GOD IS THE SEA IN WHICH WE SWIM.

By George Davis in All Sorts

some thoughts on a new hymn

GOD IS THE SEA IN WHICH WE SWIM -
Peter Matheson, Tune Ombersley Old MHB 562

God is the sea in which we swim
The song we sing, the wood we carve,
The colour of the leaves at dawn,
The heart behind a heartless word.
Dreams are the language of the soul,
The pointer to that hidden place
Where the clever talk runs out
Where agony is touched by grace.

Truth is the road we seek to take
The steady eye of proven friend,
The rumour of integrity,
The long, stern fight against the trend.
Love is the risk of birth and death,
The burnished bush, the touching place
The ache for arms to hold us close
Until at last we’re face to face.

Here we find the late Peter Matheson’s cry for the soul of mankind
voiced initially in his personal connection with the loved natural world
found in New Zealand. His was a prophetic voice, standing alone but
resonating with many Kiwis. The title guides us clearly by signposting
the position of God. God surrounds all of us. All of us live with
proximity to the sea – the South Pacific and the Tasman. He said what
many Kiwis feel but lack the self-expression to so clearly speak. The
surging seas surrounding Aotearoa/New Zealand with a myriad of
beaches, while the dark, damp forests cast a shadow on the land.
But swiftly he switches to interior human vision – the heart and
heartless words, dreams, soul, and agony. These point to aspects of
the soul and contrast with the following positives - grace, truth,
steadiness, integrity, perseverance, love, closeness and the hope of
returning to personal touch.
The lyrics are a metaphor for who we are, and where we humans
stand. We swim in a sea of God, as much as our country is surrounded
by sea.
We are launched into life and purpose from this sea of God, and it is
the place to which we all return once this life has finished. The final
line underpins the hope of all humans – to return to the arms of love
which we once knew.
For Christians there is a need to respond to this picture lyric. Do you
see the hope that is placed in the last verse? Is this hope for all – not
just exclusive? Do we have a responsibility to all those around us? Is
there a possibility of a New World – a place where Christians, other
religion followers and those of no sense of spirit and religion are
equally accepted?
May it be so, may our doors and arms always be open.
George Davis,
14 October 2026