~Peace, Be Still

       Word had just come that her beloved brother had passed away after suffering many months from a long and lingering illness.

       “This is more than I can bear,” exclaimed Horatius R. Palmer,

“What have I done to deserve this?”

       Gradually she came to realize that God is always a loving Heavenly Father, whether we are well or sick, rich or poor, and whether we succeed or fail, live or die. 

       A deeper, richer faith and more sincere trust took possession of her, and began to transform her from a rebellious daughter into an obedient and loving child.

       It was at this time, in 1874, that Rev. H. R. Palmer asked her to write several songs on the Sunday School lessons for that particular year.  The theme for one of the Sundays was “Christ Stilling the  Tempest.”

       Out of her own experience of tragedy she had learned that oftentimes Christ stills the troubled heart rather than—or as much as—the troubled sea. And possibly the miracle of Jesus was in changing the frightened disciples, as much as changing the elements of nature. 

       And with that in mind she began to write:

—Adapted from Ernest K. Emurian

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Peace, Be Still[1]

1           Master, the tempest is raging!

The billows are tossing high!

The sky is o’ershadowed with blackness,

No shelter or help is nigh;

Carest Thou not that we perish?

How canst Thou lie asleep,

When each moment so madly is threat’ning

A grave in the angry deep?

2           Master, with anguish of spirit

I bow in my grief today;

The depths of my sad heart are troubled;

O waken and save, I pray!

Torrents of sin and of anguish

Sweep o’er my sinking soul!

And I perish! I perish, dear Master;

O hasten, and take control!

3           Master, the terror is over,

The elements sweetly rest;

Earth’s sun in the calm lake is mirrored,

And heaven’s within my breast.

Linger, O blessed Redeemer,

Leave me alone no more;

And with joy I shall make the blest harbor,

And rest on the blissful shore.

Chorus  The winds and the waves shall obey Thy will,

Peace, be still!

Whether the wrath of the storm tossed sea,

Or demons, or men, or whatever it be,

No water can swallow the ship where lies

The Master of ocean and earth and skies;

They all shall sweetly obey Thy will,

Peace, be still!

Peace, be still!

They all shall sweetly obey Thy will,

Peace, peace, be still!