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  O'ER LIFE'S ROUGH OCEAN WAVE FAST WAS I GOING
  by Phoebe Palmer
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Summary: The sermon explores the journey from despair to hope through
faith in Christ, emphasizing His transformative power in our lives.

Topics: "Divine Comfort", "Spiritual Assurance"
Scripture References: Psalm 119:105, Isaiah 9:6, John 8:12, 2 Corinthians 4:6, Philippians 3:8

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DESCRIPTION
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Phoebe Palmer shares her journey of wrestling with God, feeling lost and
overwhelmed by life's challenges until she experiences divine comfort
and revelation. Through a dream of the infant Savior and the
proclamation of His divine names, she finds peace and assurance in the
midst of her struggles. As she continues to seek Jesus and allow His
light to illuminate her spiritual horizon, she discovers the infinite
love and condescension of God, leading her to surrender completely to
Him and find true joy in His presence.

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CONTENT
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O'er life's rough ocean wave

Fast was I going,

By threat'ning tempests driven, and billow tost,

And surges deep of wo

My soul o'erflowing!

O, all seem'd lost without thee -- lost, all lost.

My star of earthly bliss

Set in deep sorrow --One glimpse

from thee had all its lustre cost,

And not one gleam of light

Could it e'er borrow,

For in thy lucent beams it all was lost -- all lost.

At another time, about a year subsequent to the period just alluded to,
the Lord again greatly comforted her soul during the night season. She
had again, as on the former occasion, been for a long time wrestling
earnestly with God, till nature had become wearied; when, on falling
asleep, she dreamed she was standing without. The canopy of a beautiful
midnight sky was spread out above her; the firmament was cloudless, and
the full moon was silently walking the heavens. A stillness, that seemed
hallowed to something unusual, reigned, but her eye was intently fixed,
and her mind all absorbed by the attraction of a bright star. Presently
it began to enlarge its circle, wider and yet wider, when (as she
continued to keep her eye fixed on the point where it first began to
rest) the form of the infant Savior was presented, and these words were
proclaimed, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. And
his name shall be called WONDERFUL, COUNSELOR, THE MIGHTY GOD, THE
EVERLASTING FATHER, THE PRINCE OF PEACE." In the mean time, while these
words were being proclaimed, the circle rapidly widened, until the whole
heavens had become encircled in one glow of glory.

The happy experience of succeeding years, when, by keeping her eye
steadily fixed upon the Day-star from on high, her spiritual horizon had
become enlightened, and, as she had continued to gaze, had rapidly taken
in yet wider and still wider circles of glory, until the whole firmament
of her soul had become radiant with its blissful beams, assured her that
this communication was intended to convey a greater infinitude of
meaning than her feeble capacities comprehended at the time.

It was not until she had received Jesus as her full Savior, and her
spiritual heavens had been lighted up by the revelation of Christ to her
soul as the Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting
Father, The Prince of Peace, that she was enabled to have anything like
proper perceptions of the infinite condescension of God in this
communication. It was then she exultantly sung -

My faith hath caught the gaze,

I now behold thee;

And now let tempests wing their chilling frost,

Thy mildly-melting ray

Beams sweetly o'er me --

But without thee I am lost -- in darkness lost

O, yes, thou hast arisen

In beauteous splendor,

Thy radiance pure still rests my path across,

And homage at thy shrine

I'll ever render,

Till in thy light I'm lost -- for ever lost.

Though this was in a measure blest soul, at the time when given, and
tended to assure her heart more confidently of the gracious designs of
Infinite Love toward her, yet the impression soon passed away, and she
relapsed into her former habits of reasoning and unbelief.

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Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/phoebe-palmer/oer-lifes-rough-ocean-wave-fast-was-i-going/
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