The men had gone a long time without food. Asitia indicates this is voluntary. Is it anxiety, seasickness or the inedibility of the foodstuffs (because the storm spoiled them or made cooking impossible)?

Paul stands up in their midst (not as NIV, before them) and says, in essence, "Cheer up! The outcome will be positive." He reviews the counsel he gave at Fair Havens (27:10), not so much to say "I told you so" (contrast Longenecker 1981:561) as to partly establish why he should be believed now. Indeed, he frames what they should have done using his favorite verb for divine necessity (edei; compare Lk 24:44; Acts 23:11; 27:26). This may point to the revelatory quality of his prior warning (see note at v. 10). Paul, then, "urges" (same word translated "warned" in v. 9) them, Keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed.

Paul immediately proceeds to give his source of information. His allegiance and his piety are devoted to the one true God (compare Lk 1:74; 2:37; Acts 24:14). That God has sent his angel "this very night" (NIV last night). He "approached me" (NIV stood beside me; compare 9:39) and gave this message of encouragement, which reaffirms a divine promise and announces a gracious gift. As at Corinth, the angel urged Paul to "stop being afraid" (18:9). He reiterated the divine necessity (dei) of standing trial before Caesar (23:11). He announced the good news: God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you (the perfect tense, has . . . given, communicates certainty). Luke does not explicitly say that this is in answer to Paul's intercession (contrast Marshall [1980:410], who cites Gen 18:23-33 as a parallel). All we can be sure of is that God is determined that Paul not perish at sea, and has further decided to preserve all those with him.

Paul's application of the angel's message to his fellow travelers is a call to keep up their courage. He also states that they will run aground on some island. He bases his call on his own faith that God's deed will match this prophetic word.

Paul models for us the stance of one who is convinced that God's gracious purposes cannot be thwarted, even when outward circumstances call that conviction into question. It is not that he is simply a practical man in a critical emergency—"keeping his head when all about him are losing theirs" (contrast Bruce 1988:475). Rather, it is precisely because he is an "impractical" holy man, a Christian apostle who receives messages from angels, that he can be an encouragement in the fury of the storm. His strength comes from beyond the storm: he "believes God," that he can accomplish what he has promised. Such faith is the foundation for a life of encouragement.