Sometime around the third decade of the 19th Century (in the 1820s), the author of some song lyrics, about something we don’t often hear mentioned, wrote with an utter confidence and joy, because “From Every Stormy Wind” he felt his rescue and eternal home were secure. Hugh Stowell was an English cleric in the Anglican Church, so it was not a surprise that he was steeped in theology and could thus write and speak boldly about safety in Christ. And what had he seen or heard that would enable him to do that? It was a “Peace at the Mercy Seat” (his hymn’s original title) that was Hugh’s foundation. He’d connected what God had said to Moses in the desert during the exodus from Egypt, and what a writer said centuries later about that same special place called the mercy seat (see a picture of it here, as it is depicted in the 1890 Holman Bible). We might not hear this term – atonement -- very often either, but Hugh certainly had. Saved, forgiven, rescued, graced…those might be more familiar to us, but put yourself in Moses’ sandals for a few moments. What was it like for him to meet the Holy God, and to know he couldn’t be clean enough for Him, except for His provision of mercy. Only God could take the steps necessary to ‘repair or make amends for a wrong action in restoring a relationship’. That last phrase is how your PC might define atonement for you.
Hugh must have been familiar with these two scriptures, and many more. Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. (Hebrews 9:5) and also, the following: “You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold. Two cubits and a half shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth. And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work shall you make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end. Of one piece with the mercy seat shall you make the cherubim on its two ends. The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be. And you shall put the mercy seat on the top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I shall give you. There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel. (Exodus 25:17-22) God planned to speak to the people from the mercy seat. Only He can occupy that space. Hugh didn’t have to ponder other earthly circumstances with dread from that point forward, as he expressed in his six lyrical verses. Nothing overwhelms His mercy when I accept what He’s done. Moses got it too, and so the people constructed the ark and the mercy seat as instructed. He could not see God’s face – he could not have survived such a vision – but he could do what God told him in order to meet His mercy. And, so can I.
‘Stormy wind’, and ‘woes’ (v.1) – those are about as much as Hugh had to say about mortal challenges, for there were so many other words to use in praise of the mercy seat in his poetry. Oh, we might feel ‘tempted’, ‘desolate’, ‘dismayed’, or ‘defeat(ed)’ (v. 4), but High did not dwell on those for long. Instead, he sensed ‘calm’, ‘sure(ty)’ (v.1); the ‘oil of gladness’, and ‘sweet(ness)’ (v.2); ‘blend(ing) of spirits’, ‘fellowship’, and ‘friend(ship)’ (v.3); being able to ‘soar like an eagle’, and a ‘greet(ing) from ‘Heaven’ -- what an amazing thought! (v.5). It was enough to make Hugh undismayed, even if his hands no longer worked as well, or if he could no longer speak, or even if his own heart stopped working (v.6). If the mercy seat remained a place where God still would want to meet him, that was enough. Moses may have sensed God’s anger on occasion – and so did the people. But, was it not worse when He stopped providing mercy for a time, as He did on multiple occasions during the time of the judges, when the people needed to be chastened (see Judges 2:11-15 as one example)? Even then, He responded in pity to bail them out when they groaned in pain (Judges 2:18). He’s still willing to reach down for me today, and you too. He’s got Jesus in the mercy seat, so go meet Him there.
See more information on the song story in these sources: The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs by William J. Petersen and Ardythe Petersen, Tyndale House Publishers, 2006; Amazing Grace: 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions by Kenneth W. Osbeck, Kregel Publications, 1990; and 101 Hymn Stories, by Kenneth W. Osbeck, Kregel Publications, 1982.
See here for the hymn’s original six verses: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/f/r/o/m/e/fromevsw.htm
See information on the image here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Holman_The_Mercy_Seat.jpg …This media file is in the public domain in the United States. This applies to U.S. works where the copyright has expired, often because its first publication occurred prior to January 1, 1931, and if not then due to lack of notice or renewal. See this page for further explanation….found inside this document -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercy_seat
