Elijah and the Still, Small Voice
#1056 Hymns—For Home and ChurchLyrics
The Story Behind “Elijah and the Still, Small Voice”
A composer whose two oldest children are deaf wrote the Church's song about hearing God — and chose every word accordingly.
A Melody with a Voice of Mystery
Alan L. Patterson, a composer and author from Bountiful, Utah, starts songs from the music. This one began as a tune with 'a little bit of an exotic sound' and 'a voice of mystery to it' — a melody that pulled him toward the Old Testament, and finally to Elijah on the mountain: the wind, the earthquake, the fire, and the Lord in none of them.
Patterson knew the still small voice firsthand. At fourteen, struggling with depression, he prayed and read the Book of Mormon nightly seeking a witness — and received, in his words, 'something beautiful — the manifestation of the Holy Ghost. And it was fragile. It was calm.' Divine guidance in his life, he says, 'usually came as feelings, not as an audible voice or as dramatic manifestations of God's power.'
Why He Chose the Word 'Hear'
Patterson's two oldest children are deaf, and learning to sign with them shaped the song's theology: 'our physical conditions or circumstances do not prevent God from communicating with us.' His deliberate choice of the word 'hear' for how the Spirit reaches us carries that conviction — hearing God, in this song, has never required ears.
The craft carries the story too: the tenor lines sway like the wind on Elijah's mountain, and the piece ends on an unresolved-feeling third — a whisper, not a shout. As Patterson puts it: 'The melody has to bear testimony.'
For the Year of the Old Testament
The song was released February 26, 2026, as hymn #1056 in the sixth batch of Hymns—For Home and Church — a release deliberately themed to the Old Testament for that year's Come, Follow Me study.
Verse one tells Elijah's story; verse two hands it to the child singing: the Spirit will come to you the same way it came on the mountain — not in the noise, but after it.
Did You Know?
- Composer Alan Patterson's two oldest children are deaf — signing with them taught him that nothing prevents God from communicating with us.
- The tenor harmony lines are written to sway like the wind on Elijah's mountain.
- The piece deliberately ends on a third instead of a resolved fifth — a musical whisper.
- Patterson's own witness came at fourteen, seeking help with depression: 'fragile' and 'calm,' like the song says.
- It was released in the hymnbook batch themed to the Old Testament for 2026's Come, Follow Me year.
Scripture Connections
- 1 Kings 19:11–12 — Wind, earthquake, fire — 'but the Lord was not in' them. Then, the still small voice.
- Helaman 5:30 — 'A still voice of perfect mildness, as if it had been a whisper' — the Book of Mormon heard it too.
- Doctrine and Covenants 6:23 — 'Did I not speak peace to your mind concerning the matter?' — how the voice usually sounds.
- Galatians 5:22–23 — The fruit of the Spirit — love, joy, peace — the feelings the song teaches children to recognize.
Talk About It
Questions to spark a conversation with your family or Primary class:
- Why do you think the Lord spoke to Elijah in a whisper instead of the wind, earthquake, or fire?
- The composer's deaf children helped shape this song. What does it mean that 'hearing' the Spirit doesn't require ears?
- When have you felt something 'fragile and calm' that you knew came from God?
- What noise in your life might you need to turn down to hear the still small voice?
Teaching Resources
Attribution
Music by: Alan L. Patterson, 2019
Text by: Alan L. Patterson, 2019
Audio files from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints