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2 Comments

  1. Iggy Antiochus
    3 May 2010 @ 5:43 am

    Lutheran Service Book has two versions of Eternal Father, one is the traditional Navy Hymn, the other is for those at sea, on land, and in the air.

    When Worship Supplement ’98 came out, they did not realize there were two versions. They chose the sea-land-air text. It wasn’t long before our Navy Men spoke up and they were able to publish both versions for the release of LSB in 2006.

    • rcottrill
      3 May 2010 @ 7:51 am

      Interesting. I have seen both versions–in fact, several versions. Mary Hamilton gave us, “Lord, guard and guide the men who fly / Through the great spaces in the sky…” Poetically superior in my view is Robert Nelson Spencer’s, “O Wind of heaven, by Thy might / Save all who dare the eagle’s flight…”

      It is worthwhile to have a prayer hymn for protection that covers land, sea and air, but I still greatly appreciate Whiting’s 1860 original. For him, the unifying factor was the triune Godhead–Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each addressed in succeeding stanzas, with “O Trinity of love and power…” in the fourth.