Jesus, Saviour, Pilot Me

The pastor of The Church of Sea and Land, near New York harbour wrote what has become known as the sailors` hymn, `Jesus, Saviour, Pilot Me`. I love the words which say, `Jesus, Saviour, pilot me over life’s tempestuous sea. Unknown waves before me roll, hiding rock and treacherous shoal. Chart and compass come from Thee. Jesus, Saviour, pilot me`.

Tennessee Ernie Ford said of it, “Life is still a voyage through a storm. So, help me, Jesus. Pilot me. Take hold of my ship. With You to guide me, I`ll make it.”

I grew up knowing about the dangers of the sea and ships, as my father was a skipper on fishing boats and had served in World War 2 as a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy Reserve in the boom defence of Singapore. After the war he had changed to skippering tugboats as the fishing industry was in decline.

When I was six years old, my mother told me how he had nearly died when his tugboat caught fire one night and sunk. He had sent up the distress rocket, put on his lifebelt, and waited in the freezing cold sea for the lifeboat to rescue him. When it didn`t come, he thought he was about to die, and he prayed and committed my mother and me into God`s hands. A fishing boat, which had seen the rocket and searched in vain, then decided to turn around and do one last search. When they picked him up out of the water, he was unconscious.

When a skipper comes to a port, and is in unknown waters, he needs a pilot to guide him safely into the harbour of that port. A pilot knows exactly where the sandbanks and rocks are, but others do not, because they are hidden below the water. In the same way we may experience a situation where we do not know which path to take. Life may seem to be under our control until we meet unexpected disasters, traumas, and tragedies. We can feel helpless, not knowing what to do.

We can ask our Lord Jesus to be our pilot. Psalm 23 says of the Lord, `He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name` (Psalms 23:3, ).NLT

The disciples were terrified one night and thought they were about to die. They discovered that Jesus was Lord over the storm and that He expected them to put their faith in Him in this situation. `And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm` (Matthew 8:24- 26)