Hymns and Hymnwriters of Denmark - Jens Christian Aaberg (best e reader for academics .TXT) 📗
- Author: Jens Christian Aaberg
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O let Thy spirit with us tarry,
Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
So that the babes we to Thee carry
May be unto Thy death baptized.
Lord, after Thee we humbly name them,
O let them in Thy name arise!
If they should stumble, Lord, reclaim them,
That they may reach Thy paradise.
If long their course, let them not falter.
Give to Thine aged servants rest.
If short their race, let by Thine altar
Them like the swallows find a rest.
Upon their heart, Thy name be written,
And theirs within Thine own right hand,
That even when by trials smitten,
They in Thy covenant firm may stand.
Thine angels sing for children sleeping,
May they still sing when death draws nigh.
Both cross and crown are in Thy keeping.
Lord, lead us all to Thee on high.
His communion hymns are gathered from many sources. Of his originals the following tender hymn is perhaps the most typical.
Savior, whither should we go
From the truest friend we know,
From the Son of God above,
From the Fount of saving love,
Who in all this world of strife
Hath alone the word of life.
No, I dare not turn from Thee,
Though Thy word oft chasten me,
For throughout this world, O Lord,
Death is still the cruel word.
Whoso saves the soul from death
Brings redemption, life and breath.
“Eat my flesh and drink my blood.”
Saith our Lord, so kind and good.
“Whoso takes the bread and wine,
Shall receive my life divine,
Be redeemed from all his foes
And arise as I arose.”
Hear Him then, my heart distressed,
Beating anxious in my breast.
Take Thy Savior at His word,
Meet Him at His altar-board,
Eat His body, drink His blood,
And obtain eternal good.
Grundtvig also produced a great number of hymns for the enrichment of other parts of the church service. Few hymns thus strike a more appropriate and festive note for the opening service than the short hymn given below.
Come, Zion, and sing to the Father above;
Angels join with you
And thank Him for Jesus, the gifts of His love.
We sing before God in the highest.
Strike firmly, O Psalmist, the jubilant chord;
Golden be your harp
In praise of Christ Jesus, our Savior and Lord.
We sing before God in the highest.
Then hear we with rapture the tongues as of fire,
The Spirit draws nigh,
Whose counsels with comforts our spirits inspire,
We sing before God in the highest.
Equally fine is his free rendering of the 84th psalm.
Fair beyond telling,
Lord, is Thy dwelling,
Filled with Thy peace.
Oh how I languish
And, in my anguish,
Wait for release
That I may enter Thy temple, O Lord,
With Thee communing in deepest accord.
With Thy compassion,
Lord of Salvation,
Naught can compare.
Even the sparrow
Safe from the arrow
Rests in Thy care.
And as Thou shieldest the bird in its nest,
So let my heart in Thy temple find rest.
Years full of splendors,
Which to offenders
Earth may afford,
Never can measure
One day of pleasure
Found with Thee, Lord,
When on the wings of Thy quickening word
Souls are uplifted and Thou art adored.
Quicken in spirit,
Grow in Thy merit
Shall now Thy friends.
Blessings in showers
Filled with Thy powers
On them descends
Until at home in the city of gold
All shall in wonder Thy presence behold.
Grundtvig’s hymns are for the most part church hymns, presenting the objective rather than the subjective phase of Christian faith. He wrote for the congregation and held that a hymn for congregational singing should express the common faith and hope of the worshippers, rather than the personal feelings and experiences of the individual. Because of this his hymns are frequently criticized for their lack of personal sentiment. The personal note is not wholly lacking in his work, however, as witnessed by the following hymn.
Suffer and languish,
Tremble in anguish
Must every soul that awakes to its guilt.
Sternly from yonder,
Sinai doth thunder:
Die or achieve what no sinner fulfilled.
Tremble with gladness,
Smile through their sadness
Shall all that rest in the arms of the Lord.
Grace beyond measure,
Comfort and treasure
Gathers the heart from His merciful word.
Bravely to suffer,
Gladly to offer
Praises to God ’neath the weight of our cross,
This will the Spirit
Help us to merit
Granting a breath from God’s heaven to us.
Even stronger is the personal sentiment of this appealing hymn.
With her cruse of alabaster,
Filled with ointment rare and sweet,
Came the woman to the Master,
Knelt contritely at His feet,
Feeling with unfeigned contrition
How unfit was her condition
To approach the Holy One.
Like this woman, I contritely
Often must approach the Lord,
Knowing that I cannot rightly
Ask a place beside His board.
Sinful and devoid of merit,
I can only cry in spirit:
Lord, be merciful to me.
Lord of Grace and Mercy, harken
To my plea for grace and light.
Threatening clouds and tempests darken
Now my soul with gloomy night.
Let, despite my guilt and error,
My repenting tears still mirror
Thy forgiving smile, O Lord.
The following hymn likewise voices the need for personal perseverance.
Hast to the plow thou put thy hand
Let not thy spirit waver,
Heed not the world’s allurements grand,
Nor pause for Sodom’s favor.
