CHRISTIAN LIFE >> MEDITATION AND PRAYER
SDAH 498
Still, still with Thee, when purple morning breaketh,
When the bird waketh, and the shadows flee;
Fairer than morning, lovelier than daylight,
Dawns the sweet consciousness, I am with Thee.
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For Worship Leaders
Make each hymn more meaningful with these helpful tools: Short, ready-to-use hymn introductions for church bulletins, multiple ways to introduce a hymn based on your worship theme and in-depth history and insights to enrich your song service.
Hymn Spotlight: Still, Still With Thee
Harriet Beecher Stowe, famed author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin and sister of preacher Henry Ward Beecher, penned this hymn in 1853 after many early mornings spent quietly watching the sunrise and listening to the birds. Inspired by Psalm 139:18, “When I awake, I am still with thee,” she weaves a meditation that spans from daily dawn to the final awakening in eternal life. The gentle tune CONSOLATION, adapted from Mendelssohn’s Songs Without Words, mirrors the hymn’s serene spirit. It reminds us that whether in the stillness of morning or in the sleep of death, the believer’s joy is the same—waking to find we are still with our Lord.
📖 Reference: Feel free to share but please cite hymnsforworship.org when reproducing.
Introductions for Sabbath School Song Service (based on specific lesson quarterlies):
Harriet Elizabeth Beecher Stowe, sister of the famous preacher Henry Ward Beecher, was better known in her own right as the author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. In the summer of 1853, while she was on a visit to a friend, she often arose at 4:30 in the morning so that she could enjoy the beauty of the dawn and the early singing of the birds. The hymn, as first published in 1855 in the Plymouth Collection, edited by her brother, had six stanzas. The thought running through the whole poem is that of the psalmist: “When I awake, I am still with thee” (Ps. 139:18), and this extended to the sleep of death and the glorious awakening to eternal life in the presence of God.
Harriet Beecher was born at Litchfield, Connecticut, on June 14, 1811, daughter of Lyman Beecher, who later served as president of Lane Seminary, Ohio, from 1832 to 1852. She married Calvin E. Stowe, who was professor of language and biblical literature at the seminary. She wrote Religious Poems, published in 1867. She died on July 1, 1896, at Hartford, Connecticut. A fervent abolitionist, she also wrote Dred, a Tale of a Dismal Swamp, 1856; and Lady Byron Vindicated, 1870.
CONSOLATION is an arrangement from Jacob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847). It is an adaptation from his Songs Without Words, Opus 30, No. 3, and has been in use as a hymn tune since the 1860s.
📖 Reference: Companion to the Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal by Wayne Hooper and Edward E. White. Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1988.
Text
1
Still, still with Thee, when purple morning breaketh,
When the bird waketh, and the shadows flee;
Fairer than morning, lovelier than daylight,
Dawns the sweet consciousness, I am with Thee.
2
Alone with Thee, amid the mystic shadows,
The solemn hush of nature newly born;
Alone with Thee in breathless adoration,
In the calm dew and freshness of the morn.
3
Still, still with Thee! As to each newborn morning
A fresh and solemn splendor still is given,
So does this blessed consciousness, awaking,
Breathe each day nearness unto Thee and heaven.
4
So shall it be at last, in that bright morning,
When the soul waketh and life’s shadows flee;
O in that hour, fairer than daylight dawning,
Shall rise the glorious thought, I am with Thee.
Hymn Info
Biblical Reference
(a) Ps 139:18 (d) 1 Thess 4:17
Author
Harriet Beecher Stowe (1812-1896)
Year Published
1853
Hymn Tune
CONSOLATION
Metrical Number
11.10.11.10.
Arranged
from Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Theme
MEDITATION AND PRAYER
Recommended Reading
The general idea when it comes to hymns is that there is a close bond between the author and the composer. That the author writes a hymn and the composer invents a tune to suit it, and then provides the harmony to accompany the tune. However, such wasn’t always the case.
Many hymns actually worked vice versa wherein authors would write verses according to existing tunes. Hundreds of hymns are sung from borrowed tunes, such as secular songs, chants, and even classical works. That being said, I went ahead and researched which hymns in the SDA Hymnal were originally classical works.
