Eternal Father, Strong to Save: A Trinitarian Hymn Reflection
William Whiting (1825?–1878) wrote “Eternal Father, Strong to Save” in 1860, and the text and the tune written for its accompaniment by John Bacchus Dykes (1823–1876) appeared in the well-known collection, Hymns Ancient and Modern in 1861. Whiting is the author of a collection of hymns, Rural Thoughts and Scenes (1851), as well as a narrative entitled Edgar Thorpe (1867). Dykes, also the composer of NICAEA (tune married to “Holy, Holy, Holy”), was a well-known musician and theologian and hailed as one of the most prolific Victorian composers of hymn tunes.
The story told regarding Whiting’s inspiration for this hymn is that he wrote it for a young student who was soon to sail across the ocean to America; he entrusted Whiting with his fears of the sea, and he consequently wrote this hymn for him to “anchor his faith.” However, this story is unproven, and other historians believe it may have been inspired by the tumultuous seas and many shipwrecks occurring the year before its composition. Dykes’ tune, MELITA, has been the constant-paired melody to this text from its origin. The name of the tune derives from the island of Melita (Malta) on which the apostle Paul landed following the dreadful shipwreck accounted in Acts 27:1–28:1. While the story behind the hymn has been construed in many ways, Whiting could not have known the extents to which his hymn of prayer to the Trinity would one day reach, crossing many lands and seas.
Cultural Popularity
This Trinitarian hymn has been widely received into popular culture due its adoption as somewhat of an anthem for the naval forces of the United States, Great Britain, and France. Also known as “Navy Hymn,” it was used as early as 1879 by the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis to conclude Sunday services. It has been performed at the funerals of at least five U.S. presidents, including Franklin D. Roosevelt (1945) and John F. Kennedy (1963), and it is rumored to have been the favorite hymns of both Roosevelt and Winston Churchill. Also, the performance of this hymn is the climax of Benjamin Britten’s Noye’s Fludde, a play performed in 1958 depicting the biblical story of Noah’s ark and the Great Flood. The hymn is also believed to have been sung the morning before the Titanic sank, although its portrayal on the movie version (1997) is anachronistic, as the some of the additional stanzas sung had not been written at that time. With numerous stanzas adapted to fit the gamut of the world’s military forces, “Eternal Father, Strong to Save” has allowed the praises of the Trinity to grace the tongues of millions worldwide.
Textual Analysis
Of the four original stanzas, the first three address the Father, Son, and Spirit respectively, referring to their control of the seas, while the fourth stanza addresses the Trinity as a whole.
1. Eternal Father, strong to save,
whose arm doth bind the restless wave,
who bidd’st the mighty ocean deep
its own appointed limits keep:
O hear us when we cry to thee
for those in peril on the sea.
The first stanza, addressing the Eternal Father, references the creation of the waters in Genesis 1:9, as well as the description of the stormy seas in Psalm 107:23–30, in which the shipmen “cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress” (28). The “appointed limits” refers to God’s whirlwind answer to Job, when He says that it was He who “shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb” (Job 38:8).
2. O Saviour whose almighty word
the winds and waves submissive heard,
who walkedst on the foaming deep,
and calm amid its rage didst sleep:
O hear us when we cry to thee
for those in peril on the sea.
The second stanza references two accounts of Jesus’s miraculous control of the seas recorded in the Gospels. Whiting depicts the waters hearing the rebuke of Jesus after he was awakened by the fearful disciples from His sleep in the boat amid a great storm (Matthew 8:23–27). Also, this stanza references the Matthew 14 account of Jesus walking across the sea to the disciples’ boat that was “beaten by the waves” in the darkness of night. When Peter steps out of the boat walking on the seas to Jesus, he is frightened by the winds and cries out for help from the peril of the sea surrounding him (Matthew 14:22–33). Jesus calmed the seas, and His witnesses worshiped Him for His identity in the economic Trinity—the Son of God.
3. O sacred Spirit, who didst brood
upon the chaos dark and rude,
who bad’st its angry tumult cease,
and gavest light and life and peace:
O hear us when we cry to thee
for those in peril on the sea.
The third stanza references the Holy Spirit “hovering over the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:2). The chaos does not refer to a storm at creation, but rather the chaos of creation yet without order. However, thereafter came light (v. 3–4), life (v. 26–27), and peace (Genesis 2:1–3).
4. O Trinity of love and power,
our brethren shield in danger’s hour;
from rock and tempest, fire and foe,
protect them whereso’ er they go:
and ever let there rise to thee
glad hymns of praise from land and sea.
The final stanza references Psalm 107:23–32, in which the seamen saw the mighty power of God as he “commanded and raised the stormy wind” (25). In the midst of the storm, the psalmist writes that they “were at their wit’s end” (v. 27); as this hymn reflects, at our wit’s end, we can only cry to the Lord in our trouble, and he will deliver in our distress (v. 28).
“He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed.
Then they were glad that the waters were quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven.
Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man! Let them extol him in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders.” Psalm 107:29–32
Evaluation
While “Eternal Father, Strong to Save” is lauded often as a great congregational hymn due to its simple meter, rhyme scheme, and accessible tune, this hymn should not be a part of the regular repertory of the church due to the nature of its text. Although it does accurately reflect the prayerful plea of protection for those facing the perils of the sea, and it does biblically address the Trinity and its sovereignty over creation, the specific nature of this hymn is more fit for the congregations of military forces, as it is most often used historically. In celebration state occasions and holidays such as Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day, funerals of servicemen and women, and a host of other special ceremonies, this hymn of praise has glorified the Trinity for 150 years and will continue as long as humanity recognizes their need for protection from the Triune, Sovereign God.
