Martin Schalling was a pastor having studied at Wittenberg. During his first residency he was forced to make a choice between faithfulness and opposing the Flacian heresy, a heresy that taught that man’s substance was changed after the fall into sin. He chose to leave. Again in Amberg, as pastor he was forced to choose between Calvinism or leave the city. Again, he chose to leave. This hymn was written and connected with his Easter Sunday sermon based on Exodus 12:1-14 and the institution of the Passover meal.
Five main themes emerge from this hymn reflecting the circumstances in Schalling’s life. 1) Hope and faith are in Jesus alone because nothing else in life is constant. 2) Death itself, the worst evil may not be far off. 3) In the midst of this difficult life God’s presence is most assured in a sacramental reality, Jesus is present in His Holy Supper. 4) Prayer is especially important and urgent amidst the temptations and threats against one’s faith in this world. And 5) it is the Christian perspective that the end of life in this world is a joyful beginning in heaven.
Stanza one, “Lord, Thee I love with all my heart; I pray Thee, ne’er from me depart, With tender mercy cheer me. Earth has no pleasure I would share. Yea, heav’n itself were void and bare If Thou, Lord, wert not near me. And should my heart for sorrow break, My trust in Thee can nothing shake. Thou art the portion I have sought; Thy precious blood my soul has bought. Lord Jesus Christ, my God and Lord, my God and Lord, Forsake me not! I trust Thy Word.” In this first stanza we sing the expression of our struggles in this world pledging our love for our Lord and our desire that He never leave us.
As lived and expressed in the life of the author of this hymn, our life in this world is nothing apart from our faith in Jesus. While many people cling to their life in this world believing this world and life in this world is all there is, for us Christians we know that our real life is in the world to come and so we live our lives in this world preparing ourselves for our departure from this veil of tears. At the same time we express our faith knowing that we are saved by the blood of Jesus and so we beg our Lord to never forsake us.
Stanza two, “Yea, Lord, ’twas Thy rich bounty gave My body, soul, and all I have In this poor life of labor. Lord, grant that I in ev’ry place May glorify Thy lavish grace And help and serve my neighbor. Let no false doctrine me beguile; Let Satan not my soul defile. Give strength and patience unto me To bear my cross and follow Thee. Lord Jesus Christ, my God and Lord, my God and Lord, In death Thy comfort still afford.” We have beautiful reassuring words of Gospel in this second stanza. It is because of God’s rich love that He saves us. Indeed, it is His lavish grace that is poured out on us giving our life meaning and hope.
It is God’s lavish grace that also stirs in us to reflect His love to our neighbor. As John reminds us, “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). Yet, because of our sinful nature this loving others as God first loves us is not an easy thing because Satan is still around to tempt and defile us. So, we pray to God to give us the strength to resist the assaults of the devil.
Stanza three, “Lord, let at last Thine angels come, To Abr’ham’s bosom bear me home, That I may die unfearing; And in its narrow chamber keep My body safe in peaceful sleep Until Thy reappearing. And then from death awaken me, That these mine eyes with joy may see, O Son of God, Thy glorious face, My Savior and my fount of grace. Lord Jesus Christ, my prayer attend, my prayer attend, And I will praise Thee without end.” In this stanza we rejoice in our unfearing death as we know that at the last the Lord will come to gather us to take us to heaven. As we have proclaimed, our lives in this world are short and our days are few in number. Heaven is our home and so we unfearingly look forward to God’s angels bringing us home to heaven.
When we pass from this world, when we die, looking at death from our human time frame and perspective, our bodies will be buried, “And in its narrow chamber keep, My body safe in peaceful sleep.” Indeed, as our bodies rest in the ground, we trust God’s keeping in our death. Certainly we long for and rejoice in being able to see Jesus face to face. The author reflects the words of Paul in Thesselonians, “14For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:14-17).
Perhaps in our lives we have not had to make such difficult decisions as Martin Schalling but we have most certainly heard and seen the persecution of Christians through time and around the world and can at least in our minds get an idea of the difficulty of living such a life. There may be times in our own lives that we have such fears, fears of having to answer for our faith, even to choose to die for our faith. In this hymn we express our sure and certain hope in Jesus who is seated at the right hand of God the Father, watching over us, ruling over us, and interceding for us. Jesus is waiting for just the right time, at which He will come and gather us and all the saints and take us and all believers to be with Himself in heaven for eternity. Of course, we understand that the Lord’s gathering us may not be on the last day, but will be on our own personal last day, that is, we will meet the Lord either when He returns or perhaps sooner, when we pass on, when we die and go to Him. Either way, His return or our dying, will happen and it will happen sooner than we know and sooner than we may imagine. Thus, it is imperative that we are at all times ready.
This hymn is a fitting expression of our faith and hope in Jesus. As we continue in this penitential season of Lent we continue to be reminded of the difficulties of this life and life in this world. We are reminded that Satan prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. We are reminded that it is because of us and our sin that Jesus was born, lived, suffered and died.
The five main themes from this hymn reflecting the circumstances in Schalling’s life are themes that are important in our Christian faith and life. We have our hope and faith in Jesus alone because nothing else in life is constant. Death itself, the worst evil may not be far off. In the midst of this difficult life God’s presence is most assured in a sacramental reality, Jesus is present in His Holy Supper, as well as in Holy Baptism and His means of grace, His Holy Word and Confession and Absolution. Prayer is especially important and urgent amidst the temptations and threats against one’s faith in this world. And it is our Christian perspective that the end of life in this world is a joyful beginning in heaven.
And so we continue getting ourselves ready, preparing our hearts and minds to celebrate what lies ahead, the Lord’s giving us His body and blood in His Holy Supper on Maundy Thursday, commemorating our Lord’s suffering and death on Good Friday, and rejoicing in our forgiveness and in His resurrection on Easter Sunday. And so we say, to God be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
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