But plow thy furrow, sow the seed,
Though tares and thorns thy work impede;
For they, who sow with weeping,
With joy shall soon be reaping.
But should at times thy courage fail—
For all may fail and falter—
Let not the tempting world prevail
On thee thy course to alter.
Each moment lost in faint retreat
May bring disaster and defeat.
If foes bid thee defiance,
On God be thy reliance.
If steadfast in the race we keep,
Our course is soon completed.
And death itself is but a sleep,
Its dreaded might defeated.
But those who conquer in the strife
Obtain the victor’s crown of life
And shall in constant gladness
Forget these days of sadness.
It is, perhaps, in his numerous hymns on Christian trust, comfort and hope that Grundtvig reaches his highest. His contributions to this type of hymns are too numerous to be more than indicated here. But the hymn given below presents a fair example of the simplicity and poetic beauty that characterize many of them.
God’s little child, what troubles you!
Think of your Heavenly Father true.
He will uphold you by His hand,
None can His might and grace withstand.
The Lord be praised!
Shelter and food and counsel tried
God for His children will provide.
They shall not starve, nor homeless roam,
Children may claim their Father’s home.
The Lord be praised!
Birds with a song toward heaven soar,
Neither they reap nor lay in store,
But where the hoarder dies from need,
Gathers the little bird a seed.
The Lord be praised!
Clad are the flowers in raiment fair,
Wondrous to see on deserts bare.
Neither they spin nor weave nor sew
Yet no king could such beauty show.
The Lord be praised!
Flowers that bloom at break of dawn
Only to die when day is gone,
How can they with the child compare
That shall the Father’s glory share?
The Lord be praised!
God’s little child, do then fore’er
Cast on the Lord your every care.
Trust in His love, His grace and might
Then shall His peace your soul delight.
The Lord be praised!
God will your every need allay
Even tomorrow as yesterday,
And when the sun for you goes down
He will your soul with glory crown.
The Lord be praised!
Grundtvig’s friends were sometimes called the “Merry Christians.” There was nothing superficial or lighthearted, however, about the Christianity of their leader. It had been gained through intense struggles and maintained at the cost of worldly position and honor. But he did believe that God is love, and that love is the root and fount of life, as he says in the following splendid hymn. The translation is by the Reverend Doving.
Love, the fount of light from heaven,
Is the root and source of life;
Therefore God’s decrees are given
With His lovingkindness rife.
As our Savior blest declareth
And the Spirit witness beareth,
As we in God’s service prove;
God is light and God is love.
Love, the crown of life eternal,
Love the brightness is of light;
Therefore on His throne supernal
Jesus sits in glory bright.
He the Light and Life of heaven,
Who Himself for us hath given,
Still abides and reigns above
In His Father’s boundless love.
Love, alone the law fulfilling,
Is the bond of perfectness;
Love, who came, a victim willing,
Wrought our peace and righteousness.
Therefore love and peace in union
Ever work in sweet communion
That through love we may abide
One with Him who for us died.
But the fruit of God’s love is peace. As Grundtvig, in the hymn above, sings of God’s love, so in the sweet hymn given below he sings of God’s peace. The translation is by Pastor Doving.
Peace to soothe our bitter woes
God in Christ on us bestows;
Jesus wrought our peace with God
Through His holy, precious blood;
Peace in Him for sinners found
Is the Gospel’s joyful sound.
Peace to us the church doth tell.
’Tis her welcome and farewell.
Peace was our baptismal dower;
Peace shall bless our dying hour.
Peace be with you full and free
Now and in eternity.
In this peace Christians find refuge and rest.
The peace of God protects our hearts
Against the tempter’s fiery darts.
It is as sure when evening falls
As when the golden morning calls.
This peace our Savior wrought for us
In agony upon the cross,
And when He up to heaven soared,
His peace He left us in His word.
His word of peace new strength imparts
Each day to faint and troubled hearts,
And in His cup and at the font
It stills our deepest need and want.
This blessed peace our Lord will give
To all who in His Spirit live.
And even at their dying breath
Its comfort breaks the sting of death.
When Christ for us His peace hath won
He asked for faith and faith alone.
By faith and not by merits vain,
Our hearts God’s blessed peace obtain.
Peace be with you, our Savior saith
In answer to the word of faith.
Whoso hath faith, shall find release
And dwell in God’s eternal peace.
Grundtvig’s hymns of comfort for the sick and dying rank with the finest ever written. He hates and fears death, hoping even that Christ may return before his own hour comes; but if He does not, he prays that the Savior will be right with him.
Lord, when my final hours impend,
Come in the person of a friend
And take Thy place beside me,
And talk to me as man to man
Of where we soon shall meet again
And all Thy joy betide me.
For though he knows he cannot master the enemy alone, if the Savior is there—
Death is but the last pretender
We with Christ as our defender
Shall engage and put to flight.
And His word will dispel all fear of the struggle:
Like dew upon the meadow
So falls the word of life
On Christians in the shadow
Of mortal’s final strife.
The first fruit of its blessing
Is
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