your sadness,
One and all,
Great and small,
Come with songs of gladness;
Love Him who with love is yearning;
Hail the star
That from far
Bright with hope is burning.

Hither come, ye heavy-hearted,
Who for sin,
Deep within,
Long and sore have smarted;
For the poisoned wounds you're feeling
Help is near,
One is here
Mighty for their healing.

Faithfully Thee, Lord, I'll cherish,
Live to Thee,
And with Thee
Dying, shall not perish,
But shall dwell with Thee forever,
Far on high,
In the joy
That can alter never.

Paul Gerhardt, 1656.

PAUL GERHARDT, PRINCE OF LUTHERAN HYMNISTS

The greatest Lutheran hymnist of the seventeenth century, and perhaps of
all time, was Paul Gerhardt.

Not even the hymns of Martin Luther are used so generally throughout the
Christian world as those of Gerhardt. More of the beautiful lyrics of
this sweet singer have found their way into the English language than the
hymns of any other German writer, and with the passing of years their
popularity increases rather than diminishes.

In the Lutheran church at Luebden, in Germany, there hangs a life-size
painting of Gerhardt. Beneath it is this inscription: _Theologus in
cribro Satanae versatus_, "A divine sifted in Satan's sieve." That
inscription may be said to epitomize the sad life-story of Germany's
great psalmist.

Gerhardt was born March 12, 1607, in Graefenhaynichen, a village near the
celebrated Wittenberg. His father, who was mayor of the village, died
before Paul reached maturity. When he was twenty-one years of age he
began the study of theology at the University of Wittenberg. The Thirty
Years' War was raging, and all Germany was desolate and suffering.
Because of the difficulty of securing a parish, Gerhardt served for
several years as a tutor in the home of Andreas Barthold, whose daughter
Anna Maria became his bride in 1655.

It was during this period that Gerhardt's poetic gifts began to flourish.
No doubt he was greatly stimulated by contact with the famous musician
Johann Crueger, who was cantor and director of music in the Church of St.
Nicholas in Berlin. In 1648 many of Gerhardt's hymns were published in
Crueger's _Praxis Pietatis Melica_.

Through the recommendation of the Berlin clergy, he was appointed
Lutheran provost at Mittenwalde, and wa