“O let me hear thee speaking in accents clear and still,
above the storms of passion, the murmurs of self-will.”
Hymn: “O Jesus, I Have Promised” – John E. Bode (1816-1874)
Common Tunes: ANGEL’S STORY, THORNBURY, WOLVERCOTE
Here we go again, asking for clarity and quiet! It must be a
major need of mine since I seem to revert to this kind of hymn-line! Perhaps
that is true of most of you in my ‘audience,’ so I will soldier on.
None of us wants to
be spoken to in muffled tones. I’m reminded of the Seinfeld episode where he
dealt with the “low talker” – remember her? Every time she said something to
Jerry, she would lower her head and speak as though her mouth were filled with
marbles. His frustration was one that we have all experienced. Now that I have
a hearing aid in one ear and am stone deaf in the other, I am even more
sensitive to low talkers!
This prayer-line asks for clarity from the mouth of God.
While I’m sure HE never mumbles, we may often wear ear muffs, or ear plugs… or
stick our fingers in our ears! So beginning now, when we ask God for the
clarity of his still, small voice, we need to listen with all our powers
because we know he wants us to hear and understand.
We also need to be constantly aware that he speaks in so
very many ways: audibly to some (although that’s never been my experience), by
gentle inner nudgings, through sermons and Bible studies, via other believers
(or even non-believers and donkeys for that matter), and of course in
Scripture. And do not for a moment forget that he speaks through hymns;
otherwise, these writings are a major waste!
When our storms of passion are raging and our self-will is
tugging at us to pull us away from our Center, then we must listen more
intently – more intentionally. We are caught up in lots of passions (not all of
them carnal!), and we’re constantly being pulled upon from every side until our
self-will is hard pressed to maintain. Then… THEN we are forced to listen more
closely to re-aright ourselves with the One who never mumbles.
Amidst the passions and the murmurs, the grumblings and the
mumblings, the noise and the silence – listen.
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