Whispering Hope
Songwriter
• Septimus Winner (1827-1902)
– He wrote under many pseudonyms
• Alice Hawthorne (his mother’s maiden name: used for
songs he felt were sentimental)
• Percy Guyer
• Apsley Street
• Mark Mason
• Paul Stenton
– A self-taught musician including piano, guitar and violin
• Owned his own music store where he offered lessons on
both instruments
– Wrote 200+ music volumes for 20+ instruments
– Produced 2,000+ arrangements for piano and violin
– Wrote Cogitations of a Crank at Threescore and Ten
Songwriter
• Wrote many well-known songs
– Ten Little Indians
– Where, Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone
– Listen to the Mocking Bird
• He sold this song for $5. By his death in 1902, it
had sold 20 million copies
• Wrote political songs during the Civil War
– Demanding the reinstatement of Gen. McClellan
• For which he was arrested for treason after
80,000 copies of his songs sold
– He was released after agreeing to stop selling the
music and to destroy the copies remaining in his
possession
The Song
• His only hymn
– Friends say he had not intended it to be a hymn
and was surprised by its quick popularity in
churches
• The last song of his to gain widespread
popularity
Whispering Hope
• “Whispering hope” – the words themselves
seem strange
– Whispering is an adjective describing hope
– How can hope be described as speaking softly?
• The word “whisper” when used in relationship
to the Bible always reminds me of one story
– The story of Elijah in 1 Kings 19
The situation
• 1 Kings 17 – Elijah rebukes Ahab for sin
– 3 ½ years of drought follow
– Ahab tries to hunt Elijah down, kills many
prophets
• 1 Kings 18 – Elijah challenges prophets of Baal
to a contest
– The prophets of Baal lose and are executed
– The people turn to the Lord
– Rain returns to Israel
• It was a time of great triumph for God
– It should have been a great moment for Elijah,
but . . .
1 Kings 19:1-10
• Jezebel, the queen, promises to kill Elijah in
the next 24 hours
• Elijah believes the threat and starts running
– First to Beersheba in Judah
• There he prays that he might die
• An angel twice appears and tells him to eat
– Then he makes a 40 day journey to Mt Horeb
through a desert surviving only upon the food
God had fed him those 2 times
• Then God asks Elijah why he had come
– Elijah says he has done all that he could, but the
Israelites aren’t going to change and he is alone
and they want to kill him
1 Kings 19:11-13
• God has Elijah stand outside
– God causes a strong wind (tornado?)
– God causes an earthquake
– God sends down fire (lightning?)
• God was not “in” any of those things
– He used those spectacular and fearsome things
– But Elijah was not to confuse the spectacular
things God does with God Himself
• Instead God speaks to Elijah in “a still small
voice” (lit. “a sound of soft stillness” or “the
tone of a gentle blowing”)
1 Kings 19:11-13
• Elijah recognizes the presence of God and
covers his face
• God ask Elijah again why he had come
• Elijah gives the same answer
• God assures Elijah that his work was not done
– And he was not alone
– God’s word was still active in people’s hearts
and lives
• Elijah had expected the spectacular events on
Mt Carmel to change the nation
– When they didn’t, he lost hope
– And with a whisper God restored his hope,
reminding him the word of God was working
Stanza 1
• Soft as the voice of an angel, Breathing a lesson unheard,
Hope with a gentle persuasion Whispers her comforting word:
Wait till the darkness is over, Wait till the tempest is done,
Hope for the sunshine tomorrow, After the shower is gone.
• Hope is what brings us through the darkest
times
– We know during the storm, that it will end and
there will be sunny days ahead
– Hope is a lesson we understand sometimes
without realizing it is being taught (like Elijah)
• What is the comforting word hope brings us?
– Rom 5:1-5
• God loves us, have faith, there is a reward
Stanza 2
• If, in the dusk of the twilight, Dim be the region afar,
Will not the deepening darkness Brighten the glimmering star?
Then when the night is upon us, Why should the heart sink away?
When the dark midnight is over, Watch for the breaking of day.
• The worst time to look into the distance is at
dusk – things are unclear
– But as it gets even darker, you can see even
farther, all the way into space
– And you shouldn’t be scared of the darkness
because you know it will be followed by day
Stanza 2
• Rom 8:22-25
– As we live here on earth with its sorrows and
temptations, sometimes it seems that heaven is
far away
– But rather than despair, we should let the
disappointments of earth make us see much
more clearly that hope of heaven
• Luke 1:76-79
– And we know no matter how dark the earth may
seem, soon a new day will dawn for the saved
• 2 Pet 1:16-21
Stanza 3
• Hope, as an anchor so steadfast, Rends the dark veil for the soul,
Whither the Master has entered, Robbing the grave of its goal.
Come then, O come, glad fruition, Come to my sad weary heart;
Come, O Thou blest hope of glory, Never, O never depart.
• Based on Heb 6:13-20
– God gave His word and swore an oath to fulfill
that word so that we might have hope
• That hope extends “through the veil” into the
presence of God and it is an anchor
– That is, it is firm, unchangeable
– Christ has gone there beyond the veil
(overcoming death and making it powerless)
• So there again we have the certainty of our hope
for eternal life
Stanza 3 and Chorus
• “glad fruition” means . . .
– “the enjoyable attainment of something desired”
– A desire to have eternal life (Rev 22:20)
• Chorus: Whispering hope, oh how welcome thy voice,
Making my heart in its sorrow rejoice.
• When we are facing sorrows, there is nothing
better than to turn to God’s word and listen for
His words of hope whispered to us from the
pages
– Turning our sorrow to rejoicing (Rom 12:12)
Conclusion
• When things look their darkest and you feel
like Elijah that you can’t go on
– Find the words of hope offered by God, knowing
that He will keep His promises (an anchor on
which we can depend)
– Like Abraham in Rom 4:18 “who contrary to
hope, in hope believed” when God said he’d be
the father of many nations when he was without
a child
• God has promised us a better tomorrow, let
that hope whisper to your soul