About two weeks ago I woke up from a bizarre dream (the best kind to have) wherein at one point I was standing on a deck with a bunch of older British people. Hogwarts legacy had been in the news and perhaps that's where my brain went. Pretty sure Queen Elizabeth was there too, but no, I don't know what house she was sorted in. Anyway, for some reason everyone started singing "Be Still My Soul". The song was, as a result, stuck in my head all day, at least the tune that is. I never had all the lyrics memorized, though Lord knows I do now. I decided that this hymn would be my next project and that it would be an acapella arrangement. I've never done anything like this before since if I'm doing a cover or a song, it's usually based on an existing work that someone has already recorded or provided sheet music for. In this case, I decided to do everything from scratch, intentionally not listening to anyone else's rendition for the sake of not accidentally plagiarizing their work. Of course, I realize that there's always the possibility that I've unintentionally imitated someone else's recording without intending to. There's only so many ways you can write chord structures for pre-existing songs, and I'm no composer. There's also the probability that my exposure to the song years ago and my tendency to remember tenor parts probably shaped part of how I arranged this, but if so, it was all subconscious. I'll probably upload a video breaking down exactly what I did because it was certainly an ordeal, but definitely a learning experience.
The song itself started showing up around 1752, translated into English in 1855, and the music is composed by Jean Sibelius (the tune also being known as Finlandia). There is quite a bit of scriptural truth to the song, the most important message being that regardless of the circumstances we find ourselves in, they do not undermine the fact that God is on His throne and is in control of all that occurs. We trust God "to order and provide" and that "through thorny ways" He will lead us to a goal that is joyful and beneficial to us. We trust that He will "guide the future as He has the past" which, as someone who identifies as Reformed (usually referred to as a Calvinist), this takes on particular importance as someone who affirms the Reformed doctrine of Predestination and election. As for the lyrics "all now mysterious shall be bright at last", I don't think this just means that we are eventually told why certain things happen to us. Rather, I am reminded of Paul's words concerning the full revelation of Christ, the gospel, and the bringing in of the Gentiles to the New Covenant along with believing Jews:
For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles— if indeed you have heard of the administration of God’s grace which was given to me for you; that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before briefly. By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, which in other generations was not made known to mankind, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit; to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel, of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God’s grace which was given to me according to the working of His power. To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to enlighten all people as to what the plan of the mystery is which for ages has been hidden in God, who created all things; so that the multifaceted wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 3:1-10 NASB2020)
The same idea is repeated over in Colossians (sort of a parallel epistle to Ephesians):
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am supplementing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions in behalf of His body, which is the church. I was made a minister of this church according to the commission from God granted to me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, that is, the mystery which had been hidden from the past ages and generations, but now has been revealed to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what the wealth of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles is, the mystery that is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:24-27 NASB2020)
It would take quite some time to go through all of the lyrics and demonstrate the Biblical concepts underlying not only each verse but almost every line of the song is steeped in Biblical principles. The song concludes with the hope of the resurrection and being reunited not only with our Lord but with those departed saints who have gone on before. There is a tendency when singing songs or even reading lyrics to almost itemize them line by line and miss the point of what the song is saying because we don't think through the words. So, in conclusion, let me transcribe the lyrics of the last verse and with it remind you, as does the songwriter, to "be still" (or cease striving in modern translations) and let God be God because in Him is our hope for salvation and eternity. In the end, when we are reunited, there will be no more need for suffering or hardship. All of the changes in life will be done with, and we will rest in the glory of our God and enjoy perfect fellowship not only with each other, but most importantly with Him in whom only true peace can be found:
"Be still, my soul, the hour is hast'ning on when we shall be forever with the Lord, when disappointment, grief, and fear are gone, sorrow forgot, loves purest joys restored! Be still my soul! When change and tears are past, all safe and blessed, we shall meet at last."
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