‘He is there in the still small voice, and trumpet call.’ A lively congregational song.
1 Kings 19: 11-13; 1 Samuel 3: 1-10; Rev 4: 1-5; Acts 2: 2
Themes: Prayer, Guidance, Listening for God, God with us
Download sheet music
This song was written for a ‘Live Out Loud’ service in September 2009. It summed up the theme of that evening: God is always with us, and we should be listening out for his voice both in the gentle whisper, and the hurricane.
The music tries to capture something of that. Whilst basically a lively, major key song in 4 (I’d determined to leave minor keys and 3-time behind me for a while…) the beginning of each verse and the middle of the chorus should have a quieter feel.
When Elijah ran from his rival’s sword
To the hilltop cave where he sought the Lord
The message came not in wind or flame,
But in a quiet voice.
But when John saw visions of what’s yet to be,
Of a throne surrounded by a crystal sea,
The Spirit spoke with a trumpet’s note,
And peals of thunderous noise.
So in each sound and word and chord
We’re listening for your voice, O Lord.
You’re the God of silence and the singing crowd,
Of the gentle whisper and the thundercloud.
In the softest breeze and the waterfall;
You are there in the still, small voice and trumpet call.
As a boy called Samuel, full of truth and light,
Was disturbed from sleeping in the quiet night,
The sound he heard wasn’t Eli’s words,
But the voice of God above.
But when twelve disciples gathered in one room
Needing words to speak about the empty tomb,
The Spirit came like a hurricane
To spread the news of love.
So in each sound and word and chord
We’re listening for your voice, O Lord.
You’re the God of silence and the singing crowd,
Of the gentle whisper and the thundercloud.
In the softest breeze and the waterfall;
You are there in the still, small voice and trumpet call.
© P Arnold 2009
Picture credit: Flikr / Phil Roeder