LORD, this swelling, tideless sea,
Is like Thy love in Christ to me;
The ceaseless waves that fill the bay
Through flinty rocks have worn their way,
And Thy unceasing love alone
Hath broken though this heart of stone.
The countless smile that gilds the deep
When sunbeams on the water sleep,
Is like Thy countless smile of grace
When I am seen in Jesus' face.
No ebbing tide these waters know,
Pure, placid, constant in their flow -
No ebb Thy love to me hath known
Since first it chose me for Thine own.
Or, if perchance, at Thy command,
The wave retiring leaves the sand,
One moment all is dry, and then
It turns to fill the shore again:
So I have found Thy wondrous grace
Forsake my soul a little space;
Barren and cold, deserted, dry,
A helpless worm to Thee I cry;
Thy face is hid a little while,
But with the morning comes Thy smile -
Jesus once more His beauty shows,
And all my heart with peace o'erflows.
These deep blue waters lave the shore
Of Israel, as in days of yore!
Though Zion like a field is ploughed,
And Salem's covered with a cloud -
Though briers and thorns are tangled o'er
Where vine and olive twined before -
Though turbaned Moslems tread the gate,
And Judah sits most desolate -
Their nets o'er Tyre the fishers spread,
And Carmel's top is withered -
Yet still these waters clasp the shore
As kindly as they did before!
Such is Thy love to Judah's race,
A deep unchanging tide of grace.
Though scattered now at Thy command
They pine away in every land,
With trembling heart and failing eyes -
And deep the veil on Israel lies -
Yet still Thy word Thou canst not break,
"Beloved for their fathers' sake."
18th July 1839, near Acre.
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Robert Murray M'Cheyne (1813 - 1843)
Scottish divine, youngest son of Adam McCheyne, writer to the signet, was born in Edinburgh, 21 May 1813. At the age of four he knew the characters of the Greek alphabet, and was able to sing and recite fluently. He entered the high school in his eighth year, and matriculated in November 1827 at Edinburgh University, where he showed very versatile powers, and distinguished himself especially in poetical exercises, being awarded a special prize by Professor Wilson for a poem on 'The Covenanters.' In the winter of 1831 he commenced his studies in the Divinity Hall, under Dr. Chalmers and Dr. Welsh; and he was licensed as a preacher by the Annan presbytery on 1 July 1835.McCheyne devoted all his energies to preaching; and although he was an accomplished Hebrew scholar, he left few permanent proofs of his erudition. He had refined musical taste, and was one of the first of the Scottish ministers to take an active part in the improvement of the congregational service of praise. Long after his death he was constantly referred to as 'the saintly McCheyne.'