Now Thank We All Our God

Now Thank We All Our God

When the world is at war, any town can become a pretty miserable place to be. Eilenberg, Germany, in the early 17th century, was no exception.

During the Thirty Years War, Eilenberg became a refuge. The city was well defended so people fled to her for safety. Unfortunately, the city’s size and defenses were not enough. The masses of people suffered disease and starvation and the city was overrun by hostile troops on more than one occasion.

Martin Rinkart had just taken a position as pastor at a Lutheran Church in Eilenberg. By 1637, he was the only pastor who remained in the city. All the others had died or left. He presided over 4480 funerals that year, including as many as 50 in one day. The most difficult was the service he conducted for his own wife. That was in May.

How does someone keep their mooring in a world like that? How does a pastor keep his eye on God while a death and disease rage? How can you be thankful while the world around you is crumbling? Martin found some solace in writing hymns. In spite of the horrors that surrounded him on a daily basis, he desired to somehow lift the spirits of his people. So he wrote the hymn, “Now Thank We All Our God.”

It has become a hymn of Thanksgiving in America, being sung only during the holiday season, but it is still quite popular in Germany. It is the second most sung hymn among Lutherans after “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.” The music is uplifting and the lyrics are deeply spiritual but the most impressive aspect of this hymn is that it was written by a man who stayed faithful and focused in spite of the harsh and evil realities of death, pandemic and war.

Pray and sing these lyrics earnestly, this Thanksgiving, and remember how easy it is to forget how wonderfully blessed our lives are. Even in times of fear, disease and war, we can find something to be thankful for.

https://youtu.be/dCKRHp2Yuzs?si=1FIerHdoM_oPkBjX

NOW THANK WE ALL OUR GOD

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.