Photo: RNZ / Bill Hickman
It's Sea Sunday today, remembering and celebrating those whose workplace is the sea with hymns including Eternal Father (the 'Navy Hymn') and Will your anchor hold.
SONG: O, THE DEEP, DEEP LOVE OF JESUS
Artist: Choir of St Paul’s Cathedral, Wellington, Michael Stewart (dir), Richard Apperley (organ)
Words/Music: Trevor Francis/Thomas Williams
Recording: RNZ 2020
O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
vast, unmeasured, boundless, free,
rolling as a mighty ocean
in its fullness over me.
Underneath me, all around me,
is the current of Thy love;
leading onward, leading homeward
to my glorious rest above.
O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
spread His praise from shore to shore!
How He loveth, ever loveth,
changeth never, nevermore!
How He watcheth o'er His loved ones,
died to call them all His own;
how for them He intercedeth,
watcheth o'er them from the throne.
Oh, the deep, deep love of Jesus!
Love of every love the best:
vast the ocean of his blessing,
sweet the haven of his rest!
Oh, the deep, deep love of Jesus,
very heaven of heavens to me,
and it lifts me up to glory,
evermore his face to see.
SONG: PRAISE THE LORD! YE HEAVENS ADORE HIM
Artist: Choir of Belfast Cathedral
Words/Music: Richard Mant/Joseph Haydn
Recording: Priory PRCD 722
Praise the Lord! ye heav'ns adore him;
Praise him angels, in the height;
Sun and moon, rejoice before him;
Praise him, all ye stars of light.
Praise the Lord! for he has spoken;
Worlds his mighty voice obeyed;
Laws which never shall be broken
For their guidance he has made.
Praise the Lord! for he is glorious;
Never shall his promise fail;
God has made his saints victorious;
Sin and death shall not prevail.
Praise the God of our salvation!
Hosts on high his pow'r proclaim;
Heav'n, and earth, and all creation,
Laud and magnify his name.
Worship, honor, glory, blessing,
Lord, we offer unto thee;
Young and old, thy praise expressing,
In glad homage bend the knee.
All the saints in heav'n adore thee,
We would bow before thy throne;
As thine angels serve before thee,
So on earth thy will be done.
SONG: PSALM 148, O PRAISE THE LORD OF HEAVEN
Artist: Choir of Westminster Abbey
Words/Music: Psalm 148/Charles Stanford
Recording: Virgin 545036
O praise the Lord of heaven:
praise him in the height.
Praise him, all ye angels of his:
praise him, all his hosts.
Praise him, sun and moon:
praise him, all ye stars and light.
Praise him, all ye heavens:
and ye waters that are above the heavens.
Let them praise the name of the Lord:
for he spake the word, and they were made
he commanded, and they were created.
He hath made them fast for ever and ever:
he hath given them a law which shall not be broken.
Praise the Lord upon earth:
ye dragons and all deeps;
Fire and hail, snow and vapours:
wind and storm, fulfilling his word;
Mountains and all hills:
fruitful trees and all cedars;
Beasts and all cattle:
worms and feathered fowls;
Kings of the earth, and all people:
princes, and all judges of the world;
Young men and maidens, old men and children,
praise the name of the Lord:
for his name only is excellent,
and his praise above heav'n and earth.
He shall exalt the horn of his people,
all his saints shall praise him:
even the children of Israel,
even the people that serveth him.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost,
as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end.
Amen.
SONG: ETERNAL FATHER, STRONG TO SAVE
Artist: Choir and Congregation of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, Gordon St John Clarke (dir)
Words/Music: William Whiting/John Dykes
Label: Abbey 280826
Eternal father, strong to save,
Whose arm doth bind the restless wave,
Who bids 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 Saviour, whose almighty word
The wind and waves submissive heard,
Who walkedst on the foaming deep,
And calm amid its rage did sleep:
O 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,
Protect them wheresoe'er they go:
And evermore shall rise to thee
Glad hymns of praise from land and sea.
SONG: WILL YOUR ANCHOR HOLD
Artist: Choir of Ely Cathedral
Words/Music: Priscilla Owens/Kirkpatrick
Recording: Priory 1999
Will your anchor hold in the storms of life,
when the clouds unfold their wings of strife?
When the strong tides lift, and the cables strain,
will your anchor drift, or firm remain?
Refrain:
We have an anchor that keeps the soul
steadfast and sure while the billows roll;
fastened to the Rock which cannot move,
grounded firm and deep in the Saviour’s love!
It is safely moored, ’twill the storm withstand,
For ’tis well secured by the Saviour’s hand;
And the cables passed from His heart to mine,
Can defy the blast, through strength divine.
Refrain:
It will firmly hold in the straits of fear,
When the breakers have told the reef is near;
Though the tempest rave and the wild winds blow,
Not an angry wave shall our bark o’erflow.
Refrain:
It will surely hold in the floods of death,
When the waters cold chill our latest breath;
On the rising tide it can never fail,
While our hopes abide within the veil.
Refrain:
When our eyes behold through the glaring light
the city of gold, the harbour bright?
winch the anchor fast by the heavenly shore,
where the storms are past for evermore.
Refrain:
SONG: I, THE LORD OF SEA AND SKY
Artist: Wells Cathedral Choir, Malcolm Archer (dir), Rupert Gough (organ)
Words/Music: Daniel Schutte
Recording: Hyperion 711210
I, the Lord of sea and sky,
I have heard My people cry.
All who dwell in dark and sin,
My hand will save.
I who made the stars of night,
I will make their darkness bright.
Who will bear My light to them?
Whom shall I send?
Refrain:
Here I am Lord, Is it I Lord?
I have heard You calling in the night.
I will go Lord, if You lead me.
I will hold Your people in my heart.
I, the Lord of snow and rain,
I have born my people’s pain.
I have wept for love of them, They turn away.
I will break their hearts of stone,
Give them hearts for love alone.
I will speak My word to them,
Whom shall I send?
Refrain:
I, the Lord of wind and flame,
I will tend the poor and lame.
I will set a feast for them,
My hand will save
Finest bread I will provide,
Till their hearts be satisfied.
I will give My life to them,
Whom shall I send?
Refrain:
SONG: OUR FATHER
Artist: Choir of Durham Street Methodist Church, Wallace Woodley (dir)
Words/Music: Lord’s Prayer/Wallace Woodley
Recording: Private CD817
Our Father in heaven
hallowed be your name
your kingdom come, your will be done
on earth as in heav’n.
Give us today our daily bread
forgive us our sins as we forgive those
who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil,
for the kingdom, the power, and the glory
are yours, now and forever.
Amen.
SONG: THE LORD’S MY SHEPHERD
Artist: Amy Wood (sop), Daisy Fancourt (org), Mary Scully (dbass), Enchanted Voices, Tippett Quartet, Howard Goodall (dir)
Words/Music: Psalm 23/Howard Goodall
Recording: Classic FM CFMD 13
The Lord is my Shepherd, I'll not want;
He maketh me down to lie in green pastures
He leadeth me
Besides the still waters
The Lord is my Shepherd, I'll not want;
He maketh me down to lie in green pastures
He leadeth me
Besides the still waters
Yea though I walk through the valley in the shadow of death
I will fear no evil
Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
I will fear no evil
For you are with me
you will comfort me
You are with me
you will comfort me
Comfort me
Surely goodness and mercy
shall follow me all the days of my life
and I will dwell in the house of thy Lord forever.
