2007 marks the 400th anniversary of the birth of Lutheran pastor and hymnist Paul Gerhardt. He was born in 1607 in a village near Wittenberg, Germany and he died in 1676 in Lubben, Germany. Gerhardt wrote a total of 133 hymns. Gerhardt's hymns were born during a life of adversity, yet they proclaim a strong trust in God's Word.

Lutheran hymns have a rich heritage of confession, profession, and faith. Their main theme is faith in a gracious God and in Jesus as the Savior of the world. The Lutheran Sentinel pays tribute to those hymns by looking at Paul Gerhardt's life during this year.

One theologian noted the following about Paul Gerhardt's hymns: "A remarkable mix of Consolation and Defiance lends Gerhardt's hymns its [sic] unique allure…" This truly stands as the hallmark of his songs.

Yet it should be noted as well that for Gerhardt both Consolation and Defiance stem from the same trunk, the trunk of faith, a faith rooted in the true nature of the eternal God. Gerhardt faithfully confesses this God in his Trinity Sunday hymn, "The Myst'ry Hidden from the Eyes." While confessing the pure faith, without any admixture of false doctrine, Gerhardt—with his usual touch—consoles the heart and bids the believer to defy every wicked thing that detracts from faith.

That connection between the consolation and defiance of the believing heart, and the orthodox faith in God should never be divorced. They have everything to do with each other. God is beyond our meager and finite comprehension. Yet He chooses to reveal and show us who He is in His holy word. And He does this for the express purpose of bringing us comfort in the face of many troubles, and strength to stand firm in those times of tribulation. God does not teach us in the Bible obtuse facts about His essence to impress us. The Lord of hosts displays who He is—His holiness, goodness, omniscience, mercy, and grace, and even His three-in-one essence—that we may have the right hope and refuge in days of misery.

"All other gods whatever" are not "full of love" and care nothing about our misery. They are not a "Shield" or "Savior" to anyone. They do nothing but demand love, sacrifice, and devotion before they will bestow any good thing. Such gods cannot bring hope and refuge. The God of the Holy Bible can bring these. This is His one chief goal with each and every soul, not desiring that any should perish.

Gerhardt calls this God and the things He speaks about Himself a "mystery hidden from the eyes of learned men," not only because the Bible does, but because only faith sees these truths. If we were to go by what the mind sees, we would never conclude that God is three Persons yet one Essence. If we go by logic, we would say that God is unloving because He allows evil and wickedness to abound, even amongst His own. If we go by sight, then we must conclude that we should be punished forever for our sins.

But faith sees the word alone. It sees the true God, who created and still cares for the world, and every life in it. Faith sees the true God, who "was for thy pardon smitten." Faith beholds the true God, who calls us by the Gospel to believe that Gospel, that is, to believe that our punishment for sin has been put on Christ alone, and that through His cross we need not fear sin, death, nor the devil.

This is the faith that every true Christian has. Such a faith is not the possession of pastors, theologians and renowned hymn-writers alone. It is confessed by everyone who lets reason be silent, and in heart and soul listens simply to the comforting and certain word of God, a word that tells us who God really is, a word that tells us what He is really like: Father, Son and Holy Spirit really and truly loves and forgives us, and bears us up under all the crosses of life.

Pastor Gerhardt leads us still today with his hymn. He teaches us in this spiritual song the ancient faith the Church has always confessed. He gives us hope in the true God who loves us. He comforts us, and as he defies the evil powers, he encourages us to do the same, not with our might, but with our right faith in the eternal loving God.

Erik Gernander is pastor of Peace Lutheran Church in Jefferson City, Missouri.

Citation in the first paragraph is by Christian Mueller as quoted by Uwe Siemon-Netto in his article "Entrust Your Days and Burdens."