Eternal Father, Strong to Save: Difference between revisions

"Eternal Father, Strong to Save", is a hymn often associated with the Royal Navy or the United States Navy. Accordingly, it is often known as the Royal Navy Hymn or the United States Navy Hymn (or just The Navy Hymn), and sometimes by the last line of its first verse, For those in peril on the sea.

The original hymn was written by William Whiting of Winchester, England, in 1860. It was originally intended as a poem for a student of his, who was about to travel to the United States. In 1861, John B. Dykes, an Anglican clergyman, composed the tune "Melita" for this hymn. ("Melita" is an archaic term for Malta, the site of a shipwreck involving the Apostle Paul mentioned in Acts of the Apostles chapters 27-28.)

The hymn is usually sung to the tune "Lodsworth". Like many hymns, this hymn can also be considered a prayer.

Eternal Father was one of the victims of the politically correct purge of the Methodist Hymnal in the 1980's.

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Eternal Father, Strong to Save

An instrumental sample of a single verse from Eternal Father, Strong to Save.

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Template:Sample box end The original words are:

Eternal Father, strong to save,

Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,

Who bidd'st the mighty ocean deep

Its own appointed limits keep;

Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,

For those in peril on the sea!

O Christ! Whose voice the waters heard

And hushed their raging at Thy word,

Who walked'st on the foaming deep,

And calm amidst its rage didst sleep;

Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,

For those in peril on the sea!

Most Holy Spirit! Who didst brood

Upon the chaos dark and rude,

And bid its angry tumult cease,

And give, for wild confusion, peace;

Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,

For those in peril on the sea!

O Trinity of love and power!

Our brethren shield in danger's hour;

From rock and tempest, fire and foe,

Protect them wheresoe'er they go;

Thus evermore shall rise to Thee

Glad hymns of praise from land and sea.

Certain verses have been changed in modern hymnals for stylistic reasons.

The first verse refers to God the Father's forbidding the waters to flood the earth as described in Psalm 104. The second verse refers to Jesus' miracles of stilling a storm and walking on the waters of the Sea of Galilee. The third verse references the Holy Spirit role in the creation of the earth in the Book of Genesis, while the final verse is a reference to Psalm 107.

In 1940, the U.S. Episcopal Church altered three verses of the hymn to include travel on the land in the second verse (referencing Psalm 50) and in the air in the third verse (again referencing Genesis). The Hymnal 1982, which is in current use by most Episcopal congregations in the USA, has further revised this version (as Hymn #579) with opening line "Almighty Father, strong to save..." by adding the word "space" to the final verse, so it ends "...praise from space, air, land, and sea" (because by 1982 space travel was a reality); the Hymnal also has a more traditional water-only version (as Hymn #608) with opening line "Eternal Father, strong to save..."

In US Naval Aviation circles, an additional verse is often added to the traditional hymn. The verse in question was taken from the hymn "Lord, Guard and Guide the Men Who Fly", which was written in 1915 and rearranged around the time of World War II.

Lord, guard and guide the men who fly

Through the great spaces in the sky.

Be with them always in the air,

In darkening storms or sunlight fair;

Oh, hear us when we lift our prayer,

For those in peril in the air!

Aloft in solitudes of space,

Uphold them with Thy saving grace.

Thou Who supports with tender might

The balanced birds in all their flight.

Lord, if the tempered winds be near,

That, having Thee, they know no fear.

— Mary C. D. Hamilton (1915)

Due to the hymn's association with the US Navy, additional verses have been written for various subdivisions and circumstances of the naval service, including Marines,

Eternal Father, grant, we pray,

To all Marines, both night and day,

The courage, honor, strength, and skill

Their land to serve, thy law fulfill

Be thou the shield forevermore

From every peril to the Corps.

— J. E. Seim (1966)

Seabees,

Lord, stand beside the men who build,

And give them courage, strength, and skill.

O grant them peace of heart and mind,

And comfort loved ones left behind.

Lord, hear our prayers for all Seabees,

Where'er they be on land or sea.

— R. J. Dietrich (1960)

The Merchant Marine,

Lord, stand beside the men who sail

Our merchant ships in storm and gale

In peace and war their watch they keep

On every sea, on thy vast deep.

Be with them Lord, by night and day

For Merchant Mariners we pray.

—Wynne McClintock (Wife of former USMMA Superintendent VADM, Gordon McClintock, USMS)

The Coast Guard,

Eternal Father, Lord of hosts,

Watch o'er the men who guard our coasts.

Protect them from the raging seas

And give them light and life and peace.

Grant them from thy great throne above

The shield and shelter of thy love.

— (1955) CWO George H. Jenks, Jr., USCG

Divers and Submariners,

Lord God, our power evermore,

Whose arm doth reach the ocean floor,

Dive with our men beneath the sea;

Traverse the depths protectively.

