Paul Gerhardt
Matthew 25:1-6
Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a shout, “Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.”
O Lord, How Shall I Meet You LBW 23
1 O Lord, how shall I meet you, how welcome you aright?
Your people long to greet you, my hope, my heart’s delight!
Oh, kindle, Lord most holy, your lamp within my breast
to do in spirit lowly all that may please you best.
2 Your Zion strews before you green boughs and fairest palms;
and I, too, will adore you with joyous songs and psalms.
My heart shall bloom forever for you with praises new
and from your name shall never withhold the honor due.
3 Rejoice, then, you sad-hearted, who sit in deepest gloom,
who mourn your joys departed and tremble at your doom.
Despair not; he is near you, there, standing at the door,
who best can help and cheer you and bids you weep no more.
4 He comes to judge the nations, a terror to his foes,
a light of consolations and blessed hope to those
who love the Lord’s appearing. O glorious Sun, now come,
send forth your beams so cheering and guide us safely home.
Text: Paul Gerhardt, 1607-1676
It is sometimes said that if Martin Luther was the mind of Reformation hymnody, Paul Gerhardt was its heart. He wrote 133 hymns in all, many still in use today. This one, often sung during the Season of Advent, was actually about the triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.
Like many of his brethren, Gerhardt lived in a difficult time. He pastored during the 30 Years War, four of his children died in infancy, and his wife died young, just before their 14th wedding anniversary! He was a popular pastor, but after defying the order of his secular ruler, Elector Frederick Wilhelm I, he was banished from his Berlin pulpit never to return. He wrote this hymn as a response and a testimony to his faith: Rejoice, then, you sad-hearted, who sit in deepest gloom, who mourn your joys departed and tremble at your doom. Despair not; he is near you, there, standing at the door, who best can help and cheer you and bids you weep no more.
Prayer: O Lord, let us greet you with joy and expectation regardless of our circumstance. For no matter how dark the night or how deep the shadow, there is always a rising in thee! Amen.