There are many images in Scripture to communicate concepts about the Lord’s goodness to us. The Psalms are filled with references to the Lord as shepherd, refuge, fortress, lamp to our feet, the shade at our right hand, a mother hen, judge, and king. And in addition to those, in the New Testament, with the “I ams” in the Gospel of John, we read that Jesus described Himself as being like a vine, a door, the light of the world, the bread of life, as well as the Good Shepherd.
And so, it’s neither surprising nor without biblical warrant that we find hymn writers over the centuries who have provided poetic images of the Lord that enable us to have heightened appreciation of His goodness to us. One of those is found in the hymn “Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me,” written in 1870 by Presbyterian minister Edward Hopper (1818-1888), using vivid maritime imagery to portray Jesus as the guide who leads believers through life’s storms. We know of the pilot who helps steer a ship into port in the harbor, but this is the pilot who takes control of the ship still at sea as the winds and waves threaten her and her crew. This hymn was written especially for sailors in language they knew well: charts, compasses, and the absolute need for a competent pilot to guide their crafts over the tempestuous seas.
While few who sing this hymn today are literally on board ships at sea, every person, including Christians, live in a world filled with storms of many kinds, not to mention the tempests that arise in individual lives. Those storms that threaten all of us include wars on the international stage, persecution of Christians in regions hostile to the faith, and the uncertainties of economic upheavals. On an individual level, diseases, broken relationships, the challenges that come from the aging process, and financial shrinkage are all very real. How are we to navigate those dangers? We need a pilot to take the helm of our lives to not only settle our anxious hearts, but also to chart a course to lead us through them to safety and calm seas.