New Years Service - New Year 1962

This morning I want to leave with you a short and beautiful prayer which I hope you will remember and use frequently. It is the prayer of a devout fisherman who uttered this prayer every time he took his boat into the sea. “Blessed Lord, have mercy on me. The sea is so great and my boat is so small.” The fisherman builds his boat with the utmost care. He chooses the timber for his boat and sees that nothing but the best work is put into the building of the boat. When the work is completed and the best is declared to be seaworthy, he is ready to go on his expeditions.

Before he launches forth into the deep he realises that in spite of all the care he has taken for his safety, while he is on the sea, his expedition is full of dangers. His boat will not be able to withstand every kind of weather. He is certain that in spite of all the precautions he has taken, he has to depend on God for his safety. So he utters this prayer as he gets into the boat: “Blessed Lord, have mercy on me. The sea is so great and my boat is so small.”

We have completed one year and we are entering into another year. As we look back on the year that is over, our hearts are full of gratitude to God for all his mercies to us during the year. He has given us health and strength to do our work. He has protected us from many a danger, known and unknown to us, and has preserved us to this day. Perhaps we have had to face many difficult situations in our work and in our family life and in our several relationships, and we are conscious of God’s goodness to us in bringing us unharmed through all these difficulties. Today let us thank God for all He has been to us, and let us resolve to show forth our gratitude not only in words, but also in our lives, by living the kind of life that would bring honour to Him. Let our Christian life bring to the knowledge of men how truly grateful we are to God for all He has been to us.

Life is often compared to a sea voyage. As we begin a new year we are beginning afresh our voyage on the sea of life. As we look to the year ahead of us, we may have fears and misgivings about the future. We do not know what is in store for us. Life is never a smooth sailing for anyone. But our confidence is in God who is with us all the time in our life’s voyage. With Him as our companion, our little boat will be preserved from all harm and danger however stormy the sea may be. We do not rely on our resources - our intellectual ability or our talents, however great they may be. Our confidence is in God. If we attempt to do anything trusting in our own strength, we are sure to fail and come to grief. We must certainly do all we can to equip ourselves for the road ahead of us. We must make ourselves fit, physically and mentally. We must use our talents and capacities to the utmost. But let us not put our trust in our own abilities. “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to claim anything as coming from us: our sufficiency is from God.”

Let us keep that prayer in mind and let us begin each day with that prayer of the fisherman: “Blessed Lord have mercy on me. The sea is so great and my boat is so small.” When we enter the New Year with Christ by our side we shall overcome all temptations and win many victories over sin. We shall face all our problems, however difficult they may be, with courage and confidence, and I am confident this New Year will be a blessed one for all of us