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"Thou breakest the ships of Tar–
shish [symbolic of the great com–
mercial sea powers] with an east
wind" (Ps. 48:7).
A very realist ic description of
God's control of the weather is this:
" They that go down to the sea in
ships, that do business in great
waters; these see the works of the
Lord, and his wonders in the deep.
For he commandeth, and raiseth the
stormy wind, which lifteth up the
waves thereof.... He maketh the
storm a calm, so that the waves
thereof are st ill" (Ps. 107:23-25,
29).
l ndeed, one of the majar turning
points of history for the entire
English-speaking peoples of the
world was determined by the great
God's intervent ion in the weather.
The outcome was a factor behind
the unparalleled religious freedom,
prosperity and power we now
enjoy. In 1587 foreign influence
over the English throne was cut
short by the execution of Mary,
Queen of Scots. The fol–
lowing year, King Philip
11 of Spain sent his "in–
vincible" 124-ship Ar–
mada against Engla nd .
Though the English naval
forces fought valiant ly,
they ran out of ammuni–
tion. A t that point,
unprecedented gale-force
winds arose a nd drove
many of the Spanish ships
to their doom. The tat–
tered ships that escaped
limped home to Spain–
many so damaged that
they were unfit for fur–
ther service.
In commemoration of
the defeat , Queen Eliza–
beth ordered the stri king
of a si lver medal , bearing
the inscription, " G od
blew and they were scat–
tered."
She knew who took
charge of those winds at
that crit ica) hour in the
history of our peoples!
Again, students of English his–
tory will a lways remember the
name " Dunkirk." For, once again,
the very existence of the freedoms
we enjoy was at stake.
Hitler 's fo rces had invaded
France and the lowlands . They had
May
1985
cut off 330,000 crack Britis h
troops, surrounding them at the
port of Dunkirk. Word went out all
over Britain: "Winston [Churchill]
needs boats."
In waters that were normally
very rough and treacherous, literal–
ly hundreds of small ships, yachts
and boats were launched in hope,
but the picture looked grim. Bad
weather to the east had grounded
most of the German Lu ftwaffe.
But, an
incredible
thing happened
to the English Channel that day.
Instead of being rough and chop–
py as usual- dangerous for small
craft-it became almost as calm as
a bathtub! Men and women who
had lived all their lives on its shore
had never seen it so calm. And so
nearly one third of a mi Ilion British
t roops-the backbone of th ei r
entire army-was brought safely
over the Channel in what the Brit–
ish themselves call "the miracle of
the calm seas."
1 have spent four years of my adult
When English naval
forces ran
out of ammunition,
unprecedented
gale-force winds
arose and drove the
"invincible"
Spanish Armada to
its defeat.
life in Britain, and talked to severa!
older meo who were personally
familiar with the Dunkirk rescue
operation. They all gota certain glint
or tear in their eyes when they talked
about it. They all remembered the
outpouring of gratitude to God by
the British people after this event.
For Sunday, J une 9, 1940, was
appointed as a day of national
thanksgiving for God's deliverance
al Dunkirk, and many English vicars
will tell you that their churches were
packed on that day and have
never
been full since.
The day befare, June 8, Britain's
Daily Telegraph
ran an article about
what it called "the miraculous deliv–
erance" at Dunkirk. The article
quotes a British officer who had
becn brought safely back across the
Channel from Dunkirk: "One thing
can be certain about tomorrow' s
thanksgiving in our churches. From
none will the thanks ascend with
greater sincerity or deeper fervou r
than from the officers and men who
have seen the Hand of God, powerful
to save, delivering them from the
hands of a mighty foe, who, humanly
speaking, had them utterly at his
merey."
Yes, the " hand of God" controls
the weather. But the Creator also
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