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Saturday Reflections

On Saturdays during our Lenten Devotional time we sill simply sit with an instrumental version of a well-known hymn or worship song. Our weeks are so full, so busy, so noisy…use these Saturdays to prepare your hearts for gathered worship by reflecting on lyrics and Scripture in a space of stillness and simplicity.

Today’s instrumental hymn comes from a rather unexpected source. John Greenleaf Whittier was part of the Society of Friends, known as “The Quakers,” a branch of the Christian faith that does not traditionally sing in worship. To be fair, the words he penned were not intended to be a hymn, but a poem. In fact, they are a part of a much larger poem that spoke to the phenomenon of “religious frenzy,” encouraging the reader to consider quieter forms of connecting with God. The “foolish ways” referenced in the first verse are a criticism of hyper-emotionalism in the church, and in fact, some hymnbooks still use the original language of “feverish ways.”

When we consider this purpose, the invitations found in the hymn become much more noticeable through phrases like:

Deeper reverence
Simple trust
Silence of eternity
Still dews of quietness

This hymn is all about the invitation to stillness and simplicity. This is the purpose of our Saturdays during this Lenten journey—to step away from the noise and clamor of daily life and spend a few quiet minutes in the presence of God as we prepare for Sunday worship.

May God’s “coolness and balm” meet you as you listen, read, and reflect.

Scripture for Meditation:

“O Lord, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.
But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother;
my soul is like the weaned child that is with me.

O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time on and forevermore.”
—Psalm 131 (NRSV)

Song: Dear Lord and Father of Mankind (lyrics after video)

Lyrics for Reflection

Read through the lyrics of this hymn slowly and prayerfully. Read them more than once, and pay attention to the movement of your soul as you pray. What words or phrases grab your attention? Why? As you finish, sit in prayerful silence before God and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you something of your need and God’s provision that emerges from these words.

Dear Lord and Father of mankind
Forgive our foolish ways
Reclothe us in our rightful mind
In purer lives Thy service find
In deeper reverence praise
In deeper reverence praise
In simple trust like theirs who heard
Beside the Syrian sea
The gracious calling of the Lord
Let us like them without a word
Rise up and follow Thee
Rise up and follow Thee
O Sabbath rest by Galilee
O calm of hills above
Where Jesus knelt to share with Thee
The silence of eternity
Interpreted by love
Interpreted by love
With that deep hush subduing all
Our words and works that drown
The tender whisper of Thy call
As noiseless let Thy blessing fall
As fell Thy manna down
As fell Thy manna down
Drop Thy still dews of quietness
Till all our strivings cease
Take from our souls the strain and stress
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of Thy peace
The beauty of Thy peace
Breathe through the heats of our desire
Thy coolness and Thy balm
Let sense be dumb let flesh retire
Speak through the earthquake wind and fire
O still small voice of calm
O still small voice of calm