01162021 Songs in the Tempest

Dear Missionary Lady,

Greetings in the name of the One who is in the boat with us. I don't mean that at all irreverently. It is a truly comforting thought to know that, like the disciples who were battered in a storm in the midst of the sea, Jesus is with us in our storms.

Last night I woke up - actually, I probably had never fallen asleep - and my spirit craved the hymn below. "Master, the Tempest Is Raging" (by Mary A. Baker). I got up and found a recording of it online, and the words are comforting.

1. Master, the tempest is raging! The billows are tossing high!

The sky is o'ershadowed with blackness, No shelter or hope is nigh;

Carest Thou not that we perish? How canst Thou lie asleep,

When each moment so madly is threat'ning A grave in the angry deep?

Chorus: The winds and the waves shall obey Thy will, Peace, be still!

Whether the wrath of the storm-tossed sea,

Or demons or men, or whatever it be,

No waters can swallow the ship where lies

The Master of ocean, and earth, and skies;

They all shall sweetly obey Thy will, Peace, be still! Peace, be still!

They all shall sweetly obey Thy will, Peace, peace, be still!

 

2. Master, with anguish of spirit I bow in my grief today;

The depths of my sad heart are troubled - Oh, waken and save, I pray!

Torrents of sin and of anguish Sweep o'er my sinking soul;

And I perish! I perish! dear Master - Oh, hasten, and take control.

 

3. Master, the terror is over, The elements sweetly rest;

Earth's sun in the calm lake is mirrored, And heaven's within my breast;

Linger, O blessed Redeemer! Leave me alone no more;

And with joy I shall make the blest harbor, And rest on the blissful shore.

Sometimes verses 1 and 2 seem unending, but verse 3 always comes. How we need His grace and help to rest in the storm, to remember His presence, and to trust Him! He does indeed rule over all.

Love in Christ,

Peggy Holt

member at Open Door Baptist Church in Lebanon, PA