Eternal Father, Strong to Save

Earlier today, I was watching Fox News when a reporter stated that the favorite hymn of the late former President Gerald R. Ford was “Eternal Father, Strong to Save.” I, too, love this hymn and thought I would share it with you this morning.

Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bidd’st the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!

O Christ! Whose voice the waters heard
And hushed their raging at Thy Word,
Who walked’st on the foaming deep,
And calm amidst its rage didst sleep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!

Most Holy Spirit! Who didst brood
Upon the chaos dark and rude,
And bid its angry tumult cease,
And give, for wild confusion, peace;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!

O Trinity of love and power!
Our brethren shield in danger’s hour;
From rock and tempest, fire and foe,
Protest us wheresoe’er they go;
Thus evermore shall rise to Thee
Glad hymns of praise from land and sea.

I also found the following information about this hymn on Cyberhymnal.org:

Words: William Whiting, 1860. He wrote the lyrics as a poem for a student about to sail for America.

Music: Melita, John B. Dykes, in Hymns Ancient and Modern, 1861. Dykes fittingly named the tune after a locale associated with a Biblical shipwreck. Melita was the island the Apostle Paul reached after his ship went down (Acts 28:1); today we know it as the isle of Malta.

Listen for this hymn in the coming days as we progress through the ceremonies, services, and remembrances of the late former President.