Hymns and Hymnwriters of Denmark by Jens Christian Aaberg (books successful people read TXT) 📕
- Author: Jens Christian Aaberg
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Until I found that peace of heart
Thou canst alone impart.
Lord, cast not out Thy child, returning
A wanderer, naked and forlorn.
The tempting world, I sought with yearning,
Had naught to give but grief and scorn.
In Thee alone for all its grief
My heart now finds relief.
Thee will I love and worship ever,
My Lord, my God and Brother dear!
Must every earthly tie I sever
And naught but sorrow suffer here,
Thee will I love, my Lord divine;
O Jesus, call me Thine.
Equally characteristic of his work is his translation of the less-known but appealing German hymn “Der Schmale Weg Ist Breit Genug zum Leben”.
The narrow way is wide enough to heaven
For those who walk straight-forward and with care
And take each step with watchfulness and prayer.
When we are by the Spirit driven,
The narrow way is wide enough to heaven.
The way of God is full of grace and beauty
For those who unto Him in faith have turned
And have His way with love and ardor learned.
When we accept His call and duty,
The way of God is full of grace and beauty.
The yoke of God is not too hard to carry
For those who love His blessed will and way
And shall their carnal pride in meekness slay.
When we with Him in faith will tarry,
The yoke of God is not too hard to carry.
O Jesus, help me Thy blest way to follow.
Thou knowest best my weak and fainting heart
And must not let me from Thy way depart.
I shall Thy name with praises hallow,
If Thou wilt help me Thy blest way to follow.
But fine as many of his translations are, Brorson’s main claim to fame must rest, of course, upon his original compositions. These are of varying merit. His Christmas hymns were followed by a number of hymns for the festivals of the church year. While some of these are excellent, others are merely rhymed meditations upon the meaning of the season and lack the freshness of his Christmas anthems. The triumphant Easter hymn given below belongs to the finest of the group.
Christians, who with sorrow
On this Easter morrow
Watch the Savior’s tomb,
Banish all your sadness,
On this day of gladness
Joy must vanquish gloom.
Christ this hour
With mighty power
Crushed the foe who would detain Him;
Nothing could restrain Him.
Rise, ye feeble-hearted,
Who have pined and smarted,
Vexed by sin and dread.
He has burst the prison
And with might arisen,
Jesus, Who was dead.
And His bride
For whom He died,
He from sin and death now raises;
Hail Him then with praises.
When our sins aggrieve us,
Jesus will receive us,
All our debt He paid.
We, who were transgressors
Are now blest possessors
Of His grace and aid.
When in death
He gave His breath
To the cruel foe He yielded
That we should be shielded.
Earth! where are thy wonders!
Hell! where are thy thunders!
Death, where is thy sting!
Jesus rose victorious,
Reigns in heaven glorious
As our Lord and King.
Him, the Lord,
Who did accord
Us so great a joy and favor,
We will praise forever.
Brorson’s other hymns are too numerous to permit a more than cursory review. Beginning with the subject of creation, he wrote a number of excellent hymns on the work and providence of God. Best known among these is the hymn given below, which is said to have so pleased the king that he chose its author to become bishop. The hymn is thought to have been written while Brorson was still at Randrup. But whether this be so or not, it is evidently inspired by the natural scenery of that locality.
Arise, all things that God hath made[5]
And praise His name and glory;
Great is the least His hand arrayed,
And tells a wondrous story.
Would all the kings of earth display
Their utmost pomp and power,
They could not make a leaflet stay
And grow upon a flower.
How could the wisdom I compass
To show the grace and wonder
Of but the smallest blade of grass
On which the mind would ponder.
What shall I say when I admire
The verdant meadows blooming,
And listen to the joyful choir
Of birds above them zooming.
What shall I say when I descry
Deep in the restless ocean
The myriad creatures passing by
In swift and ceaseless motion.
What shall I say when I behold
The stars in countless numbers
Display their light and charm untold
While nature sweetly slumbers.
What shall I say when I ascend
To Him Who made creation,
And see the angel host attend
His throne with adoration.
What shall I say—vain are my words
And humble my opinion!
Great is Thy wisdom, Lord of lords,
Thy glory and dominion!
Lift up your voice with one accord
Now, every tribe and nation:
Hallelujah, great is our Lord
And wondrous His creation!
The Pietist movement is known for its fervid glorification of the Savior, and particularly of His blood and wounds, a glorification which at times appears objectionable because of the too-familiar and realistic terms in which it is expressed. Brorson did not wholly escape the excesses of the movement in this respect, especially in his translations. In his original hymns the excesses are less apparent. However faithful he might be to the movement he possessed a wholesome restraint which, when he was not following others, caused him to moderate its most inappropriate extravagances. What can be more reverent than this beautiful tribute to the Savior:
Jesus, name of wondrous grace,
Fount of mercy and salvation,
First fruit of the new creation,
Weary sinners’ resting place,
Banner of the faith victorious,
Anchor of our hope and love,
Guide us in Thy footsteps glorious,
Bear us to Thy home above.
