Wednesday, June 13, 2007

"Singing the Devil Away" (10)

Let the devil rant and rage;
death has lost its danger.
God protects me from his threats
with His grace and favor.
Since He honors me and loves
me as He loves Jesus,
all the devil's scornful taunts
will not make me gloomy.


Just look at all the lines in common with Gerhardt's Advent hymn!

"What though the foes be raging,
heed not their craft and spite.
Your Lord, the battle waging,
will scatter all their might."

and "I stood, my shame bemoaning,
Thou com'st to honor me."

and "Rejoice, then, ye sad-hearted,
who sit in deepest gloom."

And this Gerhardt stanza also reminds us of the ever-so-precious Christmas hymn by Luther (which didn't make it into LSB): "What harm can sin and death then do? The true God now abides with you! Let hell and Satan rage and chafe: Christ is your Brother; you are safe."

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