John Newton had a practice of writing a hymn to go along with the text for his Sunday morning sermon. (…which, by the way, is how he came to write “Amazing Grace”—not at the moment of his conversion on the deck of his storm-tossed ship, as the inspiring legend goes, but as musical recap for his congregation to sing after his sermon on 1 Chronicles 17:16. True story!) Here is the hymn he wrote after preaching on our text for today, Acts 27:
If Paul in Caesar’s court must stand,
He need not fear the sea;
Secured from harm on every hand
By the divine decree.
Although the ship in which he sailed
By dreadful storms was tossed,
The promise over all prevailed,
And not a life was lost.
Jesus! the God whom Paul adored,
Who saves in time of need,
Was then confessed, by all on board,
A present help indeed!
Though neither sun nor stars were seen,
Paul knew the Lord was near;
And faith preserved his soul serene,
When others shook for fear.
Believers thus are tossed about
On life’s tempestuous main;
But grace assures, beyond a doubt,
They shall their port attain.
They must, they shall appear one day,
Before their Savior’s throne;
The storms they meet with by the way
But make His power known.
Their passage lies across the brink
Of many a threatening wave;
The world expects to see them sink,
But Jesus lives to save.
Lord, though we are but feeble worms,
Yet since Thy word is past,
We’ll venture through a thousand storms
To see Thy face at last.