"Till the Storm Passes By"

On Friday, March 2, 2012, our country was ravaged by an outburst of terrible tornadoes that brought death and destruction in at least 13 states. One tornado in the state of Kentucky stayed on the ground for 95 miles! Two others stayed on the ground for some 40 miles. At least one town was completely destroyed. Some forty plus persons lost their lives in a moment of time when their houses and other buildings fell on them. One infant was found critically injured in a field and later we learned that she died, as well as the rest of her family. Hearts were broken and heads were bowed down with grief and sorrow as people saw the destruction of properties and learned of the loss of lives. You are made to feel so small and insignificant when you consider the onslaught of nature’s forces. My wife and I prepared the best we could by getting into closets when the warning came for our county but even then we did not feel secure. It is only when the clear signal was given did we feel relieved.

In life we all experience storms of various kinds. Sometimes like the tornadoes, they come upon us so suddenly that we are overwhelmed. Please excuse the personal experience but one of the greatest encounters with the storms of life was the death of my ‘baby brother’ who only 35 years of age when he was killed while walking across a four lane highway in the state of Pennsylvania. I received the news by telephone at 1:00 A.M. the following morning. The next day I had the responsibility of identifying his body. I sought refuge under the sheltering wings of my Heavenly Father. He was the second child of my mother to be killed. Her oldest was killed in WWII at the age of 19.

I have been with families who have lost loved ones and have witnessed the tremendous grief they suffered; especially do I remember when close friends lost their teenage daughter in an automobile accident. Then there is a friend who has been greatly affected with the ‘Lou Gehrig’ disease. In but a short time she has become almost completely helpless. Individuals as ‘wage earners’ for their families have lost their jobs because of the economical situation in our nation. People like widows who are on a limited income have to make decisions as to whether to fill their much needed medicine or to buy groceries. Almost daily we learn of families who have lost their loved ones in a foreign country as they serve in the military.

There is the constant threat of war between Israel and Iran that would involve our nation, along with others. Even our schools are not safe because of the real threat of some students bent on killing their classmates. Evil is ever present in our society. Slowly, but surely, some of our religious rights are being threatened by leaders on different levels of our government. We will all experience ‘storms of life’, especially if we live long enough that will bring us much sorrow and try our faith.

One of the basic reasons why I am thankful for the book of Psalm is because David suffered so much because of the ‘storms of life’. And that brings me to Psalm 57:1 which may have been written in a cave while he was hiding from King Saul who sought to kill him. Read carefully his words: “Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul trusts in You; And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, Until these calamities have passed by.”

As Christians many our hymns bring comfort and solace to our troubled hearts in the time of storms that we experience. In 1958, Mosie Lister wrote both the lyrics and music to this beautiful song. May it be of strength to you.

“Till the Storm Passes By”

In the dark of the midnight,

Have I oft hid my face;

While the storm howls above me,

And there's no hiding place;

'Mid the crash of the thunder,

Precious Lord, hear my cry;

"Keep me safe 'til the storm passes by."

Many times Satan whispers,

"There is no need to try;

For there's no end of sorrow,

There's no hope by and by";

But I know Thou art with me,

And tomorrow I'll rise;

Where the storms never darken the skies.

When the long night has ended,

And the storms come no more,

Let me stand in Thy presence.

On that bright, peaceful shore.

In that land where the tempest

Never comes, Lord may I

Dwell with Thee when the storm passes by.

(Chorus)

'Til the storm passes over,

'Til the thunder sounds no more;

'Til the clouds roll forever from the sky,

Hold me fast, let me stand,

In the hollow of Thy hand;

Keep me safe 'til the storm passes by.

Hold me fast, Let me stand,

In the hollow of Thy hand;

Keep me safe 'til the storm passes by.

Till the storm passes by.

Postscript ~ You can click here to hear an acapella version of this beautiful hymn. You will need to scroll all the way to the bottom and turn off the background music for this blog in order to hear "Till the Storm Passes By". Thank you for your patience.