Hymn History
One of the most interesting studies you can undertake is to learn the history of some of our great Christian hymns. Many hymns have fascinating stories of how the author came to write the hymn. One of my favorite hymns is “Now Thank We All Our God” (LSB 895), written by a Lutheran pastor named Martin Rinckart.
Rinckart was a Pastor during the Thirty Years War (1618-1648). The Thirty Years War was one of the longest and most destructive wars in European history. There were an astounding 8 million casualties from the war (this is an incredible number of casualties for a war during the Middle Ages). The cause of the war was a combination of economics and religion, with Sweden and Germany being two of the main countries involved. There was a great deal of famine and plague throughout the war which added to the misery of Europe.
Rinckart was a gifted musician in addition to a pastor. He wrote around 66 hymns, but “Now Thank We All Our God” is the most famous. As a child, Rinckart had been a member of the choir in Leipzig (where Bach would later be the director of music). When he became a pastor, he served in his hometown of Eilenberg, just as the Thirty Year’s War broke out. His town was especially hit hard around the year of 1637. The town was struck with famine and plague, and many of the pastors died. Rinckart was one of the few left alive. During that year he had to do as many as 40-50 funerals a day, for a total of nearly 4500 during that year. One of these funerals was for his wife.
Later, the town was surrounding by the Swedish army, and the Swedish general demanded an incredible ransom in order to spare the city. Rinckart came before the general to plead for mercy, but the general would not relent. Rinckart returned to the city and fell down on his knees and pleaded to God for mercy and help. Seeing the great display of faith and devotion, the general reduced the ransom price to a much lower and more manageable total.
Rinckart wrote “Now Thank We All Our God” despite enduring a long period of misery, death and destruction. He had lost many friends and colleagues and family members. Despite all of this, he wrote a great hymn of praise. The hymn praises God for his many gifts to His children. The second stanza encourages Christians to praise God even during the darkest times, for His mercy is always greater than any pain and challenges we may face. The hymn ends with a doxology (a hymn or section of a hymn that praises Father, Son and Holy Spirit). All in all, the hymn is one of the greatest expressions of faith and thanksgiving found in our hymnal.
In Christ,
Rev. David L. Putz, Pastor
Holy Cross Lutheran Church (LCMS)
Crawfordsville, Indiana
Good things are happening at Holy Cross! Praise God for that. When we keep Word and Sacrament ministry at the heart of what we do, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is sown. As we share the Word, God gives the growth and we rejoice as humble stewards of the God who changes lives and hearts. Help us always, Lord, to keep Your Word at the center of our life together under your Holy Cross!
Please continue to pray for our congregation and each other. Don’t forget to visit our church website www.holycross-crawfordsville.org to find links for all our services on YouTube.