We Rest on Thee

Photo: Pete Fleming on Palm Beach, Auca territory.

The hymn "We Rest on Thee" has a sad story associated with it. The story is familiar to many, but no less inspiring. On January 8, 1956, five missionaries sang this hymn together before entering the Ecuadorian jungle to bring the Gospel to the Auca Indians--now known as the Waodani. Their names were Nate Saint, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot, Roger Yoderian, and Peter Fleming (pictured).

After the men reached the Aucas, the Indians speared them to death on the Curaray River. Five intense days later, search parties told the widows that all five men had been savagely murdered. As the women gathered their children together and told them that their daddies were now in heaven, Marilou McCully went to the piano and began to play the same hymn their men had sung five days previously. Elisabeth Elliot joined in, singing, “We Rest on Thee.” One of the military men, who assisted in rescue attempts, watched the peace and calm of these Christian wives throughout the previous five days of uncertainty. He stood off to one side as the women sang. Then his broken voice was overhead which said, “I've never seen anything like this before!”

A few years later, contact with the Waodani tribe was re-established through Nate Saint's sister Rachel, and Jim Elliot's wife Elisabeth. Many of the tribe came to Christ, including the killers, which is how first-hand details of the missionaries’ deaths came to light. A Waodani church has since been established through the ministry of Nate Saint's son Stephen and family, showing again that God's grace is sufficient and His power knows no limits!

One of the best known of the five martyrs was Jim Elliot. His most famous saying still quoted is “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.” His wife Elisabeth's book Through the Gates of Splendor describes the encounter with the Aucas; its title comes from a line in the last verse of this hymn:
“When passing through the gates of pearly splendor,
Victors, we rest with Thee, through endless days.”

"We Rest On Thee" (tune: "Be Still My Soul")
by Edith G. Cherry and Jean Sibilius
Listen here.

We rest on Thee, our Shield and our Defender!
We go not forth alone against the foe;
Strong in Thy strength, safe in Thy keeping tender,
We rest on Thee, and in Thy Name we go.
Strong in Thy strength, safe in Thy keeping tender,
We rest on Thee, and in Thy Name we go.

Yes, in Thy Name, O Captain of salvation!
In Thy dear Name, all other names above;
Jesus our Righteousness, our sure Foundation,
Our Prince of glory and our King of love.
Jesus our Righteousness, our sure Foundation,
Our Prince of glory and our King of love.

We go in faith, our own great weakness feeling,
And needing more each day Thy grace to know:
Yet from our hearts a song of triumph pealing,
“We rest on Thee, and in Thy Name we go.”
Yet from our hearts a song of triumph pealing,
“We rest on Thee, and in Thy Name we go.”

We rest on Thee, our Shield and our Defender!
Thine is the battle, Thine shall be the praise;
When passing through the gates of pearly splendor,
Victors, we rest with Thee, through endless days.
When passing through the gates of pearly splendor,
Victors, we rest with Thee, through endless days.

Sources: Jungle Pilot by Russell Hitt and NetHymnal.org