“Now Thank We All Our God” (LBW 533, 534) is familiar to most Lutherans and has been used extensively in England and the United States. The hymn was written by Martin Rinkart, a seventeenth century Lutheran pastor, ministering in the walled city of Eilenberg in Saxony (in northeastern Germany). Rinkart served his pastorate during the Thirty Years War, a time of great turmoil in northern Europe. Because Eilenberg was a walled city, people from miles around regularly sought refuge there. The resultant overcrowding meant that disease and hunger were commonplace. During an outbreak of bubonic plague in 1637 the clerical superintendent left Eilenberg and two local pastors died of the disease. Rinkart’s wife also succumbed to the deadly pestilence. In the midst of his grief, he was left alone to minister to his town and sometimes had to lead as many as fifty funeral services per day.

Despite the depths of his grief, the horrors of war, and the stress of overwork, Martin Rinkart wrote what has become a thanksgiving (and Thanksgiving) standard. The second verse is particularly poignant in the light of the pastor’s situation:

Oh, may this bounteous God through 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 harm in this world and the next.

We wonder how Rinkart could sing of God’s bounty in the midst of unimaginable depravation. We marvel that he could characterize his sufferings as mere perplexity. Perhaps it’s only in the midst of suffering that our hymnist was able to recognize the depth and dependability of God’s love.

Sixteen centuries earlier, St. Paul urged the church in Philippi: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say rejoice. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:4-7). Taken out of context we might think that St. Paul’s on a roll: life is good, and his troubles are few. However, we read earlier in chapter 1 of this same letter that Paul is languishing in prison as he writes to the Philippian church. Despite his loss of freedom, despite his not knowing whether he would live or die, Paul remains thankful and rejoices in the Lord.

The apostle rejoices in the concern that the people of Philippi have expressed for him, and he thanks God for the faith and love that unite them. He, like Pastor Rinkart, recognized that giving thanks to God is appropriate even in dark times. Paul writes later in chapter 4: “In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, or having plenty and of being in need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

I hope and pray that you and your family are enjoying peace, prosperity, good health, and joyous times as the Thanksgiving holiday approaches. But please know that, even if all is not copacetic in your life, God has not abandoned you. As Paul knew well, and as Martin Rinkart expressed in song, God in Christ accompanies us on our way. As evidenced by the cross, God is with us through thick and through thin. Even in the midst of struggle, we can join the church in singing, “Now thank we all our God.”

In Jesus’ name,

Pastor Robert M. Mountenay