The whole poem is called “The Brewing of Soma” and in its opening section Whittier composed lines graphically describing the feverish nature of pagan worship. The pursuit of gods makes for dervish-like intensity and the word ‘feverish’ is a good one as it expresses the madness and intensity exhibited by people as they are borne away to the adoration and palliation of their idols. Just to bring idolatry home to our own front doors I name four of the idols commonly found in the western world; materialism, consumerism, hedonism and narcissism, they are present in every society where western values have penetrated and their followers are dedicated worshippers.
The phrase with which Whittier completes his poem is itself taken from the story of the prophet Elijah. He was no stranger to the madness of pagan worship; having witnessed it on Mount Carmel at the showdown between himself, the lone representative of Yahweh and the prophets of Baal and Ashtaroth. They had limped around their altar crying to their god, “cutting themselves as was their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them. And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention” (1 Kings 18:28.29). Note this, there was no voice, no sound and no answer; instead, a great anticlimactic soundless emptiness pervaded the atmosphere, this was the disappointing outcome of all their devotion to the idols of their day. How different it was when the true God answered, first, by fire from heaven and then by torrential rains that broke the drought conditions that had prevailed for more than three years (1 Kings 18:30-46). It was an occasion filled with drama, dynamic also and the inflamed madness that so often accompanies false worship was conspicuously absent. God had trained His man Elijah for this confrontation yet how quickly his boldness seemed to melt away and he himself became fevered with fear. He lost his spiritual equilibrium, the pressure of a maddened queen named Jezebel got to him and scampered away with his tail between his legs until at last he sat down and asked God that he might die (1 Kings 19:4). With great tenderness and firmness God dealt with his servant, but it was not wind, earthquake or fire that were the instruments of God’s self-revelation, instead, when the rush of wind, the terrible shaking of earthquake and the conflagration of fire had ceased Elijah heard “the sound of a low whisper” (1 Kings 19:12) and it was the Lord. The translations of this phrase are varied, each contributing something of the wonder of the “Still small voice of calm” that brought settlement to the overheated prophet. The self-pity and depression provoked in him by the sounds of wickedness thoroughly destabilizing him were dissipated and sanity came to his heart as he heard the tones of God in the stillness. A way forward was given and he was granted perspective as he breathed that atmosphere of the Lord’s holy calmness. The voice was “ a sound, a thin silence,” “the sound of a gentle stillness and a still, small voice,” “the sound of a gentle blowing,” “the sound of a gentle whisper,” and “a sound of sheer silence.” These are some of the phrases describing the manner in which the grace of God’s self-disclosure came to His beloved and troubled servant.
And who among us has not become over heated by the pressure of days, when things were heaped upon us and we were sorely shaken and lost our bearings feeling that we have slipped the moorings that tied us so safely to our God? What to do at such times? How shall we learn to live so that we do not succumb to the driven-ness characteristic of those around about? What does it mean to “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10)? Many of us are profoundly unused to being still; we live in a rushing torrent of busyness. Yet the road to the Promised Land passes through the desert of separation for all God’s children, not only His Old Testament family. Jesus was led of the Spirit into the desert of quietness; there He met not only the devil, but wild beasts and angels too (Mark 1:13). This is always so, solitude with God brings spiritual realities to the fore. It necessitates a learning to be separate, to be quiet, to draw aside and seek God and He desires to lead us to the place of stillness, where we are alone and yet not lonely because we discover He is there (Psalm 139:7). It was while Moses was on the mountain that God’s voice from out the burning bush drew him near (Exodus 3:4). Then after the drama of the salvation work God accomplished for the whole nation he was drawn back again to that very place and commanded “Come up to Me on the mountain and be there” (Exodus 24:12). Elijah too was led to that same holy mount of separation and when he eventually was quieted enough to hear, the still small voice of calm brought tranquility to his troubled heart.
