Now Thank We All Our God (Evangelical Lutheran Worship 839)
1 Now thank we all our God, with heart and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things has done, in whom this world rejoices;
Who from our mothers’ arms, has blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.
2 Oh, may this bounteous God through all our life be near us,
With ever joyful hearts and blessčd peace to cheer us;
And keep us all in grace, and guide us when perplexed;
And free us from all harm in this world and the next!
3 All praise and thanks to God the Father now be given;
The Son, and Spirit blest, who reign in highest heaven;
The one eternal God, whom earth and heaven adore;
For thus it was, is now, and shall be evermore.
Text: Martin Rinkhart; Music: Johann Crüger; Public Domain
Devotion
This hymn has long been a favorite at Thanksgiving Day services as well as other festive celebrations. I have heard it sung at wedding ceremonies. The words and the music together just bubble over with joy and thankfulness. This is all the more amazing when we consider the circumstances under which it was written. The author of the lyrics was a pastor by the name of Martin Rinkhart. In 1637 he was serving in the town of Eilenburg in Saxony. The Thirty Years’ War was raging. A plague was decimating the region. Rinkhart was the last surviving pastor in town. He had just presided over fifty funerals, including one for his wife. How he was able to pen such a magnificent hymn in spite of all that is beyond me. But he did, and the whole church has been grateful ever since.
Prayer
Gracious Lord, we thank you for blessing us in times of joy and comforting us in times of sorrow. You make us glad in all the seasons of our lives. Amen.