Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found; surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him. You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance. I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
Psalm 32:6-8
Concordia is only a twenty-minute drive from the Pacific Ocean. We reap the benefits of living near the sea: Saturday escapes to warm toes in the sand, sunset walks on the beach with friends and loved ones, refreshing dips in the calming salt water. But what about the dangers associated with it as well? The ocean’s peace contrasts with its overwhelming size and easy ability to swallow up entire towns and villages in the event of a tsunami—this natural power can be as devastating as it is soothing.
Hymnwriter Louisa Stead experienced the “rush of great waters” when her husband drowned in an attempt to save a little boy from the Long Island Sound’s depths. Louisa, along with her four-year-old daughter, mourned and sought a hiding place in Christ. She poured out her grief and devotion to the Lord with the words “Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, just to take Him at His word.” In this now beloved hymn, she twists the menace of water into the following: “O how sweet to trust in Jesus, just to trust His cleansing blood; and in simple faith to plunge me ‘neath the healing, cleansing flood!” What courage to write such words following her husband’s death.
I confess myself overcome by events far less tragic than what Louisa Stead experienced. Is my first thought to offer a godly prayer to the Lord when I struggle? Not always. Do I cling to Christ as my preserver, my hiding place? Never as often as I should. But if He rescues us from eternal death and grants us salvation, how can we not trust Him? He is our refuge in the midst of any trials we might experience.
The gravity of our sin and the world’s fallen state are cause for reflection this Lenten season. But when waters threaten to close over our heads, let us seek the stronghold in the sea’s midst, our Savior. He is there to deliver us, to teach us, and ultimately, to guide us home.
Gretchen Sheetz '14
CUI Adjunct Professor