1 When our ships have crossed the ocean,
and been all around the world,
When they safely gain the haven,
and their sails again are furled;
We rejoice to see them enter,
and to know the anchor’s cast,
Raising joyful shouts of welcome,
for our ships are home are last.
Refrain:
Oh what singing, oh what shouting,
When our ships come sailing home!
They have stood the mighty tempests,
they have crossed the ocean’s foam;
They have passed o’er stormy billows,
but they now have gained the shore;
The anchor’s cast, they’re home at last,
the voyage is safely o’er.
2 But if there is such rejoicing
to see vessels here get home,
When we know in a little
while these ships again will roam—
Oh, what must it be in heaven
when a soul comes sailing in
To go out no more for ever
sailing on the sea of sin? [Refrain]
3 Oh, me-thinks I hear the angels shout,
“Here comes an earthly bark,
She has found her way to heaven,
though the way was rough and dark;
But she had a star to guide her
called the Night and Morning Star—
It has guided millions over
from that distant land afar.” [Refrain]
4 So with Jesus as our Captain
we expect to gain that shore;
We expect to cast our anchor there,
and stay for evermore:
And we know the angels will be there
to greet us when we come,
They will join in songs of rapture,
“Welcome come, oh, welcome home!” [Refrain]
Source: Songs of Love and Praise No. 4 #194
Johnson Oatman, Jr., son of Johnson and Rachel Ann Oatman, was born near Medford, N. J., April 21, 1856. His father was an excellent singer, and it always delighted the son to sit by his side and hear him sing the songs of the church.
Outside of the usual time spent in the public schools, Mr. Oatman received his education at Herbert's Academy, Princetown, N. J., and the New Jersey Collegiate Institute, Bordentown, N. J. At the age of nineteen he joined the M.E. Church, and a few years later he was granted a license to preach the Gospel, and still later he was regularly ordained by Bishop Merrill. However, Mr. Oatman only serves as a local preacher.
For many years he was engaged with his father in the mercantile business at Lumberton… Go to person page >
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