John Calvin Commentary Acts 27:42

"And the soldiers` counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any [of them] should swim out, and escape." — Acts 27:42 (ASV)

The counsel of the soldiers. This was an utterly horrible ingratitude. Though the soldiers could thank Paul two or three times for their lives, yet they resolved to kill him, for whose sake they should have spared the rest. He had saved them as if he were an angel of God; he had given them sound counsel; he had refreshed them on the same day when they were beyond hope; and now they do not hesitate to seek to destroy him, by whom they had been so often and in so many ways delivered.

Therefore, if it happens that we are poorly rewarded for our good deeds, there is no reason why the ingratitude of people should trouble us, which is an all too common affliction. But they are not only ungrateful to Paul, who was the instrument of their survival, but also their vile unbelief and forgetfulness of God’s goodness reveals itself.

They had recently received that divine message that their lives were given to Paul. And now, seeing that they expect to be saved after he is dead, what else are they attempting to do but to resist God, so that they might save themselves from death contrary to His will?

Therefore, they have now forgotten that grace which they tasted, against their will, in extreme despair; nor do they savor it any longer, now that they see the harbor near at hand.

But it is fitting for us to consider the wonderful plan of God, both in saving Paul and in fulfilling His promise, as He brings those men to land who did what they could to nullify His promise.

Thus His goodness often strives with the wickedness of people. Yet He so pities the wicked that, deferring their punishment until a suitable opportunity, He does not completely release them. Indeed, the longer He waits, the more severely He punishes, and so in that way He makes up for His long delay.