Psalms 40; Psalms 41; Psalms 42; Acts 27:1-26

Psalms 40

1 I waited patiently for the Lord's help; then he listened to me and heard my cry.

2 He pulled me out of a dangerous pit, out of the deadly quicksand. He set me safely on a rock and made me secure.

3 He taught me to sing a new song, a song of praise to our God. Many who see this will take warning and will put their trust in the Lord.

4 Happy are those who trust the Lord, who do not turn to idols or join those who worship false gods.

5 You have done many things for us, O Lord our God; there is no one like you! You have made many wonderful plans for us. I could never speak of them all - their number is so great!

6 You do not want sacrifices and offerings; you do not ask for animals burned whole on the altar or for sacrifices to take away sins. Instead, you have given me ears to hear you,

7 and so I answered, "Here I am; your instructions for me are in the book of the Law.

8 How I love to do your will, my God! I keep your teaching in my heart."

9 In the assembly of all your people, Lord, I told the good news that you save us. You know that I will never stop telling it.

10 I have not kept the news of salvation to myself; I have always spoken of your faithfulness and help. In the assembly of all your people I have not been silent about your loyalty and constant love.

11 Lord, I know you will never stop being merciful to me. Your love and loyalty will always keep me safe.

12 I am surrounded by many troubles - too many to count! My sins have caught up with me, and I can no longer see; they are more than the hairs of my head, and I have lost my courage.

13 Save me, Lord! Help me now!

14 May those who try to kill me be completely defeated and confused. May those who are happy because of my troubles be turned back and disgraced.

15 May those who make fun of me be dismayed by their defeat.

16 May all who come to you be glad and joyful. May all who are thankful for your salvation always say, "How great is the Lord!"

17 I am weak and poor, O Lord, but you have not forgotten me. You are my savior and my God - hurry to my aid!

Psalms 41

1 Happy are those who are concerned for the poor; the Lord will help them when they are in trouble.

2 The Lord will protect them and preserve their lives; he will make them happy in the land; he will not abandon them to the power of their enemies.

3 The Lord will help them when they are sick and will restore them to health.

4 I said, "I have sinned against you, Lord; be merciful to me and heal me."

5 My enemies say cruel things about me. They want me to die and be forgotten.

6 Those who come to see me are not sincere; they gather bad news about me and then go out and tell it everywhere.

7 All who hate me whisper to each other about me, they imagine the worst about me.

8 They say, "He is fatally ill; he will never leave his bed again."

9 Even my best friend, the one I trusted most, the one who shared my food, has turned against me.

10 Be merciful to me, Lord, and restore my health, and I will pay my enemies back.

11 They will not triumph over me, and I will know that you are pleased with me.

12 You will help me, because I do what is right; you will keep me in your presence forever.

13 Praise the Lord, the God of Israel! Praise him now and forever! Amen! Amen!

Psalms 42

1 As a deer longs for a stream of cool water, so I long for you, O God.

2 I thirst for you, the living God. When can I go and worship in your presence?

3 Day and night I cry, and tears are my only food; all the time my enemies ask me, "Where is your God?"

4 My heart breaks when I remember the past, when I went with the crowds to the house of God and led them as they walked along, a happy crowd, singing and shouting praise to God.

5 Why am I so sad? Why am I so troubled? I will put my hope in God, and once again I will praise him, my savior and my God.

6 Here in exile my heart is breaking, and so I turn my thoughts to him. He has sent waves of sorrow over my soul; chaos roars at me like a flood, like waterfalls thundering down to the Jordan from Mount Hermon and Mount Mizar.

8 May the Lord show his constant love during the day, so that I may have a song at night, a prayer to the God of my life.

9 To God, my defender, I say, "Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go on suffering from the cruelty of my enemies?"

10 I am crushed by their insults, as they keep on asking me, "Where is your God?"

11 Why am I so sad? Why am I so troubled? I will put my hope in God, and once again I will praise him, my savior and my God.

Acts 27:1-26

1 When it was decided that we should sail to Italy, they handed Paul and some other prisoners over to Julius, an officer in the Roman army regiment called "The Emperor's Regiment."

2 We went aboard a ship from Adramyttium, which was ready to leave for the seaports of the province of Asia, and we sailed away. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was with us.

3 The next day we arrived at Sidon. Julius was kind to Paul and allowed him to go and see his friends, to be given what he needed.

4 We went on from there, and because the winds were blowing against us, we sailed on the sheltered side of the island of Cyprus.

5 We crossed over the sea off Cilicia and Pamphylia and came to Myra in Lycia.

6 There the officer found a ship from Alexandria that was going to sail for Italy, so he put us aboard.

7 We sailed slowly for several days and with great difficulty finally arrived off the town of Cnidus. The wind would not let us go any farther in that direction, so we sailed down the sheltered side of the island of Crete, passing by Cape Salmone.

8 We kept close to the coast and with great difficulty came to a place called Safe Harbors, not far from the town of Lasea.

9 We spent a long time there, until it became dangerous to continue the voyage, for by now the Day of Atonement was already past. So Paul gave them this advice:

10 "Men, I see that our voyage from here on will be dangerous; there will be great damage to the cargo and to the ship, and loss of life as well."

11 But the army officer was convinced by what the captain and the owner of the ship said, and not by what Paul said.

12 The harbor was not a good one to spend the winter in; so almost everyone was in favor of putting out to sea and trying to reach Phoenix, if possible, in order to spend the winter there. Phoenix is a harbor in Crete that faces southwest and northwest.

13 A soft wind from the south began to blow, and the men thought that they could carry out their plan, so they pulled up the anchor and sailed as close as possible along the coast of Crete.

14 But soon a very strong wind - the one called "Northeaster" - blew down from the island.

15 It hit the ship, and since it was impossible to keep the ship headed into the wind, we gave up trying and let it be carried along by the wind.

16 We got some shelter when we passed to the south of the little island of Cauda. There, with some difficulty we managed to make the ship's boat secure.

17 They pulled it aboard and then fastened some ropes tight around the ship. They were afraid that they might run into the sandbanks off the coast of Libya, so they lowered the sail and let the ship be carried by the wind.

18 The violent storm continued, so on the next day they began to throw some of the ship's cargo overboard,

19 and on the following day they threw part of the ship's equipment overboard.

20 For many days we could not see the sun or the stars, and the wind kept on blowing very hard. We finally gave up all hope of being saved.

21 After everyone had gone a long time without food, Paul stood before them and said, "You should have listened to me and not have sailed from Crete; then we would have avoided all this damage and loss.

22 But now I beg you, take courage! Not one of you will lose your life; only the ship will be lost.

23 For last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship came to me

24 and said, "Don't be afraid, Paul! You must stand before the Emperor. And God in his goodness to you has spared the lives of all those who are sailing with you.'

25 So take courage, men! For I trust in God that it will be just as I was told.

26 But we will be driven ashore on some island."