[Title: THE LONGSHIP MADE IT TO SHORE] [Intro] [Timber creaking, cold sea, slow Nordic drum] [Male, weathered, peaceful] Long season. Deep water. The timbers know where they have been. No need to paint the story on the sail. The Captain knows. The vessel knows. And God gets the glory. [Verse 1] This longship has been exercised, where eyes could never go. Through grievous nights and chastening, through waters running low. There were things the flesh could not repair. There were weights it could not move. Until a man quits boasting about what a man can do. “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth,” and afterward we see— the peaceable fruit of righteousness in them exercised thereby. No billboard. No crown. No need to tell the shore what every scar was for. The longship knows what God has done. THE LONGSHIP MADE IT TO SHORE. [Chorus] THE LONGSHIP MADE IT TO SHORE! Not by strength. Not by oar. Not because the timber never cracked when the waves began to roar. THE LONGSHIP MADE IT TO SHORE! And Jesus gets the glory. If the flock can see an ensample, let the ensample tell the story— HE KEPT ME. HE CARRIED ME. HE KNEW WHAT THE FIRE WAS FOR. Jesus gets the glory. THE LONGSHIP MADE IT TO SHORE. [Verse 2] September seventeenth. No trumpet needed. Just a man walking through a door. Seventeen eighty-seven— the Constitution signed. Constitution Day. Citizenship Day. And now his oath falls on that line. Nineteen seventy-eight— Egypt. Israel. Camp David. Peace discussed between nations on September seventeen. And years roll on. Another vessel arrives at another earthly shore. No prophecy written on his forehead. No signboard hanging from the door. Just— Thank You, Lord. You brought me here. [Verse 3] Davidson Auditorium. One-one-eight. Names and numbers sitting quietly around an ordinary day. We can notice. We can smile. We can open up the Book. But we don't need to force the pieces to tell us where to look. Because Psalm one-eighteen already knows Who receives the praise: “This is the LORD'S doing; it is marvellous in our eyes.” And the Stone which the builders refused became the head stone of the corner. So leave the spotlight where Scripture leaves it— ON THE LORD. [Chorus] THE LONGSHIP MADE IT TO SHORE! Not by strength. Not by oar. Not because the timber never cracked when the waves began to roar. THE LONGSHIP MADE IT TO SHORE! And Jesus gets the glory. If the flock can see an ensample, let the ensample tell the story— HE KEPT ME. HE CARRIED ME. HE KNEW WHAT THE FIRE WAS FOR. Jesus gets the glory. THE LONGSHIP MADE IT TO SHORE. [Bridge] [Male, quiet] “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples:” Not idols. Not celebrities. Not men for sheep to measure themselves against. Ensamples. Look what God can carry through a storm. Look what remains when strength is gone. Look what chastening can exercise. Look past the vessel— TO CHRIST. [Female harmony] Treasure in an earthen vessel. [Male] “That the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.” [Final Chorus] THE LONGSHIP MADE IT TO SHORE! That's enough. No billboard. THE LONGSHIP MADE IT TO SHORE! That's enough. No crown. Let another weary vessel somewhere out upon the water hear the testimony softly— KEEP LOOKING UNTO JESUS. The storm does not get the glory. The scars do not get the glory. The vessel does not get the glory. JESUS GETS THE GLORY. [Outro] [Sea settles, timber creaks] September seventeenth. An earthly oath. An earthly shore. And quietly, inside the vessel— Thank You, Jesus. You knew all along. THE LONGSHIP MADE IT TO SHORE. JESUS IS THE LORD.
