Be Still, My Soul

By Michael K. Farrar, O.D.

© June 5, 2009

www.godsbreath.net

 

In the seventeenth century the church as a whole had grown spiritually cold. Usually in such times the Holy Spirit will stir a revival. In the later part of this century such a revival took place in Germany. It was called the Pietistic revival, which was similar to the Puritan and Wesleyan revivals in England. Such revivals are accompanied with worship hymns and songs that stimulate spiritual commitment and worship of the Lord. The leader of the German Pietistic revival was Philipp Jacob Spencer a pastor of a Lutheran church in Berlin, Germany. He was not a noted hymn writer but he strongly encouraged worship of the Lord in song.

Catharina Schlegel was an outstanding Christian woman involved in this Pietistic revival. She wrote  “Be Still, My Soul,” during this revival but it was not translated into English until 100 years later.

 

Let's take a look at the words to this classic hymn. Notice the strong scriptural foundation it has. This is the sign of a classic song, when the timeless truth of scripture is communicated in words put to music that minister to the soul and bring us to understand God and how He works in our lives.

 

"Be Still, My Soul"

Text: Psalm 46:10

By Catharina von Schlegel, 1697-?

Translated by Jane Borthwick, 1813-1897

Composer: Jean Sibelius, b. 1865, arr.

Tune: "Finlandia"

 

Verse 1

Be still, my soul; the Lord is on thy side;

Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;

Leave to thy God to order and provide;

In every change He faithful will remain.

Be still, my soul; thy best, thy heavenly, Friend

Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

 

This verse sounds like someone talking very privately to themselves as they struggle with issues beyond their control. Their emotions strain to run rampant with the grief or pain of a situation, but their spirit and the Holy Spirit are attempting to encourage them to get a grip on the fact that their loving Heavenly Father is on their side. I have been there. It is not a fun place to be in a struggle, but there is comfort as you pour out your distress upon the Lord and receive the assurance that God really is on your side. He is grieving with you and knows down to the smallest detail what you are going through. As you seek Him, you are able to put your emotions on a leash and rein them back to a manageable level. This is done in the power of the Spirit and with the boundaries and stable foundation of scripture. Stillness of the soul comes when we fully comprehend that God is interceding in events for our well being.

 

Psalms 37:7

“Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.”

 

Psalms 46:10

“’Be still, and know that I am God;’”

 

Exodus 14:14

“The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

 

The next line (Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;) instructs us to bear patiently the cross that we have been called by God to patiently bear. We are called to take up our cross daily, deny ourselves and follow Christ (Luke 9:23). This can be hard in times of struggle and trial but it is a necessary task for any servant of the Lord. We bear this cross patiently as Christ did His own cross of pain. This type of patience is godly patience that comes from relying upon the power and strength of the Holy Spirit. Without the help of God we would be lost to despair, but as we wait under the comforting wings of our God, the patience we express is directed towards our loving Lord. We wait upon Him, not upon the change of circumstances or the response of people for neither of them can be trusted or relied upon. Only God can be trusted to work in His slow patient way insuring things will work according to His will.

 

Next we are encouraged to leave the changes taking place to God and His providence. (Leave to thy God to order and provide; In every change He faithful will remain.) We are reminded that all that is happening is beyond our control so we must trust the fact that God can be relied upon to set in motion the results that are to take place. God can be trusted because He is active in every single circumstance and situation working things out for our best interest. Psalms 10:14 encourages us in this when it says, "But you, O God, do see trouble and grief you consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless."

 

John 16:20 also gives us hope when it says,

"You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy."

 

God can be relied upon to be faithful in all we go through, 1 Peter 1:3-8 is especially precious to us during such times of grief and pain, it says,

 

In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade - kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith - of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire - may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed."

 

Matthew 11:28-30 provides comfort for us as we strive to bear such burdens when it says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." The yoke of our burden becomes easier as we rely upon God to help us carry it. Often the yoke we are carrying is burdensome because we are trying to carry it ourselves. I wonder if what God is saying in this verse is for us to let Him take possession of our yoke of pain so that when He places it back on our shoulders it has been lightened by His grace, mercy, strength, power and insight. We need to share our burdens with God as we strive to carry them for His glory and honor.

 

It is interesting that in Psalms 42:11 we see a similar wording of scripture to the song where the writer seems to be speaking directly to his soul. He shares with himself almost the same intent as the song communicates, “Put your hope in God.”

 

Psalms 42:11

"Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God."

Once our soul is still and comforted by the knowledge of God’s protection and providence we can receive peace. This is the peace spoken of in Philippians 4:6-7, "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

 

This peace from God not only calms the emotions that are ravaging our soul, it guard our hearts from further damage and our minds from future insult or injury. This is so very important as we attempt to weather the storms of life that assail us.

