ISAIAH 12:4
From 1618 to 1648, Europe, and especially Germany, was devastated by famine, disease and destruction during the Thirty Years’ War. Martin Rinkart served as a German Lutheran clergyman during that period of war and plague. One year he conducted more than 4,000 funerals, including that of his wife. He is best known for the text to “Nun danket alle Gott” (“Now thank we all our God”) which was written 1636. It was set to music by Johann Crüger about 1647, and translated into English in the 19th century by Catherine Winkworth.
Through grief, and loss, suffering and death, Rinkart always looked to his Saviour, and could thank God for the blessings he still had. He followed the example of the prophet Isaiah, who instructed God’s people to give thanks at all times.
“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.”
