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Now Thank We All Our God

1. Now thank we all our God
With heart and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things hath done,
In whom His world rejoices;
Who, from our mother's arms,
Hath blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love,
And still is ours today.

2. O may this bounteous God
Thro' 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.

3. 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 heav'n adore;
For thus it was, is now,
And shall be evermore.

Lyrics: Martin Rinkart
Music: Johann Crüger

Tune: NUN DANKET
Meter: 6.7.6.7.6.6.6.6.

Now Thank We All Our God

Martin Rinkart, 1586–1649
English Translation—Catherine Winkworth, 1827–1878

From some of the severest human sufferings imaginable during the 30 Years’ War of 1618–48—a war that has been described as the most devastating in all history—this great hymn of the church was born.

Martin Rinkart was called at the age of thirty-one to pastor the state Lutheran church in his native city of Eilenberg, Germany. He arrived there just as the dreadful bloodshed of the 30 Years’ War began, and there Rinkart spent the remaining thirty-two years of his life faithfully ministering to these needy people.

Germany, the battleground of this conflict between warring Catholic and Protestant forces from various countries throughout Europe, was reduced to a state of misery that baffles description. The German population dwindled from sixteen million to six million. Because Eilenberg was a walled city, it became a frightfully over-crowded refuge for political and military fugitives from far and near. Throughout these war years, several waves of deadly diseases and famines swept the city, as the various armies marched through the town, leaving death and destruction in their wake. The plague of 1637 was particularly severe. At its height Rinkart was the only minister remaining to care for the sick and dying.

This hymn eloquently confirms Martin Rinkart’s gratitude and confidence in God, despite of all of the misery and suffering around him.