Hymns and Hymnwriters of Denmark ‎#31

31. What vessel is that passing

What vessel is that passing
Across the boundless deep,
On which the billows massing
In foaming fury sweep?
She seems in sore distress
As though she soon would founder
Upon the shoals around her
And sink without redress.

It is the storm-tossed vessel
Of God’s own church on earth,
With which the world doth wrestle,
And send its fury forth,
While Jesus oft appears
As though He still were sleeping,
With His disciples weeping
And crying out in fears.

But let the world with fury
Against the church but rave,
And spend its might to bury
Her in the roaring wave!
It only takes a word
To hush the wild commotion
And show the mighty ocean
Her Lord is still aboard.

Text Information

• First Line: What vessel is that passing
• Author: Thomas Kingo, 1634-1703
• Translator: J. C. Aaberg (1945)
• Meter: 7,6,7,6,6,7,7,6
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 1945

Tune Information

(No tune information)