"Singing with Devotion" (3)

Continuing with my notes from Kleinig's lecture on May 7...

Hymns today are likely to speak of our feelings for God. Hymns today often serve as religious self-expression. For Gerhardt, though, hymns would preach God's Word, and sometimes they were about a response to God's Word.

It was not unusual for Gerhardt to write in the first person:
I will sing my Maker's praises...
Jesus, Thy boundless love to me...
Guilt no longer can distress me...
O Jesus Christ, Thy manger is my paradise...
Oh, enter, Lord, Thy temple, be Thou my spirit's Guest...
Lord Jesus, who dost love me, oh, spread Thy wings above me...
Some have suggested that this is too personal and touchy-feely. But when you look at the words, they are NOT to the exclusion of other Christians. It's more like a corporate "I." "We" could just as easily be used. It's not unlike what we say in the liturgy: "I believe in God the Father Almighty..." or "Create in me a clean heart...."

Another evidence of Gerhardt's liturgical emphasis is the sequence of hymns he wrote. Thirty-nine of his hymns were written for a cycle that follows the church year. Although he knew that his hymns could be used to guide people personally, Gerhardt's expectation was that his hymns would be used corporately in the Divine Service, as well as being used corporately in the home for morning and evening devotions.