O hear us when we pray, and keep

Them safe from peril in the deep.

— David B. Miller (1965)

Naval Nurses,

O God, protect the women who,

In service, faith in thee renew;

O guide devoted hands of skill

And bless their work within thy will;

Inspire their lives that they may be

Examples fair on land and sea.

— Lines 1-4, Merle E. Strickland (1972) and adapted by James D. Shannon (1973); Lines 5-6, Beatrice M. Truitt (1948)

Antarctic and Arctic service,

Creator, Father, who dost show

Thy splendor in the ice and snow,

Bless those who toil in summer light

And through the cold antarctic night,

As they thy frozen wonders learn;

Bless those who wait for their return.

— L. E. Vogel (1965)

Space Travel,

Almighty ruler of the all

Whose power extends to great and small,

Who guides the stars with steadfast law,

Whose least creation fills with awe—

Oh grant Thy mercy and Thy grace

To those who venture into space.

— Robert A. Heinlein (1947) as part of his short story "Ordeal in Space".

Eternal Father, King of Birth,

Who didst create the Heaven and Earth,

And bid the planets and the Sun

Their own appointed orbits run;

O hear us when we seek Thy grace

For those who soar through outer space.

— J. E. Volonte (1961)

Those Wounded in Combat,

Creator, Father, Who first breathed

In us the life that we received,

By power of Thy breath restore

The ill, and men with wounds of war.

Bless those who give their healing care,

That life and laughter all may share.

— Galen H. Meyer (1969), adapted by James D. Shannon (1970)

Civilians at home,

God, Who dost still the restless foam,

Protect the ones we love at home.

Provide that they should always be

By Thine own grace both safe and free.

O Father, hear us when we pray

For those we love so far away.

— Hugh Taylor (date unknown)

The US Armed Forces,

Lord, guard and guide the men who fly

And those who on the ocean ply;

Be with our troops upon the land,

And all who for their country stand:

Be with these guardians day and night

And may their trust be in Thy might.

— Author Unknown (1955)

As well as the commissioning and decommissioning of a ship.

O Father, King of Earth and sea,

We dedicate this ship to thee.

In faith we send her on her way;

In faith to Thee we humbly pray:

O hear from Heaven our sailor's cry

And watch and guard her from on High!

— Author/date Unknown

And when at length her course is run,

Her work for home and country done,

Of all the souls that in her sailed

Let not one life in Thee have failed;

But hear from Heaven our sailor's cry,

And grant eternal life on High!

— Author/date Unknown

Additional Submarine verse

Bless those who serve beneath the deep,

Through lonely hours their vigil keep.

May peace their mission ever be,

Protect each one we ask of Thee.

Bless those at home who wait and pray,

For their return by night and day.

— Reverend Gale R. Williamson (date unknown)

This hymn has been played or sung at a number of funerals for those who have served in the US Navy. It was sung at the funeral of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, played by the Navy Band at the funeral of John F. Kennedy, and played by the Navy Band and the Coast Guard Band during the funeral of Ronald Reagan. Roosevelt had served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy and Kennedy was commanding officer of PT-109 in World War II.The hymn was also played to close the funeral of R. Buckminster Fuller, as well as at the Memorial Ceremony in Norfolk, VA for the USS Cole (DDG-67) after the bombing of the ship in October 2000. It was performed by the U.S. Navy Sea Chanters at the State Funeral of President Gerald R. Ford, who had served in the Navy during World War II in the Pacific Theater.

This hymn has been played or sung in a number of films and television programs dealing with the US Navy, including Crimson Tide and JAG. It has also been used in The Right Stuff (for Naval Aviation) and in The Perfect Storm (for civilians). In the show 24, the song was played as President David Palmer's casket was loaded onto an airplane bound for Arlington Cemetery. Tennessee Ernie Ford performed the hymn on a special episode of his television program filmed on a U.S. Naval carrier to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of U.S. naval aviation.

In Making Waves, it was sung by the crew of the Royal Navy ship HMS Suffolk at the Funeral of Andy Fellows.

Its usage in the movie Titanic contains an anachronism. The version sung in the movie is the 1940 Protestant Episcopal version, which was unwritten when the Titanic sank in 1912.

• "Eternal Father, Strong to Save" at CyberHymnal
• US Navy FAQ on the Navy Hymn

Eternal Father, Strong to Save is in the public domain. Some of the commentary is taken from http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/questions/eternal.html , which was written by a sailor or employee of the U.S. Navy during the course of the person's official duties. As a work of the U.S. Federal Government, it is in the public domain. The short quotation from Robert Heinlein is believed to be fair use. USCG source: http://www.uscg.mil/hq/chaplain/misc/coast_guard_hymn.htm The Methodist purge is described at http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/VA-Pilot/issues/1996/vp960705/07050242.htm.

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