579 Christian Responsibility

 

1. 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.

 

2. O Christ, the Lord of hill and plain

o’er which our traffic runs a main

by mountain pass or valley low;

wherever Lord, thy people go,

protect them by thy guarding hand

from every peril on the land.

 

3. O Spirit, whom the Father sent

to spread abroad the firmament;

O Wind of heaven, by thy might

save all who dare the eagle’s flight,

and keep them by thy watchful care

from every peril in the air.

 

4. O Trinity of love and power,

our people shield in danger’s hour;

from rock and tempest, fire and foe,

protect them where so e’er they go;

thus evermore shall rise to thee

glad praise from space, air, land, and sea.

 

Words: Sts. 1 & 4, William Whiting (1825-1878), alt; sts. 2-3, Robert Nelson Spencer (1877-1961), alt. Music: Melita, John Bacchus Dykes (1823-1876)