Or more expressive than this jubilant hymn of adoration:
O Thou blest Immanuel!
What exceeding joy from heaven
Hast Thou caused in me to dwell
By Thy life for sinners given.
Thou hast broke the bands at last
Which my yearning soul held fast.
In Thine arms I find relief,
Soon Thy home I shall inherit,
Sin and sorrow, death and grief
Nevermore shall vex my spirit.
For Thy word confirms the pledge
Of my lasting heritage.
Lord, my praise ascends to Thee
For these days of joy and sorrow;
They shall end in jubilee
On that blest eternal morrow
When the Sun of Paradise
Shall for me in splendor rise.
Rise in joyful faith, my soul!
Banish all thy grief and sadness.
Strong the stream of life shall roll
Through my heart with constant gladness.
Jesus, Who mine anguish bore,
Be now praised for evermore.
Most beautiful is also his hymn to the Lamb of God, translated by Pastor D. G. M. Bach.
I see Thee stand, O Lamb of God,
On Zion’s mountain peak.
But Oh the way that Thou hast trod,
So long, so hard, so bleak!
What Thou didst suffer for our woe,
No man can ever know.
Though Brorson made a number of excellent translations of hymns to the Spirit such as the beautiful, “Come, Rains from the Heavens, to Strengthen and Nourish the Languishing Field,” he wrote no outstanding Pentecost hymns of his own composition. It remained for Grundtvig to supply the Danish church with a wealth of unexcelled hymns on the Holy Ghost.
Aside from his Christmas hymns, Brorson’s greatest contribution to hymnody is perhaps his revival hymns, a type in which the Lutheran church is rather poor. The special message of the Pietist movement was an earnest call to awake, and Brorson repeated that call with an appealing insistence and earnestness. The word of God has been sown, but where are its fruits?
O Father, may Thy word prevail
Against the power of Hell!
Behold the vineyard Thou hast tilled
With thorns and thistles filled.
’Tis true, the plants are there,
But ah, how weak and rare,
How slight the power and evidence
Of word and sacraments.
It is, therefore, time for all Christians to awake.
Awaken from your idle dreaming!
Ye lukewarm Christians, now arise.
Behold, the light from heaven streaming
Proclaims the day of mercy flies.
Throw off that sinful sleep before
To you is closed the open door.
Many are heedless, taking no thought of the day when all shall appear before the judgment of God. Such people should arouse themselves and prepare for the rendering of their account.
O heart, prepare to give account
Of all thy sore transgression.
To God, of grace and love the Fount,
Make thou a full confession.
What hast thou done these many years
The Lord hath thee afforded.
Nothing but sin and earthly cares
Is in God’s book recorded.
He realizes that many continue in their sin because of ignorance, and with these he pleads so softly:
If thou but knew the life that thou are leading
In sin and shame is Satan’s tyranny,
Thou wouldest kneel and with the Lord be pleading
That He thy soul from bondage would set free.
Oh, how the Saviour would rejoice
If thou today should’st listen to His voice!
And the day of salvation is now at hand.
O, seek the Lord today,
Today He hath salvation.
Approach Him while He may
Still hear thy supplication.
Repent and seek His grace
While yet His call doth sound,
Yea turn to Him thy face
While still He may be found.
Orthodoxy had instilled a formal, but often spiritless faith. Pietism aimed to awaken the great mass of formal believers to a new life, a living and active faith. This is strongly expressed in the very popular hymn below.
The faith that Christ embraces[6]
And purifies the hearts
The faith that boldly faces
The devil’s fiery darts,
That faith is strong and must
Withstand the world’s temptation
And in all tribulation,
In Christ, the Saviour, trust.
The faith that knows no struggle
Against the power of sin,
The faith that sounds no bugle
To waken, fight and win,
That faith is dead and vain,
Its sacred name disgracing,
And impotent when facing
The devil’s mighty reign.
A Christian wears his armor
To wage the war of faith
Against the crafty charmer,
His foe in life and death.
With Jesus he must stand
Undaunted and victorious,
If he would win his glorious
Reward at God’s right hand.
It is a comfort pleasing
In our embattled life,
To feel our strength increasing
In trying days of strife.
And as our days shall be
The Lord will help accord us
And with His gifts reward us
When striving faithfully.
O Lord, my hope most fervent,
My refuge in all woe,
I will hence be Thy servant
Through all my days below.
Let come whatever may,
I will exalt Thee ever,
And ask no other favor
Than live with Thee for aye.
Although Brorson knew that—
The cost is greater than at first expected
To be in God's unbounded gifts perfected.
he holds that
It does not cost too hard a strife
To be a Christian, pure and heaven-minded,—
But a Christian must be steadfast and persevering, as he admonishes himself and others in the following very popular hymn. The translation is by Pastor P. C. Paulsen.
Stand fast, my soul, stand fast
In Christ, thy Saviour!
Lose not the war at last
By faint behaviour.
It is of no avail
That thou hast known Him
If when thy foes assail,
Thou shalt His banner fail,
And thus disown Him.
To brandish high thy sword,
With calm assurance,
And face the
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