FROM EVERY STORMY WIND

"I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat." Exodus 25:22

Words: Hugh Stowell, in The Winter's Wreath, a Collection of Original Contributions in Prose and Verse, 1828. Stowell rewrote & republished the words in 1831.
Music: "Retreat," Thomas Hastings, 1842.

From every stormy wind that blows,
From every swelling tide of woes,
There is a calm, a sure retreat;
'Tis found beneath the mercy seat.

There is a place where Jesus sheds
The oil of gladness on our heads;
A place than all besides more sweet;
It is the blood bought mercy seat.

There is a scene where spirits blend,
Where friend holds fellowship with friend;
Though sundered far, by faith they meet
Around one common mercy seat.

There, there, on eagles' wings we soar,
And time and sense seem all no more;
And heaven comes down, our souls to greet,
And glory crowns the mercy-seat.

Oh, let my hand forget her skill,
My tongue be silent, cold, and still,
This bounding heart forget to beat,
If I forget the mercy seat!