Scripture Verse

They that go down to the sea in ships…they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and He bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Psalm 107:23, 28–29

Introduction

portrait
Eliza E. Hewitt (1851–1920)

Words: Eli­za E. Hew­itt, in The Voice of Praise, ed­it­ed by J. Lin­coln Hall, C. Aus­tin Miles & Ir­vin H. Mack (Phi­la­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia: Hall-Mack, 1904), num­ber 78.

Music: William A. Post (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know where to get a good pho­to of Post (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els), or a bet­ter one of Hall,

Lyrics

We’re sail­ing, sail­ing over life’s great sea,
And other ships are pass­ing by;
The migh­ty Sav­ior shall our cap­tain be,
His star is shin­ing in the sky.
But while in safe­ty we may glide along,
Led by the Light that ne­ver fails,
O hear the cry that ris­es full and strong
From those who strug­gle with the gales.

Refrain

Ship ahoy! Hear the cry!
God save them, we fer­vent­ly pray!
Ship ahoy! Hear the cry!
O haste to the res­cue today!

Lift up the bea­con that shall guide the lost
Unto the ha­ven bright and fair;
O help the wan­d’ring and the tem­pest tossed,
That peace and shel­ter they may share.
O bring the ship­wrecked to the Life­boat true,
Our re­fuge in the wild­est storm;
Sing out with glad­ness and with hope anew,
Our cap­tain will His word per­form.

Refrain

We’re sail­ing, sail­ing ov­er life’s great sea,
And not alone our way we take;
For oth­ers, sail­ing, look to you and me!
O help them for the Mas­ter’s sake!
The po­lar star of mer­cy shines above,
Our an­chor holds for­ev­er more;
And dear ones wait, with joy­ful songs of love,
To greet us on the gold­en shore.

Refrain