“The Lord is near to all who call on him.”
(Psalm 145:18 ESV)
In the Comfort of Christ, We “Lose the Sense of Losing”
The first two lines of the sonnet, “Comfort,” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning sound like a lullaby. “Speak low…low and sweet…sweet and low.” The final lines describe a mother calming her child to sleep by singing. From beginning to end, the poem takes us into a quiet place of comfort and rest. As Browning calls the Savior to speak, we are hushed to listen.
Browning asks God to speak in the “gentle whisper” that the prophet Elijah heard after he fled from Ahab and Jezebel (1 Kings 19:12 NIV). For Elijah, the still, small voice came after a fierce wind, an earthquake, and fire. Browning listens for the low, sweet voice beneath the din of praise or “hallelujahs” (line 2). She recalls the Bible’s promise that “the Lord is near to all who call on him” (Psalm 145:18 ESV), and she looks expectantly to him for comfort.
Browning identifies with Mary who sat at Jesus’ feet listening to his teaching and who later anointed Jesus’ with costly oil (Luke 10:38-42 and John 12:1-6). Like Mary, Browning longs to listen to Jesus. She knows that his voice is uniquely able to comfort because he is both divine and human (lines 8-9). As the writer of Hebrews put it, Jesus is able to sympathize with our weakness. For this reason, we can draw near to his throne of grace to receive mercy and help (Hebrews 4:14-16).
The pinnacle of the poem is Browning’s epiphany that ultimately the comfort of Christ causes us to “lose the sense of losing.” When we experience the nearness of our Savior, the pain of our losses fades. Someday we will lose our sense of loss completely. Jesus will return to be with us, and he will wipe away our every tear and put an end to our mourning (Revelation 21:4).
Finally, Browning describes a child whose pet bird has flown away (line 11). The child’s grief is eased as he is sung to sleep on his mother’s lap. Browning coins the word “love-reconciled” (line 13) in place of “comforted.” The child is reconciled—restored to peace—as he hears his mother’s song. In the same way, the “low and sweet” words of Christ restore us to peace even in the midst of losses and sorrows.
Do you long to hear Christ speak words of comfort to you? We can hear his voice when we open God’s Word, the Bible. He comforts us as we read and as we pray. As you consider Browning’s poem, take a moment to read Psalm 145 as well. Reflect on how God “upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down” (Psalm 145:14 ESV). Even now we can lose our sense of losing as we listen to his Word.
“Comfort”
Speak low to me, my Savior, low and sweet
From out the hallelujahs, sweet and low,
Lest I should fear and fall, and miss thee so
Who art not missed by any that entreat
Speak to me as to Mary at thy feet—
And if no precious gums[1] my hands bestow,
Let my tears drop like amber, while I go
In reach of thy divinest voice complete
In humanest affection[2]—thus in sooth,[3]
To lose the sense of losing! As a child,
Whose song-bird seeks the wood for evermore,
Is sung to in its stead by mother’s mouth;
Till, sinking on her breast, love-reconciled,
He sleeps the faster that he wept before.
(Elizabeth Barrett Browning, 1806-1861)
Prayer: Speak to me, Father, by your Word and by your Spirit. Please comfort me today in such a way that I am content even in loss. Help me to experientially know the comfort of Christ, who died and rose again so that I could be reconciled to you. When I see you face-to-face, all of my sorrows will be love-reconciled. Until then, teach me to seek you, and help me to know that you are near. Amen.
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Sources
[1] No precious gums: refers to the expensive perfume which Mary brought to anoint Jesus (John 12:1-6).
[2] Humanest affection: In the incarnation, God became man. The love of Jesus is both divine and human.
[3] In sooth: in truth.