Hymn: “Out of My Bondage, Sorrow and Night” – William T.
Sleeper (1819-1904)
Tune: JESUS, I COME
A couple of storm-tossed Bible stories come to mind here:
Jonah’s voyage inside the giant fish, and Jesus’ calming the sea. A hymn or two
cross our minds as well: “When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,” and
“Master, the tempest is raging; the billows are tossing high.” We study and
sing much about turbulence turning to tranquility. There is a good reason for
that.
There are few days which do not bring with them a certain
amount of disruption, perhaps to the point of upheaval. I feel the earth move
under my feet… and there’s a whole lot of shakin’ going on. We want to cry out,
“There’s a storm a’ comin’, Auntie Em!” In the midst of those uprisings
monumental and/or miniscule, we are often thrown off course, tossed about or
capsized by it all.
Out of whatever it is that disquiets us, we come to Jesus
for calm. In all truth, it is not until the post-storm serenity has settled in
that we breathe a sigh of relief and utter at least one sincere. “Thank you,
Jesus” before we move ahead with our day.
My favorite slant on this hymnline comes in the second
phrase, indicating that out of distress comes song. For those of us who are
musically bent… or at have praise leanings… we get that phrase, we chew on it,
we ponder it, we agree with it wholeheartedly. Who has not risen from the real
or imagined ashes with a song of praise – a psalm, if you will - on their lips?
Few, if any. And for most of us, that musical expression may well be one of the
great hymns or a fragment thereof.
Basking in calmness seems incomplete unless out of the
steadied situation rises the steady beat.
The song you hear may not be “Here I come to save the day!”
But it may well be “Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed.” Your response
may not be “I did it my way,” but “To God be the glory, great things he hath
done” yet again and again!
You may go down fighting, but always come up singing!
Enjoy the richness of hearing this hymn sung in Dutch...proof that you don’t need the words to understand the strength of the message. If you don't usually listen, listen today!
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