Master, the Tempest Is Raging

Written By: The Good and the Beautiful Published On: April 1, 2025

When waves come crashing at your feet, calm your heart in the storms of life with the same words Jesus spoke to the raging sea: “Peace, be still.” Feel that peace as you listen to this powerful arrangement of “Master, the Tempest Is Raging,” performed by Life in 3D and brought to you by The Good and the Beautiful. Then read about how the author of this hymn found her own peace as she wrote the lyrics.

“Master, the Tempest Is Raging” Lyrics
Master, the tempest is raging!
The billows are tossing high!
The sky is o'ershadow'd with blackness,
No shelter or help is nigh;
“Carest Thou not that we perish?”
How canst Thou lie asleep,
When each moment so madly is threat'ning,
A grave in the angry deep?
Master, with anguish of spirit
I bow in my grief today;
The depths of my sad heart are troubled,
Oh, waken and save, I pray!
Torrents of sin and of anguish
Sweep o’er my sinking soul;
And I perish! I perish, dear Master,
O, hasten, and take control. [Chorus]
Chorus:
The winds and the waves shall obey Thy will,
Peace, be still! Peace, be still!
Whether the wrath of the storm-tossed sea,
Or struggles, or evil, whatever it be,
No water can swallow the ship where lies
The Master of ocean, and earth and skies;
They all shall sweetly obey Thy will,
Peace, be still! Peace, be still!
They all shall sweetly obey Thy will,
Peace, peace, be still!
Master, the terror is over,
The elements sweetly rest;
Earth’s sun in the calm lake is mirror'd,
And heaven’s within my breast;
Linger, O blessed Redeemer,
Leave me alone no more;
And with joy I shall make the blest harbor,
And rest on the blissful shore. [Chorus]

Click on the image to download a free PDF of the lyrics to “Master, the Tempest Is Raging”.

Click Here for FREE Download

Watch this calming video of “Master, the Tempest Is Raging,” and be stilled.

The Story Behind “Master, the Tempest is Raging”

Mary Ann Baker was born in Orwell, New York in 1832. Her father moved the family to Michigan when Mary was three years old. When she was just seven years old, her father died of tuberculosis, leaving her mother to raise the children alone. Her mother remarried and had more children, but she was often unwell.

Mary and her siblings remained close as they grew up and left home. They all chose professions in the printing industry. Mary lived in Chicago with her sister and worked as a typesetter at a printing company from 1871 until the Great Chicago Fire. This fire destroyed much of the city, including the building she worked in.

It is not known when Mary began writing hymns. At the time of the Chicago fire, Mary had also been working with composer and choir director Horatio Palmer. Together, they wrote 12 songs. A short time later, Palmer moved away to New York and Mary spent much of her time caring for her family.

During this time, Mary faced some internal storms. Her brother, whom she dearly loved, was dying of tuberculosis, the same illness that took her father, and later her mother. Not long after the loss of her brother, Palmer contacted Mary, wanting her to write the lyrics for a hymn about stilling the tempest. Reflecting on the “rebellion in my own heart,” she prayerfully read Mark 4:36—41, when Jesus calmed the raging storm. “Peace, Be Still,” her title of “Master, the Tempest Is Raging,” was the result. She later reflected that “The Master’s own voice stilled the tempest in my unsanctified heart, and brought it to the calm of a deeper faith and a more perfect trust.”

After “Master, the Tempest Is Raging,” Mary helped women and children in her community. She also turned her talents to painting. In 1925, she passed away at the age of 93.

May you find peace and stillness in the lyrics of “Master, the Tempest Is Raging.”

Click on the image to download a free PDF of the lyrics to “Master, the Tempest Is Raging.”

Click Here for FREE Download

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