Neal Pollard
English is a living language and poetic wording requires interpretation. When we come to interpret poetic words written long ago, we can easily find ourselves failing to understand meaning. This is true of our worship in song, as we sing words that we may fail to comprehend. Because we are worshipping God, we want to correct this whenever necessary.
The hymn, Whispering Hope, is soft and sentimental, having a beautiful tune that makes a favorite almost 160 years after it was written. Septimus Winner, the author of the song, is probably as well known for children’s songs like Listen To The Mockingbird and Oh Where, Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone? A song that would later become a bluegrass standard, What Is Home Without A Mother, was also a Winner song.
Winner writes in the poetic style of the 19th Century for the song we sometimes sing in church. The first verse personifies hope with these eloquent words: “Soft as the voice of an angel, breathing a lesson unheard, hope with a gentle persuasion, whispers her comforting word.” This seems to suggest that, at times, hope is a feeling without words that can grow and move us to trust the One who gives it. What encouragement can we have faith in? The message of hope: “Wait till the darkness is over, wait till the tempest is done. Hope for the sunshine tomorrow, after the shower is done.” Things may be going badly now, but wait and hope. Things will get better.
This same mindset of waiting and trusting is depicted in the second verse, if the lyrics are complicated. Winner writes, “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 entire verse pictures how, when we are suffering, struggling, or enduring something difficult, it can serve to help us see the promises of hope that will be realized whether after the trial or at the very end. Hope will not disappoint (cf. Romans 5:5).
The last verse includes some words we don’t use or may struggle to understand. It begins with a clear allusion to Hebrews 6:19: “Hope, as an anchor so steadfast, rends (rips or tears, NP) the dark veil for the soul.” The latter phrase makes me think of what happened to the temple curtain separating the holy place and most holy place when Jesus died on the cross (see Matthew 27:51). Hope not only anchors us, but through it God shows His power. “Whither (where, NP) the Master has entered, robbing the grave of its goal.” We have hope because death has been defeated (1 Corinthians 15:55-57; Hebrews 2:14-15). “Come then, O come, glad fruition (the realization of hope, NP), come to my sad weary heart; come, O thou blest hope of glory, never, O never depart.” This seems to be asking, “Please let my hope be fulfilled and never let me lose that hope.”
When we are struggling with temptations, trials, difficulties, and loss, hope is elusive and hard to find. This song urges us to persist and trust that this hope will be realized. This is reinforced in the simple refrain: “Whispering hope, oh how welcome thy voice, making my heart in its sorrow rejoice.” While it is notable to me that there is no mention of God, Christ, or the Bible, in Esther-like fashion, it pictures hope as something tangible and trustworthy. It calls us to embrace it. Armed with the promises of Scripture, we should always be reminded to choose hope over doubt when in the midst of spiritual storms.
