It is with a feeling of dismay and unusual grief that we make reference to the series of unspeakably sad calamities which came upon many, especially around the coasts of Britain, during the week-end, 31st January and Sabbath, the 1st of February last. On Saturday, the 31st of January, the Stranraer to Larne steamer Princess Victoria foundered and sank with the loss of 128 passengers and crew between the Scottish and Irish coasts. This was the first sad news of the effects of the great storm of wind on land and on the sea which raged around our shores. Then on Saturday night and Sabbath morning high tides and powerful gales smashed open hundreds of walls protecting long stretches of the sea coast in the South-East Coast of England and the Thames Estuary. The sea inundated Canvey Island and towns and villages in Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex. At the time of writing it has been reported that over 300 people are lost principally by drowning, including, of course, men, women and children; and 30,000 at least had to leave their homes. Many homes have been completely destroyed. Then in the North-West of Scotland almost 28 fishing vessels were driven ashore in the vicinity of Lochbroom, Ullapool, but there is no report of loss of life here. And a Fleetwood trawler with a crew of 15 was lost off Barra Head; and much damage to property was done on the Banffshire coast of Scotland. And, in addition to all those grievous events, it was reported on Monday, the 3rd of February, that 39 people were believed lost, including the crew of six, in an aircraft on a transatlantic flight from Hertfordshire to Gander, Newfoundland. Then in Holland the sea broke through the dykes, with the terrible results that over 1,200 people were drowned and one-sixth of the whole country was covered by the sea. Nearly one million people are affected, and so we anxiously await news of Dutch friends.
We know that all our Church people join with the rest of the nation in a real sense of grief over the bereavements, sorrows, losses, pains and anxieties which thousands have experienced; and our deep, genuine sympathy goes out to all who have suffered here and in Holland. The Lord’s praying people, we are assured, have been much at the throne of grace pleading that all those affected by these sore and heavy adversities may be led in their distresses to turn to God, who is a refuge and a very present help in trouble. As we read repeatedly in the 107th Psalm, “Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them out of their distresses”; and so may grace be given to many out of the fullness that is in Christ Jesus, the Redeemer, and friend of needy sinners, to be thus exercised.
We who have not been personally afflicted by these heavy dispensations in the divine providence would do well to think seriously of Christ’s observations upon those “whose blood Pilate mingled with their sacrifices” and as He declared, “Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish” (Luke xiii, 1-5). Then Jesus follows with the parable of the barren fig tree in the vineyard. “Cut it down,” is the command of the owner. But the dresser of the vineyard pleads, “Lord let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it and dung it. And if it bear fruit well; and, if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down” (Luke xiii, 8-9). And now are we bearing fruit answerable to godly repentance by the operation of the Spirit of grace in our hearts? If not, what an awful event it shall be for one to be cut down into eternity by the stroke of God in their spiritual barrenness.
And further, we ought not to dismiss from our minds the solemn consideration that these lamentable happenings bear all the appearance of the hand of the Most High upon us as a nation, in judgment and as expressing His holy displeasure against us, because “Our iniquities testify against us . . . for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against Thee,” as Jeremiah confessed on behalf of the Jews in his day (Jeremiah xiii). And as surely as Israel and the Jews, highly privileged as they were with the Word and worship of God in their midst, exposed themselves to the rod and judgment of Him who reigns from His throne on high, by their sins and heinous backslidings, as certainly are we in Britain provoking the Majesty of heaven to come forth against us with dark and devastating dispensations. And how applicable to us are the words of Psalm 106, “Many times did He deliver them, but they provoked Him with their counsel and were brought low for their iniquity.” And all the subtle and erroneous views and arguments with respect to God’s relationship to our national calamities, by professed ministers of religion and others, will not alter this view of these terrible events held by the discerning children of God among us, who will take second place to none in their Christian sympathy for their suffering fellow creatures.
Therefore let us “hear the rod and Who hath appointed it”; and may repentance be granted us as a nation, in sovereign mercy and for the sake of Christ Jesus, to turn from our idols of pleasure, sport and gambling, and from our Sabbath desecration, adultery, violence, and covetousness, and our neglect of the Bible, the worship of God and the precious gospel of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. For otherwise, who knows what further strokes the Lord may bring to bear upon us. “The Lord reigneth; let the people tremble” (Psalm xcix, 1). The past year, 1952, was a year of calamities within our borders, as we pointed out in a note in our December issue. What of 1953, if the Lord continues to have reason for controversy with us? “Show us Thy mercy, O Lord, and grant us Thy salvation” (Psalm lxxxv, 7).