Be Still My soul

The author of this hymn text, Katharina Amalia Dorothea von Schlegel, was born in 1697. Although little is known about her life and the circumstances surrounding the writing of this comforting text, we know that she was a leading female writer during the German pietist movement. This movement inspired a revival in German hymnody that produced hymns characterized by theologically rich, biblically sound lyrics.

​This particular hymn text was first published in 1752, and through the faithful translation work of Jane Borthwick (1813-1897), English speakers have come to love this beautiful German hymn. Sometime after 1900, it was paired with a beautiful tune by Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. The tune was part of a larger work entitled Finlandia. The closing section features what has become known as the Finlandia Hymn.
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“Be still, and know that I am God. . . The God of Jacob is our refuge” (Psalm 46:10, 11) is the timeless promise on which this hymn is based. When we sing this hymn, we join our voices with generations of saints who have sung these comforting words. We preach truth to ourselves when we sing “Be still my soul, the Lord is on thy side!”