Hymn Notes: Now Thank We All Our God (CW 610)

One of the hymns we sing at our Thanksgiving service without fail is "Now Thank We All Our God," (610, Christian Worship: A Lutheran Hymnal).  While this hymn is sung with great joy, it was written by a pastor who had endured great heartache.  Consider this history of Pastor Martin Rinkart, author of the hymn.

"Now thank we all our God" is a popular Christian hymn translated from the German "Nun danket alle Gott", written c. 1636 by Protestant minister Martin Rinkart. The melody is attributed to Johann Crüger, who wrote it c. 1647.^[1]

Martin Rinkart was a Lutheran minister who came to Eilenburg, Saxony at the beginning of the Thirty Years' War. The walled city of Eilenburg became the refuge for political and military fugitives, but the result was overcrowding, and deadly pestilence and famine. Armies overran it three times. The Rinkart home was a refuge for the victims, even though he was often hard-pressed to provide for his own family. During the height of a severe plague in 1637, Rinkart was the only surviving pastor in Eilenburg, conducting as many as 50 funerals in a day. He performed more than 4000 funerals in that year, including that of his wife.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Now_Thank_We_All_Our_God

Despite the bitterness which had afflicted his life, Pastor Rinkart penned a hymn which urges us to give thanks to God in all circumstances.  No matter what our circumstances are, the Lord remains our good and merciful Father in heaven, the giver of every good and perfect gift, and the Savior of mankind.  

Join us this Wednesday, November 21 at 7:00 PM to sing this hymn, to ponder God's promises, and to give thanks to the Lord for all his goodness.

Now thank we all our God
   With hearts and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things has done,
   In whom his world rejoices, 
Who from our mother's arms
   Has blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love
   And still is ours today.

Oh, may this bounteous God
   Through all our life be near us,
With ever joyful hearts
   And blessed peace to cheer us
And keep us in his grace
   And guide us when perplexed
And free us from all ills
   In this world and the next.

All praise and thanks to God
   The Father now be given,
The Son, and Him who reigns
   With them in highest heaven,
The one eternal God,
   Whom earth and heaven adore!
For thus it was, is now,
   And shall be ever more.