Lyrics
4.
Again he wandered on the shore.
Closer the crowd came, more and more.
He got himself into a boat,
And on the water he did float;
Across the lapping waves they heard
Jesus calling out ev’ry word.
Listen! A sower went to sow;
His seed fell to the ground below:
In the path by the sower’s step,
The birds came and ate the seed up.
Where rocks were many, soil was scant:
There the seed made a vig’rous plant,
Then the sun came, so high and hot,
And the heat scorched its meager root.
Some fell among the thorny vine,
It choked, and did not yield a grain.
Yet some into the deep soil got,
And when they rooted, up they shot,
These yielded grain a hundredfold;
Now hear the truth in what I’ve told.
So to his chosen followers
He told them what his meaning was:
The sower sows the word of God
And some have faith when first it’s heard,
But Satan with a hungry mouth
Eats up the seed before it sprouts.
Some grow too quickly and they wilt
When temptation weakens their faith,
When deprivation gnaws them hard,
Then their doubt finds its own reward.
Those caught amid the prickly thorns,
A lust for things and riches burns.
They that grow and yield forth grain
Embrace the word, and truth retain.
So, if your little lamp is lit,
Don’t put a basket over it;
Don’t put it underneath the bed,
But show it, so there’s nothing hid,
And ev’ry thing will be revealed,
And all the locks and doors unsealed.
If now you think you hear my word,
Attend, and still more will be heard,
For those who know, will know more yet,
And those who know not, will forget.
Our God is like the seed and soil
That sprout and nourish without toil;
The earth produces all we need,
And on this bounty we may feed,
And though the seed be very small,
Yet, greater may it grow than all.
With such examples then he spoke,
Then sailed away across the lake.
A storm of wind and rain came up
While in the stern he lay asleep.
The boat with sea began to fill,
His people woke him, one and all.
Saying, We do not want to die!
So up he got to calm the sea.
Peace, be still, so he told the wind,
And there was calm on ev’ry hand,
And Jesus said, Fear not the sea,
Your faith will keep you safe with me.
