Like a Sea without a Shore / Maranatha Come Lord Jesus Come

This folk-style Advent hymn was written by English Roman-Catholc convert, physiotherapist, and later teacher and hymn-writer Estelle White.

It was first published in the 1976 20th Century Folk Hymnal Volume 3, and again in the 1977 Hymns Old and New - a Hymnal for the Irish Church.

Sheet music is currently available in

Celebration Hymnal for Everyone (McCrimmond Publications),
Some editions of Hymns Old and New (Kevin Mayhew Ltd).
Used copies of 20th Century Folk Hymnal (sometimes available from Amazon.co.uk)

The opening phrase, a simile to express the extent of God's love, was used in a poem "The Purple Heather" by Margaret Farrand (ref) in 1913 / 14.

Downloads

No downloadable versions have been found, of either performances or the sheet music. If you know where to find one, please leave a message in the Comments box near the bottom of the page.

Examples

Small group with keyboard:

Solo singer with light keyboard - excellent for learning the tune:

Instrumental - electronic music style:

Lyrics

The words of this hymn are copyright so cannot be reproduced in full here. But they are currently available on this website.

The song has three verses, each with four lines, and a two-line chorus is repeated between each one. A rough outline is:

1 Like a sea without a shore, love divine ...

Chorus: Maranatha! ... Come, Lord Jesus, Come!

2 So that we could all be free ...

3 Death where is your victory? ...