We sang the hymn Eternal father strong to save at church this evening. According to Wikipedia, it was written in 1860 by William Whiting, who was inspired by the dangers of the sea described in Psalm 107:
Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm does bind the restless wave,
Who bids the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
O hear us when we cry to Thee
For those in peril on the sea.
I wanted to change the preposition in the last line from ‘on’ to ‘in’, because having seen the film Deep Rising, I have become aware that the extraordinary creatures living on the deep ocean floor are under threat from devastating mining operations for the ‘green’ energy revolution. The extraction of metals from the seabed for electric battery technology is having catastrophic consequences for the creatures living in this fragile and mysterious ecosystem.
Verse 4 of this hymn is my prayer for all the inhabitants of the seabed: O Trinity of love and pow’r,Your children shield in danger’s hour;
From rock and tempest, fire, and foe,
Protect them where-so-e’er they go;
Thus, evermore shall rise to Thee
Glad hymns of praise from land and sea. Author: William Whiting (1860)