The Story Behind the Song
When we read or sing a hymn like Now Thank We All Our God, we’re struck by the gratitude expressed in the first verse, the sense of comfort and well-being communicated in the second, and the glorious doxology of the third. It sounds like a song that was the product of a period of peace and prosperity, akin to what Robert Browning described in his poem Pippa Passes: “God’s in His heaven—All’s right with the world!” The only hint that something might be amiss is one small phrase in the second verse, “…and free us from all ills in this world and the next.”
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The author of the hymn, Martin Rinkart (1586-1649), was a Lutheran pastor who certainly knew that God was in His heaven, but all was not right in the world during Rinkart’s life. He lived and ministered in Eilenburg in Germany during the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648). Because it was a walled city, Eilenburg became a place of refuge and its population swelled; eventually more than 8,000 people died there due to pestilence and famine brought on by overcrowding and inadequate sanitation as the Austrian and Swedish armies swept through.
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Other pastors perished or fled, and at one point, Rinkart was the only one remaining in Eilenburg. Perhaps he felt the same sense of despair that Elijah did when he told God “…I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away” (1 Kings 19:10, 14). But whereas Elijah was reassured that there were 7,000 in Israel who had not turned to worship Baal, Martin Rinkart was truly alone—at least from a human standpoint.
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During the great pestilence of 1637, he buried between 4,500 and 5,000 people, one of whom was his own wife. Some days he would conduct 40 to 50 burials.
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It is thought that Rinkart wrote the hymn in 1636, not in celebration of the end of the war (it would continue another dozen years), but as it still raged. His thanksgiving was not due to the circumstances, but was in spite of them. His gratitude was a present reality (“Now thank we all our God…”), not a future condition (he didn’t write “Let’s all thank God when things are better.”)
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He acknowledged the uncertainty and ambiguity of the situation (“…guide us when perplexed; and free us from all ills in this world and the next.”) But, like Paul, he could stand in confidence that “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed…” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9).
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In our day of trouble, let’s take an example from Pastor Rinkart of how to deal with the harsh state of present affairs. Offer to Jesus a prayer in which you begin by expressing your gratefulness for what he’s already done in your life; thank him for how he’s “blessed us on our way with countless gifts of love, and still is ours today.”
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Then lets’ bring our petitions to our Lord, asking him to “keep us in His grace, and guide us when perplexed; and free us from all ills in this world and the next.”
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Finally, end your prayer by giving praise to Father, Son and Holy Spirit. “Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength! Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name…” (Psalm 96:7-8).
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Know that I’m thinking of you and praying for you even though we aren’t meeting in person for the present time. I value you as members of the traditional worship ministry teams, not because of your singing or playing ability (I do appreciate that—don’t get me wrong!) but because of who you are. As the apostle Paul wrote to the church at Thessalonica, “since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face” (1 Thessalonians 2:17). So for now, as we meet “screen to screen,” let’s hold each other up with messages, emails, texts and phone calls. And when this is all over, we’ll come back together, joining hearts and hands and voices, to thank we all our God!
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Anastasia Music 