After the storm


In the dark of the midnight,
Have I oft hid my face;
While the storm howls above me,
And there's no hiding place;
'Mid the crash of the thunder,
Precious Lord, hear my cry;
"Keep me safe 'til the storm passes by."

Till the storm passes over, till the thunder sounds no more,
Till the clouds roll forever from the sky;
Hold me fast, let me stand in the hollow of Thy hand,
Keep me safe till the storm passes by.

Many times Satan whispers,
"There is no need to try;
For there's no end of sorrow,
There's no hope by and by";
But I know Thou art with me,
And tomorrow I'll rise;
Where the storms never darken the skies.

When the long night has ended,
And the storms come no more,
Let me stand in Thy presence.
On that bright, peaceful shore.
In that land where the tempest
Never comes, Lord may I
Dwell with Thee when the storm passes by.
~ "Til the Storm Passes By", Mosie Lister, 1958 ~

This was my favorite campfire song at church camp when I was a kid.  There is a great four-part harmony that is easy to pick up and I will never forget my dad strumming out the chords on his 12 string guitar the one year that he brought it along (always accompanied by his proviso and equivocating arguments prior to performance).  One look to the evening sky tonight reminded me that after the storm comes the beautiful sunset.  It is easy to get wrapped up in the immediacy and fear that comes with the storm clouds, under which we've been perched for so long.  I've been re-reading an interesting book on suffering - Polishing God's Monuments: Pillars of Hope for Punishing Times - which reminds me to look everywhere for signs of God's faithfulness, especially to the patterns of my own life and the world that surrounds me.  Though we struggle, he will never leave us nor forsake us, and upholds us and strengthens us until the clouds dissipate.  In fact, some of the best days of my life have also been the worst ones.

Hold me fast, let me stand in the hollow of Thy hand, keep me safe 'til this storm passes by.  My prayer.  Sustain me through this one, Lord, show me the beautiful sunset between, and prepare me for the next.

1 comment:

robert said...

Thank you for sharing so frankly and insightfully about the trials you are facing. Sometimes there is simply no clear answer to the "Why?" question. At such times we have to trust that God knows what He's doing. (Easier said than done sometimes, as I well know!)

The other assurance we have from God's Word is that there will be an end to the storm. Meantime, Mosie Lister's great gospel song expresses the prayer of faith: "Keep me safe, 'til the storm passes by."

May the Lord bless you and give you daily grace. And if you enjoy reading about our hymns and their authors, I invite you to check out my daily blog on the subject, Wordwise Hymns.

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