Long ago, a small group of men were riding out a rough storm on the Sea of Galilee. Fearing for their lives, they awakened their sleeping Master and implored, “Master, carest thou not that we perish?” Seeing their fear and hearing their plea, He calmed the tempest with the gentle command, “Peace, be still.”1
Nearly two millennia later, in the mid-1800s, a young man named William Whiting was caught in another furious storm while sailing on the Mediterranean. A spiritually minded person, he felt keenly his dependence on the protecting powers of heaven in the midst of the merciless wind and waves. Later, thinking of that frightening experience, he wrote these inspiring words:
Almighty Father, strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bidd’st the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep:
O hear us when we cry to Thee
For those in peril on the sea.
These words of supplication were set to music in 1861 by John Dykes and became known as the “Navy Hymn.” It was the favorite hymn of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and was sung at his funeral. It was played by the Navy Band in 1963 as the body of President John F. Kennedy was brought into the U.S. Capitol to lie in state. Today it is often heard at the funerals of veteran seafarers and is sung each week following worship services at the U.S. Naval Academy.2
This stirring hymn has special meaning for the storm-tossed sailor and for all of us when we face the storms of life. It reminds us that we can find peace when our thoughts are raised to the Master of heaven and earth with the heartfelt prayer, “O hear us when we cry to Thee.”
Program #4005
1 See Mark 4:36–41.
2 See “‘Eternal Father, Strong to Save’: The Navy Hymn,” www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq53-1.htm.