Be still

A dozen or more hymns and songs begin with the biblical command to ‘be still’, most of them giving good reasons for the right kind of stillness, as in Psalm 46:10 (see also 754 and 757). Since this 1986 composition by David J (Dave) Evans appeared at Bible Weeks that year, in Let’s Praise (1988) and at the annual Spring Harvest events, it has been in wide demand and featured in many other books. Worship Songs A&M (1992) emended the first line to ‘… the Spirit of the Lord’ to avoid an apparent tautology; others including Common Praise (2000) and Worship and Rejoice (USA, 2001) have followed suit. But for its author/composer, the ‘presence’ was a vital component of his motivation to write. At that time David Evans had become dissatisfied with ‘shallow worship’ and frustrated by the too-common lack of reverence; he felt a burden to make people aware of the ‘otherness’ and fundamental holiness of God. He composed the song in about an hour at home in Winchester with his guitar. ‘Holy ground’ and ‘holy fire’ suggest an Exodus context, LP adding Acts 7:33 as a reference, while the mood of expectancy in stz 3 brings us into gospel territory. In a poll of favourite hymns among viewers of BBC TV’s ‘Songs of Praise’ in 2001–02, this composition came 5th, the highest place for any living author. Other surveys have yielded similar results. The tune BE STILL [FOR THE PRESENCE] retains its original name when used in full. Christopher Norton’s arrangement appears in Hymns for the People (1993). The version of the music chosen here is attributed to Geoff Baker in Let’s Praise and in the Spring Harvest books.

b Dartford, Kent 1957; except for two years in Maryland, USA, he lived most of his early life in Winchester. He graduated in Social Science (BSc) from the Univ of Southampton, a city where he continues to live, in Shirley. As well as composing, he works in the field of music education and is currently undertaking PhD research into the psychology of music. He has been involved in a variety of church denominations, both modern and traditional, and has written and composed some 50 items (largely unpublished and ‘mainly out of my own life’s experience’—DJE), one of which has far outstripped the rest and indeed most other contemporary worship songs in popularity. He also yearns to write (and play and sing) what is authentic rather than merely derivative or superficial. No.566.