The funeral of Mrs. Lee Kuan Yew caused me to reflect a great deal on the subject of death, hence the blog under the caption “Abide with me” was written. I meditated a great deal on the lovely hymn, “Abide with me.” It’s a pity we don’t seem to use this hymn except during funerals and sad to say that many of our young people don’t seem to know it at all.
Hymns quite often use maritime imagery to speak about God’s guidance. Let me highlight one word in the third verse which is quite often misunderstood.
“I need Thy presence every passing hour;
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s power?
Who like Thyself my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, O abide with me!
The Oxford Dictionary defines the word ‘stay’ as “A large rope used to support a mast, and leading from its head down to some other mast or spar, or to some part of the ship. Something that supports or steadies something else; especially an appliance for holding up or securing in position some part of a structure.”
That word ‘stay’ is not a verb, but a noun. The masts of a ship have to be sturdily supported to prevent them from falling. A demasting would be terrible disaster to the whole ship. A ‘stay’ is the answer to the problem. It is a stout rope stretching from the bowsprit (the pole extending out over the front of the ship) up over the top of each mast and down to the stern. The thick rope keeps the masts from falling forward or backward. Thus it is the ‘mainstay’ of the ship. Everything depends on the mainstay.
Thank God Jesus is my guide and stay in life. The storms may come, but I have Jesus my guide and stay. I pray that the Lord will make my life a ‘stay’ for someone in need.
Prayer: Lord, be my stay and grant me the grace of a stout heart to bear my own burdens. Give me a willing heart to bear the burdens of others. Give me a believing heart to cast all my burdens upon You, my Help, my Guide and my Stay. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
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