair from anyone's head will be lost."

35 After Paul said this, he took some bread, thanked God in front of everyone, broke it, and began to eat.

36 Everyone was encouraged and had something to eat.

37 (There were 276 of us on the ship.)

38 After the people had eaten all they wanted, they lightened the ship by dumping the wheat into the sea.

39 In the morning they couldn't recognize the land, but they could see a bay with a beach. So they decided to try to run the ship ashore.

40 They cut the anchors free and left them in the sea. At the same time they untied the ropes that held the steering oars. Then they raised the top sail to catch the wind and steered the ship to the shore.

41 They struck a sandbar in the water and ran the ship aground. The front of the ship stuck and couldn't be moved, while the back of the ship was broken to pieces by the force of the waves.

42 The soldiers had a plan to kill the prisoners to keep them from swimming away and escaping.

43 However, the officer wanted to save Paul, so he stopped the soldiers from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and swim ashore.

44 Then he ordered the rest to follow on planks or some other pieces [of wood] from the ship. In this way everyone got to shore safely.