More than the Watchmen

“Midnight to 4 AM—the loneliest, quietest, yet most powerful watch. While the world sleeps, we navigate through darkness, guided only by stars, radars, and responsibility. No crowds, no noise—just the hum of the engine and the vast ocean whispering its secrets. This is the unseen side of sailing, where discipline meets silence.”

Master Mariner

There’s a sacred weight to that kind of silence.

This is soul work. The world is asleep, time feels suspended, and all you can do is wait. There’s no sign of land, no sign of morning. Only the black expanse of sea and sky stretching out like eternity. And you find yourself longing for morning. Searching for signs of the coming break of day. In the night watch of the soul the silence presses in, the journey feels endless and our longing is raw and real.

The psalmist captures it beautifully.

“My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.” Psalm 130:6

This isn’t casual or passive waiting. This is aching waiting. A restless longing. It’s the kind of waiting that knows what darkness feels like. The kind that has kept vigil through the long hours of uncertainty and silence. The kind that clings to the hope that dawn will come, even when there’s no proof of it on the horizon. It’s the kind of waiting you do when you’re clinging to hope, not because it’s easy, but because it’s all you’ve got.

Just like the sailor staring into the void, guided only by radar and stars, we live by faith, not sight.

But in the dark hours, in the quiet of our pain or confusion or exhaustion, we feel the deeper truth: we need Him like a sailor needs the sunrise.

There are seasons of life where you can’t see what’s ahead. Where prayers feel unanswered, guidance feels distant, and hope flickers low. But just as the one on night watch keeps eyes fixed on the faintest trace of light, for the dawn to breathe its first sliver of gold, so too do we keep our hearts fixed on Christ—the Morning Star.

So as we keep our watch, we do so with hope.

Even when the world is asleep.

Even when no one else sees.

Because we know the light is coming.

Because we know He is coming.

More than the watchmen wait for the morning.