SCRIP-BITS

Today’s Scrip-Bit   27 September 2026   Mark 6:39.

Mark 6:39.        And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

Here it is again my fellow believers; a warm, sunshiny and beautiful Sunday, the Lord’s Day. That means gathering for fellowship in the Lord’s sanctuary to worship and give Him the thanks and praise He so obviously deserves, while gaining confidence and encouragement to get back out into the working world and continue doing good work in His name. And today’s opening song of worship is one that gives us very good advice for these unholy and troubled times, and is most appropriately titled ‘Put Your Hand In The Hand,’ 

The song was written by prolific Quebec born, Canadian singer, songwriter Gene Mac Clellan (1938-1995), who after teaming up with fellow Canadian Anne Murray on her first hit single, ‘Snowbird,’ in the late sixties, got together again with the 1970 tune, ‘Put Your Hand In The Hand, from her third studio album, Honey, Wheat and Laughter. Unfortunately, it seems that MacClellan died by suicide in January 1995 on Prince Edward Island in Eastern Canada. Despite the sad ending though, he left us a strong legacy of Canadian penned and recorded songs, and for that we will be forever grateful.

Now, let’s raise our voices in sweet sacrifice, in a soulful, up-tempo version of the song, a la Anne Murray, beginning with the wonderful Chorus. Singing: ‘(Chorus: Put your hand in the hand of the man who stilled the water Put your hand in the hand of the man who calmed the sea Take a look at yourself, and you can look at others diff’rently. Put your hand in the hand of the man from Galilee.)

Every time I look into the Holy Book, I wanna tremble When I read about the part where a carpenter cleared the temple, See those buyers and the sellers were no diff’rent fellas Than what you and I profess to be And it causes me shame to know that man is not what he should be (Chorus)

Hey, my mama taught me how to pray, before I reached the age of seven When I’m down on my knees, hey, I’m close to heaven. My daddy lived his life with 2 kids and a wife, and you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. But he showed me enough of what it takes to see you through This is what he used to tell me…

Put your hand in the hand of the man who stilled the water Put your hand in the hand of the man who calmed the sea Ya gotta take a good look at yourself, and you can look at others diff’rently Put your hand in the hand of the man from Galilee. Yes, Put your hand in the hand of the man who stilled the water Put your hand in the hand of the man who calmed the sea…and you’ll start looking at yourself differently. So Put your hand in the hand of the man who stilled the water Put your hand in the hand of the man who calmed the sea…’

Oh friends, there is no better or wiser advice in this evil and scary world than putting your hands in those of Jesus, that wonderful man, the lowly carpenter from Galilee, who stopped the wind and calmed the sea, and also had the parts to drive the evil traders from the temple, His Father’s house. And the good thing about the song is that it’s all scripture based. The chorus itself is based on the story we all know, where Jesus and the disciples are going over to the other side of the lake to get a much-needed break from the multitudes.

Mark puts it thus: ‘And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full (already filling). And he (Jesus) was in the hinder part (stern) of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him,

Master (Teacher) carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, What manner of man is this (who can this be), that even the wind and the sea obey him?’ (Mark 4:36-41)

Now that’s a very good question, but the answer is very simple. The wind and the sea obeyed Jesus because He was the one who originally created them. And that’s exactly why we should all place our hands in the hand of that lowly carpenter from Galilee, who was in fact the Creator of the world, and is still controlling it from His throne in heaven! And yuh better believe every time you read the Bible, you ought to tremble, because there are so many mighty acts and awesome words of wisdom contained therein to boggle our finite imagination.

Remember what the Lord said through the prophet Isaiah?  ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.’ (Is. 55:9) Yes friends, the Lord created us with a much lower mind frame than His, so we cannot understand all His ways or His words, and sometimes we just have to take His goodness and faithfulness for granted.  And who would have thought that that lowly carpenter from Galilee would have the parts to cleanse the temple eh?

The Bible tells us that on the day He made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, (Palm Sunday) after all the excitement had died down, ‘Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast (drove) out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew (overturned) the tables of the money changers, and the seats of them that sold doves. And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves. And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them.’ (Matt. 21:12-14)

Yes mih people, though our Saviour is called the Prince of Peace, He is also known as the Great Avenger, so please don’t take His peaceful outlook for one of temerity or fear, for you will be very disappointed when His anger rises against you, as those who were using the temple as a marketplace for buying and selling, experienced His disdain for the corruption of organized religion.

Oh my people, there is such glorious truth in the song, like we ought to teach our children to pray from a very young age, for when we are down on our knees in prayer, we seem to be close to heaven, and when we put our hands in the hands of Jesus, then there’s no guilt and shame like those in the temple, because He’s removed it all by His atonement for our sins, and therefore we can look at ourselves in a very different manner than before. So, let’s take time today to ponder if our hands are in the hands of Jesus, and if they are, how securely are they clasped in them! Much LOVE!

…the only hand truly worth holding…is that of Jesus… 

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