Thursday, November 27, 2008
Romans 8:35, 37 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? . . . No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
NOW THANK WE ALL OUR GOD
Now thank we all our God
With heart and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things hath done,
In whom His world rejoices;
Who from our mothers' arms
Hath blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love,
And still is ours today.
Upon hearing the hymn, one would never realize that this paean of praise was forged during times of tragic experiences. From some of the most severe human hardships imaginable during the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) came this stately hymn, often called the national "Te Deum" of Germany because it has been sung on many occasions of national rejoicing.
Martin Rinkart, born on April 23, 1586, in Eilenberg, Saxony, Germany, was the son of a poor coppersmith. He was for a time a boy chorister in the famous St. Thomas Church of Leipzig, Germany, where J. S. Bach was later musical director. There Rinkart worked his way through the University of Leipzig and was ordained into the ministry of the Lutheran Church. At the age of thirty-one he was called to be the pastor in his native town of Eilenberg. He arrived there just when the dreadful bloodshed was starting. Because Eilenberg was a walled city, it became a frightfully overcrowded refuge for political and military fugitives from far and near. Throughout these war years several waves of deadly pestilence and famine swept the city as various armies marched through the town, leaving death and destruction in their wake. The Rinkart home served as a refuge for the afflicted victims, even though it is said that Martin Rinkart often had difficulty in providing food and clothing for his own family. The plague of 1637 was particularly severe. At its height Rinkart was the only remaining minister, often conducting as many as forty to fifty funeral services daily. Yet, amazingly enough, he was a prolific writer of seven different dramatic productions on the events of the Reformation as well as a total of sixty-six hymns.
Germany is the home of Protestant church music, and no hymn, with the exception of Luther's "A Mighty Fortress is Our God" has been used more widely in German churches than this hymn.
The first stanza of this hymn is a general expression of gratitude to God for His "countless gifts of Love." The second verse is a petition for God's continued care and keeping, with perhaps just a suggested hint of Rinkart's own personal hardships, "Guide us when perplexed, and free us from all ills . . ." The final stanza is a grand doxology of praise to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit -- "the one eternal God."
From "101 Hymn Stories"
By Kenneth W. Osbeck