When we look into the New Testament we discover that there is no physical mountain given us to climb that we might locate and hear God. Through the Person and work of the Lord Jesus He has instead come down into our hearts and taken up residence there by His Holy Spirit. This is most wonderful; the quiet place is to be found within, a holy of holies in the soul. Somehow this inward place within the deeps of every true child of God, where He has taken up His abode is connected with the Holy One in heaven and with His heaven of heavens (John 14:17-20 Colossians 3:3). It is a timeless place where the sounds of eternity are to be heard. This kingdom of God is both transcendent and immanent, at the same time it is magnificent, high above all and yet so intimately near. He is God over everything, yet our Father too, the voice of His Spirit is in our hearts and minds. The art of maturing in Him, of obtaining and maintaining a sober, healthy mind partly lies in learning to be still and to hear Him. Those things that unceasingly sound in the heavens we will find also sounding in our hearts, with the result that in a very real sense His kingdom will be in us (Luke 17:21). Our troubled minds shall find poise and our self-importance (remember Elijah! 1 Kings 19:10) will dissolve as we become located aright in the great history of God’s salvation. When the church in any era becomes self important and loses its sense of being but a part in the unfolding drama of God’s redeeming work in the ages it will inevitably take the road that leads down into a sentimentalized Christianity. Something of this has been occurring in the evangelical and charismatic churches of the West during the last century or so.
What is it that the spiritual senses of our inward man experience if we nourish a hearing heart? If we confine ourselves to considering the still, small voice of calm, what is the essence of the sounds present in the solitudes and silences of God? What is the substance that is able to take the feverishness out of our spiritual intensity? Just consider the earlier chapters of the book of the Revelation, what was it that John the apostle heard? He describes himself as being “in the Spirit on the Lord’s day” (Revelation 1:10) and in that state of heart he heard and saw many wondrous things. We cannot doubt that he was anxious about the churches, especially the seven named in these verses (Revelation 1:11). He was concerned about the future of the church and the unfolding of its history, especially in the light of the statements Jesus had made many years earlier, things that seemed to be taking a long while to unfold. John heard the heavenly sound and he was shown that which brought him the assurance all was well and all things would be well, the future was certain, the church would prove indestructible and the enemies would be all overcome.
John describes what he heard as a “loud voice like a trumpet” and “like the roar of many waters” (Revelation 1:10,15). He heard Him Who is the Everlasting WORD speaking again, He, Jesus who can never cease from declaring His own Being. He is the WORD and the sound of Him is present always to those who have ears to hear; alas there are times when we do not get still enough to hear Him. He is ever speaking, and John heard in the Spirit the testimony of Jesus, “Fear not, I AM the first and the last, and the living one, I died and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades” (Revelation 1:17-18). Those who will draw aside before God will certainly hear Jesus speak this way. I do not mean that they will necessarily hear specific words of this nature, but the sounds that ring in the holy silence have the substance expressed in this utterance. The sense that HE IS and that He always will be, that He, Jesus pre-dates all that has ever taken place in the ebb and flow of history and that He is ever the same throughout and is the Glorious One Who remains, even after all taking place in time has drawn to its end is conveyed by His Spirit to the heart that listens. If we not only abide in Him by faith, but also withdraw into Him, we shall steadily commune into the knowledge that Jesus holds the keys to everything. In spite of all that might appear on the surface in the cut and thrust of powers and empires both global and personal. He has the keys to the most intimate personal details of life and the immense struggles of nations. Jesus is the peace giver and settles hearts in their shakings when they meet Him and hear Him in the Spirit.
John again tells us that he was “in the Spirit” (Revelation 4:2) and fresh scenes open before his wondering eyes. Central to this vision are the things he hears. His inward ears distinguish another unceasing sound of words “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!” (Revelation 4:8) There is no doubt that those who draw aside and become tuned to the Eternal God in their inner man will become aware of this refrain uttered by the un-fallen creatures who dwell around the heavenly throne and behold Him Who sits upon it, “they are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night never cease to say” (Revelation 4:8). They say what they see and declare what they know! Wherever they look, this is what they behold! God is Almighty, He is truly God and Lord and holy, holy, holy. Holy in all He is and all He does, there is no fault in Him, He is their creator and sustainer, the very life of their own lives; He is the Being of all beings. To hear this sound of heaven ringing in the holy of holies of our own hearts brings us vital perspective, it humbles us to the dust we are yet assures us that we are among His beloved creatures. It silences our gripes and grumbles and contextualizes our apparent needs, wants and present distresses.
Still John sees and hears more as he is lifted to the throne of God. The pristine realities of the Creator and His creatures seen in chapter four flow on into chapter five but there is the most profound change and development in what is heard there around the throne. Voices sound, first a strong angel, then a wailing apostle followed by a comforting elder (Revelation 5:2-5). The drama of all this should not be allowed to escape us as we see the tears of a heartbroken man cease as the One called “The Lion of the tribe of Judah” appears and is given control of the unfolding of history. The voice gives the command “weep no more; behold the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that He can open the scroll and its seven seals” (Revelation 5:5). There are occasions in our personal lives as we look on the insane condition of the world, the apparent triumphant power of evil and the often tragic and perilous state of the churches that we become tearfully grieved, broken up and well nigh overcome. Learn to be still, to draw aside to Him, to dwell deep and hear the voice that says to us “Weep no more, Jesus has conquered!” The sound of redemption accomplished rings in the victorious announcements and songs found in this chapter. We must listen for these joyful sounds in our hearts allowing the Holy Spirit to aid us to find the quietness necessary that we might hear and find His rest in the thick of things.
We have focused upon but three of the statements that sound in the Spirit but there is so much more. These voices are never silenced; we simply need to get quiet enough to hear them. The clamorous voices of the world are filled with intent to drown out the sounds of the Spirit. There are occasions when we are rendered almost powerless by the feverish demands of what meets us in life from day to day. The voice of folly cries in the streets bidding us with insidious insistence that we must enter her house and do her will (Proverbs 5:3; 7:6-27). We must reject those overtures for God has “made us alive together with Christ” (Ephesians 2:4) so that our inward faculties might be sensitive and attuned to that which can be heard and seen in the realms obscured to those who love this present evil world and persist in marching to its rhythm. Alive in Christ and taking time to hear Him we can march to the beat of a different drummer, out of time with this present evil age but very much in step with the heavenly sound and thereby able to be true witnesses to Jesus the Lord in the midst of a very disappointed world. Hearing Him we shall keep the pace that results in being in the right state at the right time in the right place and we shall behold the wonder of the way He fits all things together. The clash of competing chaos is calmed because across the waters comes His voice and we can hear it always as He tells us “I AM, do not be afraid” (John 6:20). He walks on the waters, in very real contact and control of the often-turbulent waves of circumstance. He does not float above it all, ethereal and unreachable but is ever near and we can receive Him into our boat and there is calm and we are where we should be (John 6:21).
The Lord quickens us inwardly by His Spirit that we might hear these things that are said of Him and He says of Himself. When we did not know Him, our powers did not register the beauty of His voice, if He spoke it seemed that it was merely thunder, a noise signifying nothing much at all, but now, by grace we can hear! Now take time to look at the full text of the poem we started with at www.qhpress.org/quakerpages/qwhp/soma.htm The intoxicating brew concocted and consumed by us all when we worshipped those things that are no gods is graphically pictured in some of these verses, the false birth that appeared to be, at the time, ‘a winged and glorious birth’ that led upward proved empty and vain as with dazed head we, the worshipper sank back to earth, the elation dissipated to nothingness. The fever of blood and brain, the spell under which mankind has fallen is terrible indeed (Romans 1:18-31). “Dear Lord and Father of mankind, forgive our foolish ways.” Indeed He is ‘dear’ and also ‘Lord’ though mankind including each of us when we rejected Him knew it not. He is ‘Father’ too in that he is the Father of spirits (Hebrews 12:9). Thank God He did not leave us thus but in His Son came down to redeem and Father us with a new birth and ‘clothe us in our rightful mind’ that we might dwell in the simplicity of trust that hears Him above all other voices and share with Jesus the silence of eternity interpreted by love! Blessed are they who hear the gracious calling of the Lord and live where His still dews of quietness are dropping till all their strivings cease and the strain and stress is removed so that their ordered lives, day by day, in the midst of their society, confess the beauty of His peace.