 

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This amazing song continues with its encouragement.

 

Verse 2

Be still, my soul; thy God doth undertake

To guide the future as He has the past.

Thy hope, thy confidence, let nothing shake;

All now mysterious shall be bright at last.

Be still, my soul; the waves and winds still know

His voice who ruled them while He dwelt below.

 

In verse two the person again sings to their soul to be still because God is undertaking to guide the future just as He has the past. (Be still, my soul; thy God doth undertake To guide the future as He has the past.) It is often necessary to look at our past and how God has gotten us through past storms or provided for our needs in order to deal with current trials and tribulations. Several verses encourage us in this effort.

Psalms 37:37

"Consider the blameless, observe the upright; there is a future for the man of peace."

 

Proverbs 23:18

"There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off."

The next few lines continue with encouragement to trust in God. (Thy hope, thy confidence, let nothing shake; All now mysterious shall be bright at last.) This tells us to not let anything at all, nothing in our current experiences, shake our hope and confidence in our Lord. Often the greatest struggle we face during our grief and pain in trials are the questions we have. We continue to ask, “If God is good, why is this being allowed to take place in my life? Or “If God loves me why is he letting this happen?” The mysteries of why we are suffering will be illuminated with answers as God’s purposes are revealed.  Sometimes the answers come quickly and sometimes over long periods of time. But God is faithful to illuminate the purposes and reasons if we are willing to wait and seek Him. Numerous scriptures also speak of this truth.

 

Psalms 71:5

"For you have been my hope, O Sovereign LORD, my confidence since my youth."

 

Proverbs 3:25-26

"Have no fear of sudden disaster or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked, for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared."

 

Hebrews 10:35

"So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded."

 

Hebrews 3:14

"We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first."

 

Ephesians 1:11-12

“In Him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.”

 

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Verse 3

Be still, my soul, though dearest friends depart

And all is darkened in the vale of tears;

Then shalt thou better know His love, His heart,

Who comes to soothe thy sorrows and thy fears.

Be still, my soul; thy Jesus can repay

From His own fullness all He takes away.

 

The words “Be still, my soul, though dearest friends depart” tells us that one thing that can happen during trials and problems in life is that friends can abandon us. Possibly they don’t want the burden of helping us or they want to avoid experiencing our grief and pain. In reality those we think are our friends may not in reality be our friends. True friends will stand by you in the hard times of life. When our support system fails us we can feel like life is closing in around us. This explains the next line (And all is darkened in the vale of tears;). Life can seem hopeless and we can feel helpless, as we seem to sit alone to face our situation. But we must remember as the next lines say “Then shalt thou better know His love, His heart, Who comes to soothe thy sorrows and thy fears.” Our best friend in all of creation is our Heavenly Father. He will never abandon us. He is our counselor, physician, encourager, healer as well as our friend. He soothes our sorrows as well as our fears. The next few lines (Be still, my soul; thy Jesus can repay From His own fullness all He takes away.) verifies the fact that from His fullness and sufficiency Jesus can pay back to us whatever He may take from our lives for God’s divine will to be done. We may not receive lost loved one’s back from the grave but we will receive other treasures for our soul if we trust in the Lord. We may not receive restoration to a previous physical condition, an intimate relationship we once had or a financial security we once possessed, but God repays us often in different currency than what was taken from us. Whatever we receive it will be paid in full and with overflowing benefits. Consider the following scripture treasures from the Psalms that relate to this verse of the song.

 

 

Ephesians 6:7-8

“Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.”

 

Revelation 2:23

“I am He who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.”

 

Proverbs 11:18

“He who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward.”

 

Proverbs 13:21

“Prosperity is the reward of the righteous.”

 

Psalms 116:8-9

"For you, O LORD, have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before the LORD in the land of the living."

 

Psalms 126:5-6

"Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him."

 

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Verse 4

Be still, my soul; the hour is hastening on

When we shall be forever with the Lord,

When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,

Sorrow forgot, love's purest joys restored.

Be still, my soul; when change and tears are past,

All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.

 

Here we come to the last verse that gives us a broader perspective of our life. It pushes us to look beyond the current trials into the future. It tells us that time is moving on to our heavenly state when we shall be forever with the Lord. I often think about the struggles I go through now and how when I am in heaven with the Lord I very likely will look back at my struggles in pain and grief with an understanding that what I thought were huge insurmountable mountains were in reality just tiny hills that brought me to a deeper knowledge of God’s love. In Heaven such pains in this life will seem insignificant to the joys and pleasures all of us will have in the presence of the Lord.

 

Philippians 4:7

“And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding , will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”