GHS 96 : Peace! Be Still Lyrics
GHS 96, “Peace! Be Still,” is a narrative hymn built around the story of Jesus calming the storm in Mark chapter 4. Written by Mary Ann Baker, the hymn uses the three stanzas to trace three stages that believers often pass through: the panic of the storm, the anguish of a soul that feels unheard and about to perish, and the settled calm that follows when Jesus speaks. The refrain contains the words He actually spoke that night on the Sea of Galilee, and it expands them to declare that this same authority extends over every storm, whether of nature, of sin, or of the inner life.
The hymn is a powerful reminder that Jesus is Master not only of wind and water but of the deep fears and sorrows within the human heart. This hymn appears as number 96 in the Gospel Hymns and Songs (GHS) collection, used in Deeper Life Bible Church and related assemblies across West Africa, and it is often sung in services focused on God’s power over life’s most overwhelming seasons.
Hymn Lyrics – GHS 96: Peace! Be Still
- Master, the tempest is raging! The billows are tossing high! The sky is o’er-shadowed with blackness, No shelter or help is nigh: “Carest Thou not that we perish?” How canst Thou lie asleep, When each moment so madly is threatening A grave in the angry deep?
“The winds and the waves shall obey My will, Peace, be still!” Whether the wrath of the storm-tossed sea, Or demons, or men, or whatever it be, No water can swallow the ship where lies The Master of ocean and earth and skies; They all shall sweetly obey My will; Peace, be still! Peace, be still!
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Master, with anguish of spirit I bow in my grief today; The depths of my sad heart are troubled; O waken and save, I pray! Torrents of sin and of anguish Sweep o’er my sinking soul! And I perish! I perish, dear Master; O hasten, and take control!
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Master, the terror is over, The elements sweetly rest; Earth’s sun in the calm lake is mirrored, And heaven’s within my breast. Linger, O blessed Redeemer, Leave me alone no more; And with joy I shall make the blest harbour, And rest on the blissful shore.
