Prayer
“Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all” (Psalm 334:19). Sovereign King, we praise you for your providential hand that rules each of our lives. We ask for your deliverance from the storms of life. May we be strengthened and you glorified through life’s trials.
Today’s Hymn
Words: The Psalter, 1912. Music: Ripley, arranged from a Gregorian chant by Lowell Mason, 1839.
HALLELUJAH, PRAISE JEHOVAH
Click here for tune.
Hallelujah, praise Jehovah,
O my soul, Jehovah praise;
I will sing the glorious praises
Of my God through all my days.
Put no confidence in princes,
Nor for help on man depend;
He shall die, to dust returning,
And his purposes shall end.
Happy is the man that chooses
Israel’s God to be his aid;
He is blest whose hope of blessing
On the Lord his God is stayed.
Heaven and earth the Lord created,
Seas and all that they contain;
He delivers from oppression,
Righteousness He will maintain.
Food He daily gives the hungry,
Sets the mourning prisoner free,
Raises those bowed down with anguish,
Makes the sightless eyes to see.
Well Jehovah loves the righteous,
And the stranger He befriends,
Helps the fatherless and the widow,
Judgment on the wicked sends.
Hallelujah, praise Jehovah,
O my soul, Jehovah praise;
I will sing the glorious praises
Of my God through all my days.
Over all God reigns forever,
Through all ages He is King;
Unto Him, thy God, O Zion,
Joyful hallelujahs sing.
Thought Provoker
A few days ago I stopped by the hospital to visit one of our church elders and his wife who had just delivered their eighth child. As little Katherine Victoria lay in her hospital crib, I was reminded that God was launching this little rosy cheeked blessing into the sea of life. I’ve always liked the metaphor of life being like a journey on a sailing ship. As you leave the harbor at birth, God has an eternal destiny that He has foreordained for your life. Some journeys are short and some are long. Some end in the harbor of God’s Kingdom, others end up eternally shipwrecked. Along the journey there are seasons of fair weather as well as sudden, powerful storms that blow in without warning. Many storms will rock your life. Perhaps you are going through one today. Discuss with your family the variety of storms that can suddenly appear on the horizon. These storms come in all varieties and levels of intensity. There are financial, health, family, and legal winds that blow hard against your life. Today the Apostle Paul finds himself facing such a storm in Acts 27. He is on a boat that is about to be destroyed in a storm. One of the principles that comes from his experience is that you can be in the center of God’s will and the center of a storm at the same time! Paul is also going to give us some practical lessons on how to come through such storms for the glory of God!
Dad’s Study
After appealing his case to Caesar, Paul was sent to Rome on a ship (Acts 27:1-8). You will want to read all the exciting details of his voyage to your family. The trip was dangerous from the beginning. Paul warned the crew early about the upcoming dangers (verses 9-12). Rather than stopping during the stormy, winter season at the town of Fairhaven, they decided to continue. No sooner had they left the harbor and set sail on a fair day in October, than a huge storm blew in (verse 13-20). They did all that they could to keep the boat from coming apart. Since neither the sun nor stars appeared for days, they were unable to navigate, and they drifted, lost in the Mediterranean Sea. Everyone on board was close to giving up all hope for survival when God miraculously intervened. An angel appeared to Paul, telling him not to be afraid. Although the ship would be destroyed, every life on board would be saved. God has promised that he would stand before Caesar, therefore God will grant you and all aboard safety. Paul announced this message to the crew and began to take charge of the ship (verses 21-26)!
Here comes one of the main lessons from this chapter. Although God sovereignly does all that He purposes and promises to do, man’s actions are frequently the means through which He works out His plan. Paul could have curled up on deck, gone to sleep, and waited for God to safely usher all safely ashore. Instead, Paul took charge of the ship and did all within His means for God to further God’s promise of safety.
Read together verses 27-44 and make a list of all that Paul and the crew actively did in furtherance of God’s promise of safety. They began by casting out their anchors (verse 29); staying on board (verse 31-32); eating food for strength (verses 33-36); throwing their cargo overboard (verse 38); pulling up the anchors and hoisting up a sail (verse 40); swimmers jumping overboard and swimming to shore (verse 43); and the rest of the crew were to hold on to planks and float to safety (verse 44). Just like God had promised, all 276 men were providentially spared by God!
Paul was in the center of God’s will and in the center of the storm at the same time. Sometimes God brings storms into your life because, like Jonah, you are running from His will. Other times, like Paul, you can be obediently obeying God’s will and still be rocked by storms. It is through the storms that God wants you to persevere. Storms strengthen faith! Storms bring glory to God!
Click here for Matthew Henry’s Commentary.
Truth in Practice
Man’s actions are the means through which God normally works out His sovereign plan and promises. God’s announced purpose never cancels your activity in that direction.
- God purposes and promises salvation and yet he tells you to work out your salvation with fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12).
- God promises to meet your daily needs and yet he warns that if you do not work neither will you eat (2 Thes. 3:10).
May we not forsake our human responsibility in the furtherance of God’s divine promises.
Catechism
Question 60
Q. Which is forbidden in the eighth commandment?
A. The eighth commandment forbids whatever does or may unjustly hinder our own (1 Tim. 5:8; Prov. 28:19, Prov. 21:6) or our neighbour’s wealth, or outward estate (Eph. 4:28).
