Alec Hill: We Rest on Thee

While highlights abounded during our five days together at National Staff Conference, my favorite moment is easy to select. On the second evening, after speaking for about 45 minutes, I asked staff to bow their heads. Then, without warning to anyone, I began to sing.

To be honest, I was more nervous about singing a solo than about giving a talk. The last time I sang alone to a crowd was at my wedding, a long time ago. But, for some reason, I felt the Lord nudging me in this direction.

So, as I began to sing the hymn We Rest in Thee, I fumbled a bit with the words. My throat didn’t choke up, but I was certainly hoping for more volume than my vocal chords were producing.

But then, an amazing thing happened. By the second line, at least a quarter of the staff were singing with me. For a split second, I remember being a tad stunned. This was not what I had expected. After all, the lyrics hadn’t even been posted on the screen yet.

As lyrics appeared, everyone stood and sang. What a special moment! The emotion of so many powerful voices singing together was nearly overwhelming. But it was not only the passion with which we all sang, but the words themselves that deeply stirred my soul:

We rest on Thee, our Shield and our Defender!
We go not forth alone against the foe;
Strong in Thy strength, safe in Thy keeping tender,
We rest on Thee, and in Thy Name we go.
Strong in Thy strength, safe in Thy keeping tender,
We rest on Thee, and in Thy Name we go.

 

We go in faith, our own great weakness feeling,
And needing more each day Thy grace to know:
Yet from our hearts a song of triumph pealing,
“We rest on Thee, and in Thy Name we go.”
Yet from our hearts a song of triumph pealing,
“We rest on Thee, and in Thy Name we go.”

We rest on Thee, our Shield and our Defender!
Thine is the battle, Thine shall be the praise;
When passing through the gates of pearly splendor,
Victors, we rest with Thee, through endless days.
When passing through the gates of pearly splendor,
Victors, we rest with Thee, through endless days.

For many of us, this hymn has deep historical significance. Half a century ago, it was the favorite hymn of a group of missionaries to Ecuador–all martyred, including InterVarsity student Peter Fleming—and today the hymn provides the title for Elisabeth Eliot’s stirring book, Through Gates of Splendor.

Before I sang this hymn, I was unaware that We Rest on Thee had also been utilized as the concluding Urbana hymn before 1990. Hence, I had unwittingly tapped into a deep reservoir of missionary spirit amongst our senior staff. And they responded accordingly.

Driving home from St. Louis after the Conference, I reflected on the Lord’s sovereignty and goodness. Just as in the hymn, He is pushing us towards greater reliance upon Him. May we respond with utter dependence and radical humility. But He is also pushing us towards greater boldness. May we respond by being unashamed and fulfilling our Gospel obligation to students and faculty.