Submission

Be still, my soul!—the Lord is on thy side,
Bear patiently the cross of grief and 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.

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.

Be still, my soul!—when 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 sorrow and thy fears.
Be still, my soul!—thy Jesus can repay
From His own fulness all He takes away.

Be still, my soul!—the hour is hastening on
When we shall be for ever 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.

Be still, my soul!—begin the song of praise
On earth, believing, to thy Lord on high;
Acknowledge Him in all thy works and ways,
So shall He view thee with a well-pleased eye.
Be still, my soul!—the Sun of life divine
Through passing clouds shall but more brightly shine.

—Catharina von Schlegel, trans. Jane Borthwick
From Hymns from the Land of Luther, 1884.


Tune: "Finlandia," Jean Sibelius (courtesy of The Cyber Hymnal).

About the Authors

Catharina Amalia Dorothea von Schlegel (b. 1697) is a figure forgotten by history; all that is known is that she might have been a lady in a duke's court in Cöthen. This hymn is her only surviving work.

Jane Laurie Borthwick (1813–1897) was the daughter of an English insurance office manager. She and her sister, Sarah, translated 114 Hymns from the Land of Luther, from which this translation was taken. The author of her article in The Dictionary of Hymnology ranks her translations second only to Catherine Winkworth's.

Thoughts

This text has helped me through more than one tough time. The second and third verses, especially, have buoyed me as I first tried to peer into the future and discern what I should do with it, and later when dearest friends did depart and all was darkened in the vale of tears. It is unspeakable comfort to know that it was my Jesus that took, and he that shall repay from his own fulness. The fifth verse is in my experience often omitted, which is a real shame; it moves the focus from fixing my problems, in the fourth verse, to praising God. Without it, the hymn is so much less God-centered.

I had originally planned to recommend the version of this hymn by Libera from their album Angel Voices, available on iTunes or Amazon. They do not have the full text, and they mix and match the second and third verses, but they sing it beautifully. They have also posted it to YouTube. While on YouTube, however, I found an inspired piano arrangement by Carlton Forrester from his album Be Thou My Vision, also available on iTunes or Amazon (MP3 only).



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