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 to-day.
O 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 ills
In this world and the next.
All praise and thanks to God
The Father now be given,
The son, and him who reigns,
With them in highest heaven,
The one eternal God,
Whom earth and heaven adore;
For thus it was, is now,
And shall be evermore.
Pastor Martin Rinkart served in the walled city of Eilenburg Saxony, during the horrors of the Thirty Years War of 1618-1648. Eilenberg became the refuge for political and military fugitives, but the result was overcrowding, and deadly pestilence and famine.. At the beginning of 1637, the year of the Great Pestilence, there were four ministers in Eilenburg,. but one abandoned his post for healthier areas and could not be persuaded to return. Pastor Rinkhart officiated at the funerals of the other two. During the height of the great pestilence in 1637, Rinkart was the only surviving pastor in Eilenberg, conducting as many as 50 funerals in a day. He performed more than 4000 funerals in that year, including that of his wife.
Pastor Rinckart knew that the Holy Spirit, given to Christians after sincere repentance and belief, is the very power that made the universe. That power, being personal, can take up residence inside Christians (Ephesians 3:20; John 14:23). Such a living hope made it possible for Pastor Rinckart and his tiny flock to endure.
Translated from the German\"Nun danket alle Gott\", to English by Catherine Winkworth, 1856.
O give thanks unto the LORD; for He is good: because His mercy endureth for ever. Psalm:118:1
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Please watch: \"A Call to Separation - A. W. Pink Christian Audio Books / Don't be Unequally Yoked / Be Ye Separate\" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBDg7u21cKY
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