Be still and know that I am God
Be Still and Know
- Metre
- 8.8.8
- Copyright
- Public domain
Lyrics
Be still and know that I am God,
be still and know that I am God,
be still and know that I am God.
I am the Lord that healeth thee,
I am the Lord that healeth thee,
I am the Lord that healeth thee.
In thee, O Lord, I put my trust,
in thee, O Lord, I put my trust,
in thee, O Lord, I put my trust.
History
"Be Still and Know" is a short chorus rather than a full hymn, and its writer is unknown: Complete Mission Praise, the Church Hymnary (fourth edition) and the Methodist Singing the Faith all credit the words and the melody as anonymous. Its opening line comes from Psalm 46:10, and the second follows the Authorised Version wording of Exodus 15:26. The third stanza turns from the voice of the Lord to that of the worshipper, as the openings of Psalms 7, 16 and 71 do. It appeared in several books, in various forms, in the last two decades of the twentieth century, including Jesus Praise (1982), soon followed by Mission Praise.
The chorus exists in more than one shape. Some books keep the Authorised Version wording of the second stanza and others modernise it, and some add verses: the Celebration Hymnal prints five stanzas and credits two of them to Tom Fettke. The three verses on this recording are the ones it credits as anonymous. The anonymous melody, known as BE STILL AND KNOW, has been arranged many times, among others by David Peacock for Jesus Praise (1980) and by Roland Fudge for Mission Praise (1983). The Methodist Church notes that, like many shorter songs, it is easily sung unaccompanied and lends itself to being sung in response to prayers of intercession.
Performance
This recording is performed by St Martin's Voices and runs about 1 minute 27 seconds. It sings three short verses, each repeating its line three times.
Sources: hymnary.org · praise.org.uk · methodist.org.uk · digitalsongsandhymns.com · St Martin's Voices recording and Words book
About St Martin's Voices
The recording on this page is sung by St Martin's Voices, the professional vocal ensemble based at St Martin-in-the-Fields, the church on Trafalgar Square in London. One of the UK's most versatile professional choirs, they sing for services, concerts and broadcasts — including on BBC radio and Classic FM — and have released a number of acclaimed recordings.
Their hymn recordings are made freely available to Anglican parishes through the Church of England's A Church Near You Resource Hub, produced by Andrew Earis, Director of Music at St Martin-in-the-Fields, in collaboration with the Royal School of Church Music.