HYMN FOR EASTER 4 Entrust while on your Journey/Heidi's hymn

English: Entrust while on Your Journey German: Befiehl du deine Wege Norwegian: Velt alle dine veier Text: Paul Gerhardt (1607-1674) Tune: Johann Crüger (1598-16) 1. Entrust , while on your journey, All that which grieves your heart, Into the care most faithful Of him who rules the stars, To him whose power governs A way for clouds and air, For he will also find you The way he has prepared. 2. To God , whom you must trust in To bless you here on earth, Look to his works around you So that your work has worth. Your own consuming worries, Your tears or grief or cares Will not bring God to help you: Go to the Lord in prayer. 3. Your faithfulness and mercy, O Father, know and see All that is good or hurtful For all your children’s needs, For what your will has purposed You do, Almighty One, And what your wisdom pleases Is by your counsel done. 4. Ways you will find, yes always, You never lack the might, Your deeds are purest blessing, Your path is purest light, Your work cannot be hindered Your labor never rests, When you would give your children All that would serve them best. 5. And even if all devils Would try to hold their sway It never can be doubted That God will win the day. What he himself created And what he wants to be Will in the end live always Through all eternity. 6. Hope always, weary Christian, Hope, never, never fear, For God will grasp you out of The pit of sheer despair. God’s mercies will relieve you Of your anxieties. Wait patiently, his sunshine With joy you soon will see. 7. In him, rest all your sorrows, Give them a glad good night. Let go of all that troubles Your heart and causes fright. So rest, God is the ruler Of everything that is, He governs well from heaven And everything is his. 8. Him , him, let him now govern, The wisest Prince whose ways Will manage all things wisely So you will be amazed. When he, as is his nature, Will rule with power and truth And he will find solutions For all that troubles you. 9. He may delay a season And seem to let you go, As though he had intended To leave you all alone And let you be suspended In anxious groans of rue, As though he had forgotten His promises to you. 10. Will you stay true and faithful To him in whom you rest, Then he will yet deliver You when you least expect. Then he will lift your burden, And set your spirit free. You’ll see your sorrows ended In glorious liberty. 11. Yes , soon, oh child most faithful! You have your battle won! With glory and thanksgiving You’ve now received your crown! For God himself has given A palm in your right hand And now you sing in heaven With those victorious bands. 12. Bring it about, O Father, Now end our pain and need. And strengthen for our journey Our weary hands and feet And let your care surround us Steadfastly on our way As every step will lead us Toward heaven’s brighter day. Ps. 37:5 Entrust to God your ways and hope in him, he will, yes, bring it about. Tr. Gracia Grindal 2007 MEDITATION A pastor in Norway told me once that normal body temperature in Celsius is 37.5. He had learned in seminary that Psalm 37.5 also was normal for Christians. It brought to mind the German Lutheran chorale by Paul Gerhardt.This beloved hymn reflects on Psalm 37. It is also an acrostic. The first word in every stanza becomes Psalm 37:5, beginning with Entrust.Like sheep, Christians entrust themselves to the Good Shepherd. The children’s book Heidi by Johanna Spyri, (1827-1901), shows how that worked. Heidi, living with her grandfather, had not learned to read. After a couple of years, she was taken to Frankfurt by her aunt. Heidi was not happy about being forced to leave her grandfather, but she met a new friend, Clara, and her grandmother. Clara’s grandmother was appalled that Heidi could not read and made sure she learned how to. When Heidi happily returned to her grandfather, she ran to her friend Peter’s grandmother who was blind and began to read the hymns the grandmother longed to hear, especially this one. As she did, she both gladdened the heart of the grandmother and learned the truths of the Gospel. Heidi used it to understand her own situation—learning from Clara’s grandmother that God answered prayers but not always right away. “He may delay a season…” But when the answer came it would be perfect and much better for you than what you had asked. Heidi realized this had happened in her own life when her prayers to return to her grandfather were finally answered, but not before she had learned to read. She then understood the truth of the hymn. She used it to help the doctor who had told Clara’s father to let Heidi return to her grandfather. When he expressed his sorrows to Heidi one day she comforted him with this hymn. Something he remembered his mother doing years before. Psalm 37:3 reminds us to find the green pastures of our Lord. There we will be safe and can wait patiently for the Lord. Remain steadfast; God will surprise you. Keep your temperature normal. As his sheep, we have nowhere else to turn than to him. Entrust your ways to him! HYMN INFO Paul Gerhardt, (1607-1676) known as the Sweet Singer of Lutheranism, grew up in Grafheinichen, between Halle and Wittenberg. He attended school in nearby Grimma. While Gerhardt was still a student, plague ravaged the town. At his graduation, in 1627, given the exigencies of the Thirty Years War, he did not receive a call, but served as a tutor to a family in Berlin. During that time he became acquainted with the organist, Johann Crüger (1598-1662) the cantor at the Nikolai church in Berlin. In 1647 they began working together and published significant collections of hymns called Praxis pietatis melica . Over ninety of Gerhardt’s hymns appeared in these collections. This hymn appeared in the 1653 collection. In 1657 he was called as Deacon to the Nikolai church but became embroiled in a theological dispute. He lost his position, his wife died after a long illness, leaving him with their one surviving child out of five. It was a difficult time for him. In 1668 the Lübben congregation, south of Berlin on the Spree River, called him to serve as Archdeacon. He served there until his death in 1674. The congregation wrote under his portrait in the church, “A theologian sifted in the crib of Satan. Theologus in cribro Satanus versatus.” The tune by Johann Crüger is also the tune for "O Sacred Head Now Wounded." In prior days, text writers would suggest an old tune for their text. The meant that this tune was used frequently for many texts in the 17th century. LINKS Iver Kleive De Unsynlige/Troubled Water 2008 https://youtu.be/4JQKSX5L4Zc Oslo Gospel Choir https://youtu.be/aPNhxVVDcKE Jars of Clay/Lift Up Your Head https://youtu.be/voYptcSfIUo Give to the Winds your Fears/John Wesley's translation https://youtu.be/UTDobMKOM64 As sung by Thomas church choir for the funeral of Kurt Masur https://youtu.be/TXMZVpwiLaw